It’s been a year since L.L. Bean did away with its unlimited return policy from lifetime returns to one year from purchase. In the last 12 months, retailers’ return policies have not followed suit.
In fact, many retailers are increasing the generosity of their return policies.
Americans returned an estimated $385 billion in merchandise in 2017 — that’s 8% of all purchases. In some categories, return rates can be upwards of 30%. But in an increasingly consumer-conscious market, most growing retailers are creating more generous return policies just to compete. Sometimes these policies are rolled out quietly, and many shoppers don’t know what they’re missing.
Target
- Return any used/worn Target brand item for one year.
- Return opened/used beauty items for 90 days.
RELATED: 13 Game-Changing Target Return Policy Secrets
Kroger
- Exchange unwanted Kroger brand items with a national brand equivalent.
- Return any product at any time with a receipt.
Sephora
- Return any product, even if used, for a full refund within 30 days.
Costco
- Return your membership for a full refund at any time.
- Return any item (save electronics and jewelry) for any reason, anytime.
- If you abuse the system, they’ll revoke your membership.
Bath & Body Works
- Return any burned out or broken plug-in, even if it’s years old.
- Return half-used bottles of lotion for a different scent if you decide you don’t like it.
RELATED: Top 5 Proven Ways to Save Money at Bath & Body Works
Lowe’s & Home Depot
- Return dead plants for up to one year.
- Return your item at Lowe’s for up to 90 days, even without a receipt — unless they’re holiday items or large appliances. Learn more about that here.
- Learn more about other Home Depot hacks.
Other stores
Stores like Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Athleta, REI, and Lululemon have incredible, seldom-used return policies you need to learn about.
Related: Everything you need to know about Walmart’s Return Policy.
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