GREENSBORO, N.C. — There are 41 days left (and counting!) until Christmas. If I buy a present now, can the person I gave it to return it if they want? The most common return policy is 30 days. Let’s look at Walmart and Target.
Long vacation return policy
Walmart: Purchases made before the end of this year* can be returned until January 31, 2024.
This is where * comes into play. Our extended holiday return policy does not apply to major electronics, luxury goods, and mobile phones. There will be different timelines for each of those types of items. For example, major appliances only have a grace period of 2 days.
the goal: Most items have a 90-day return policy. That will get you through the holidays. Extended vacation policies apply to items that typically have a short shelf life, such as electronics and entertainment items. The refund period will begin on December 26, 2023 and last for 30 days (until 2024).
All Apple products except mobile phones have a 15-day refund period starting December 26th.
Does Walmart match your target price?
the goal: The website says to shop early with confidence. If you purchase an item in-store or online and the price drops at Target by December 24th, you can request a price match.
Please note that a receipt will be required in this case.
Also note that while price match is good for online to store or store to online, it is only good for the Target you purchased from, not the sale price elsewhere.
Walmart: The company matches the prices you see in-store with the prices you see online. But at the bottom of the webpage there is a list of “Sorry, no matches” items. What caught my attention was the following.
Walmart.com offers special event pricing such as Rollback, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday sales.