Which major retailer has the shortest return window?

Of the retailers we have read, Best Buy has the shortest standard window at 15 days. Home Depot has the shortest window of all for a specific category: 48 hours on major appliances.

Does Costco really have no return deadline?

Costco publishes no general time limit. Its page states a risk-free 100% satisfaction guarantee and then attaches deadlines only to named exceptions, such as 90 days on televisions, computers and major appliances. We describe that as no stated time limit rather than calling it unlimited, because unlimited is not Costco's word.

Does paying with a store card change the return window?

At The Home Depot it does. Purchases made with a Home Depot Consumer Credit Card, Pro Xtra Credit Card or Commercial Account carry 365 days rather than the standard 90, subject to the same category exceptions. The product is identical; only the payment method changes the deadline.

Do marketplace sellers have the same return window?

Not always. At Walmart, items sold and shipped by a Marketplace seller may be returned within 30 days rather than the 90 that applies to items Walmart sells directly, at the same checkout. Check who sold and shipped the item before assuming the longer window.

Home / Questions answered / Return windows compared

6 retailers, read in full

The same jumper, six shops, and six different deadlines.

All pages read July 30, 2026 Every figure quoted from the source Shortest standard window: 15 days

15 days is the shortest standard return window we found, at Best Buy. The longest published: no deadline at all.

The headline window is rarely the rule that decides your return. Inside each of the six policies below sit exceptions that vary more than the published numbers do. At The Home Depot, damage to a major appliance has to be reported within 48 hours; separately, on the purchases the standard window covers, paying with one of its own credit cards runs the deadline out to 365 days. Those are two different rules, and the card does not rescue the appliance.

Every row was read from the retailer’s own policy page on July 30, 2026, and links to our full write-up where the wording is quoted in context. Where a page is ambiguous we say so in the table.

The standard windows, shortest first

Retailer	Standard	Shortest category
Best Buy	15 days	14 days on activatable devices
Amazon	30 days	7 days on some digital purchases
The Home Depot	90 days	48 hours on major appliances
Walmart	90 days	14 days on wireless phones
Costco	No stated deadline	90 days on electronics and major appliances
Target	90 days, but see the note	14 days on Apple and Beats products and mobile phones

Sorted by the published standard window. Costco and Target sit at the end because neither publishes a single clean number, for two different reasons explained below.

Restocking fees, which are where the surprises live

Retailer	Restocking fee	Proof of purchase
Costco	None published	Membership record is used in place of a receipt
The Home Depot	15% on special orders	Yes, or photo ID for a non-receipted return
Walmart	None published	Purchase history shows the eligible date
Target	Up to $35 on mobile phones	Yes for the full window
Amazon	Up to 100% on opened software, video games and collectibles	Order history is the record
Best Buy	$45 flat on activatable devices, 15% on several categories	Yes

The caveat on every row

The one thing you would most want to know about each policy, with the full reading a click away.

CostcoCostco attaches deadlines only to its exceptions. Its page self-reports Document CU2573, Version 18.0, published 10/02/2025. Read The Home DepotPaying with a Home Depot card extends most purchases to 365 days. The 48-hour appliance window is the shortest we found anywhere. Read WalmartItems sold and shipped by a Marketplace seller get 30 days, not 90, at the same checkout. Read TargetTarget owned brands run to 365 days with a receipt. Its page shows both a 90-day and a 30-day tile without explaining which governs which purchase, so we do not print a single number. Read AmazonThe clock runs from delivery, not from the order date. Read Best BuyThe shortest standard window of any retailer here. My Best Buy Plus and Total members get 60 days. Read

The exclusions quietly shorten the window. Payment method, who actually sold the item, and the product category can all cut the window down before you notice.

Most items, paid any other way90 days
The same item, paid with a Home Depot card365 days

Both windows are stated on the same Home Depot return policy page, read July 30, 2026. The card does not extend the shorter category windows.

Three things worth knowing before you buy anything expensive

The payment method can change the deadline. At The Home Depot the standard window is 90 days, but a purchase made on one of its own credit cards runs to 365 days.
Who sold it can change the deadline too. At Walmart the 90 days applies to what Walmart sells directly. Items sold and shipped by a Marketplace seller may be returned within 30 days instead, from the same cart and the same checkout. Amazon has a comparable split.
The big appliance is always the trap. Major appliances have the shortest windows and the highest prices. The Home Depot asks you to report damage or defects on a major appliance within 48 hours of delivery, excluding weekends. Inspect it while the delivery driver is still there.

How we built this

Each policy was fetched from the retailer’s own domain, never from a summary or an aggregator, and read in full on July 30, 2026. The figures in the tables above are generated from a single data file, so this comparison cannot drift away from the individual write-ups it links to. Where a page carries its own version or effective date we record it: Costco’s, for instance, self-reports as Version 18.0, published 10/02/2025.

Retailers change these policies without announcement, and at least one of them was publishing a change that had not yet taken effect on the day we read it. Treat every figure here as correct on July 30, 2026 and check the retailer’s page before relying on it for an expensive purchase.

The full readings behind this table

Are Sign-Up Bonuses Taxable? The Plain-Words AnswerBank bonuses, crypto rewards, free stock and cash back are not taxed the same way. What each one generally counts as, what to write down, and who to ask.Read Bank Bonuses You Can Get With No Direct Deposit at AllOne bank route needs no payroll at all: a recurring transfer of any amount, three months running. What it pays, who it fits, and what the alternatives cost.Read Dead Referral Programs: 7 That Pay Nothing in 2026Exodus, Swan, Blockchain.com, Trust Wallet, Bitcoin Depot, Zengo and Ally's GET300 are gone or paused, yet coupon sites still sell them. The evidence for each.Read Referral Programs That Ban Deal Sites, and What to DoVenmo, Bitrefill, Greenlight, Upside, US Mobile and TopCashback restrict or ban referral links on sites like ours. The rules, quoted, and how to get paid.Read

Every one of these is read from the company’s own document and dated. See all 59 questions we have answered.