Hassle-free returns might be a thing of the past.
You might want to reconsider returning that pile of unwanted gifts sitting under your tree because major retailers, like Macy’s and Zara, are charging fees for holiday gift returns.
Which means that the hideous, itchy sweater Aunt Suzy excitedly gifted you this year may actually cost you more to give back than to keep.
The good news is that in-store returns remain free — but if you plan to take the lazy way out by mailing something back, even if it’s unopened and in perfect condition, it’ll cost you.
Macy’s is charging displeased customers a $9.99 fee if they’re not a Stars Rewards Member, and sister stores T.J. Maxx and Marshalls are hitting their customers with an $11.99 return charge.
JCPenney, J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, Zara, American Eagle Outfitters, UNIQLO and Urban Outfitters are being less Scrooge-like with their return fees, with a more nominal range from $3.99 to $8.
Large online retailers like Amazon are even toughening up by charging a fee — which can vary depending on the returned item — if you don’t use their box-free, label-free, in-person drop-off option.
Even if you use a gift receipt to rid an unwanted gift, you’re not safe from the wrath of return fees: retailers will simply deduct them from your store credit.
So what’s causing this tightwad behavior from stores?
“This [return fees] started happening a couple of years ago, I think, because people were taking advantage. We saw a big lift in online shopping throughout the pandemic, and retailers who initially said, ‘Oh, we’ll pay for the shipping back,’ all of a sudden, it started becoming egregious,” smart-shopping expert Trae Bodge told The Post.
Understandably, these strict policies are frustrating shoppers, with many taking to social media to bash stores like Marshalls and T.J. Maxx for charging return fees that cost the same as some of their products.
What customers don’t realize is that processing a return can cost retailers nearly 40% of an item’s original price, which causes them financial strain, according to a 2023 Optoro report.
“I’m always looking out for the consumer and how we can save money because sometimes retailers aren’t doing the right thing, but in this case, it’s tricky — it’s a business. People are returning tons of things. Sometimes those things go in landfills, it’s so wasteful and bad for the environment,” Bodge added.
In 2025, an estimated19.3% of online sales will be returned, and the retail industry is expected to incur about $849.9 billion in total returns by the end of the year, according to the National Retail Federation.
So, if anything, stores are finally wising up.
Best Buy is one of them. The tech retailer now charges a whopping $45 restocking fee on activatable devices, such as smartphones and tablets, because once a box is open, “the perceived value goes down. and stores have to figure out how to package it up and get it back on the shelf,” Bodge explained to The Post.
“For a tech retailer, a lot of its products are coming from China. They’re paying that 30% tariff, but they’re [the retailers] are trying not to pass the full burden onto the customer, so charging a return or a restocking fee helps them balance their books a little more easily,” she said.
If you’re adamant about returning an unwanted gift this holiday season, to avoid the eye-rolling fees, Bodge advises doing an in-store return the first week of January to dodge post-Christmas crowds and sales, since you ideally want to get the full value back on a return versus the clearance value.
The expert also advises shoppers to return items in as sellable a condition as possible so the retailer can put them back on the shelf.
“You can also get creative and sell your unwanted items on Facebook marketplace, eBay or Black Market,” Bodge pointed out. “There are even platforms like mpb.com, which specializes in camera and videography equipment, and will pay you for that unwanted tech you were gifted.”
