The Christmas shopping frenzy may be over but now comes returning Christmas gifts .
According to the National Retail Federation, $173 billion worth of holiday gifts are expected to be returned this year. Why? Experts say holiday sales were at record levels for 2023, reaching nearly $1 trillion.
If you’re heading back to the stores Tuesday to return unwanted gifts, here’s what to keep in mind. The good news is some stores are still offering Christmas deals, hoping that’ll lead to an exchange rather than a return.
But if you have to return items, hopefully you have a receipt. Also, check the fine print! Some retailers add fees and deadlines.
In some cases, you can return items in store, even though you may have purchased them from an online retailer.
“A lot of retailers offer longer return windows, so even if an item was bought in, say, November, it can be returned sometimes through mid-January,” said Kristin McGrath with RetailMeNot. “So you do have a little bit of extra time beyond that usual 15 to 30-day return window that a retailer might offer at a normal time. Keep in mind, you’re going to have to follow a retailer rules on returning that package, you might have to return a packing slip. You’re going to have to take it to whichever carrier delivered the item, whether that’s USPS, UPS or FedEx.”
According to Amazon, most of the items (other than Apple brand products) purchased between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 can be returned until January 31, 2024. For Apple brand products, items purchased between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31 can be returned until January 15, 2024.
The secret life of gift cards: Here’s what happens to those that go unused
Americans were expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.
Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.
But many cards – tens of billions of dollars’ worth – wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.
Gift cards get lost or forgotten, or containers hang on to them for a special occasion. In a July survey, the consumer finance company Bankrate found that 47% of U.S. adults had at least one unspent gift card or voucher. The average value of unused gift cards is $187 per person, a total of $23 billion.
Under a federal law that went into effect in 2010, a gift card can’t expire for five years from the time it was purchased or from the last time someone added money to it. Some state laws require an even longer period. In New York, for instance, any gift card purchased after Dec. 10, 2022, can’t expire for nine years.
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