Five Stores Pay Back a Price Drop. Walmart.com Does Not

Update, 20 October 2026. We re-read every policy below today, about five weeks before Black Friday, and none of the price-adjustment terms has changed. Best Buy’s guarantee still carries its 2 September 2026 date, Costco’s price match page its May 2026 version and Walmart’s price match policy its 2023 date, and none of the pages has added holiday price-protection terms yet. Walmart’s return policy now carries a 9 October 2026 date; its holiday return extension still runs from 1 October to 31 January. Added: Target’s exclusion for products with a gift card promotion running now, and answers to the questions readers search for.

Walmart does not give a price adjustment after purchase: Walmart.com will not pay back a price that drops after you buy, and a Walmart store matches a Walmart.com price only at checkout. If the price drops a few days or weeks after you buy at Best Buy, Target, Apple, Costco or Home Depot, each store’s written policy pays back the difference if you ask in time. Walmart.com’s policy says it does not match “prices for items previously purchased on Walmart.com that have since decreased in price”.

The catch is in the windows, from 14 to 30 days, and in what each store counts as a price it will honour.

The policies, side by side

Store	Window after you buy	The catch
Best Buy	Your return period: 15 days for most products, 60 for Plus and Total members, 14 for phones and other activatable devices	Not items advertised as limited quantity, gift card offers, bundles or member-only prices
Target	14 days	Not if a promotional Target GiftCard came with the purchase; not clearance; not another Target store’s price
Apple	The cut must come within 14 days of delivery; ask within 14 days of the cut	Apple-branded products only; Black Friday and other limited-time reductions excluded
Costco	30 days	Sale-dated promotions must be claimed while the promotion runs
Home Depot	30 days	Black Friday and other limited-time promotions excluded
Walmart.com	None	A Walmart store matches a Walmart.com price at checkout only

Each row is the store’s own published policy, read on 19 September 2026 and again on 20 October. All of them are about the same store cutting its own price. Matching a rival’s price is a separate policy, and Best Buy switches that one off for twelve days around Thanksgiving; that is covered here.

What changes on Black Friday

Black Friday is 27 November. Two things decide whether a price drop that day is yours: whether your window is still open, and whether the store counts a Black Friday price at all.

Apple and Home Depot do not. Apple’s price protection “excludes limited-time price reductions and special sales events, such as Black Friday”. Home Depot excludes “Prices Offered During Black Friday or Other Limited-Time Promotions”. Buying early at either store to be safe does not work if the drop you are insuring against is the Black Friday one.

Target names no holiday exclusion. Its list of what it will not adjust covers clearance, closeout, refurbished and pre-order items, and the gift card case, but not Black Friday. With a 14-day window, a TV bought at Target from 13 November onwards is still covered on the day. The gift card clause is the one that bites: a buy-the-TV-get-a-card offer at checkout rules out the adjustment later. Target also declines a match “if the product currently has a Target GiftCard offered as part of a promotion”, so a Black Friday price that comes with a card is not one it will adjust to.

Costco’s 30 days reach back to late October, with one condition. For items with sale dates, and Costco names its Holiday Savings Promotions, the request has to land while the promotion is still running as well as inside the 30 days.

Best Buy is the one to read twice. Its Thanksgiving blackout sits in the list of competitor offers it will not match, not in the clause about its own price. But a second list applies “whether offered by us or a Qualified Competitor”, and it excludes items advertised as limited quantity and gift card offers. A Best Buy doorbuster sold as limited quantity is outside the guarantee even when it is Best Buy’s own price.

A Black Friday cut is also not always below what you paid in summer. Samsung and Apple added $100 to several phones on their own stores before the season, so a $100 discount on those only returns them to their earlier price.

Walmart: neither half helps after checkout

Walmart splits its policy. Online, it does not adjust a Walmart.com order after the price falls. In a Walmart store it will match a Walmart.com price, but “the customer must inform the Walmart associate of the price at the time of checkout”, and it excludes Walmart.com clearance, Rollback, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Neither route pays back a drop that happens after you have paid.

When the answer is no: return and rebuy

Where there is no adjustment, the fallback is a return followed by a new purchase at the lower price. That is not a price-drop policy, so it works only as far as the store’s return terms allow, and only while the item is in stock at the new price. Walmart gives 30 days on most consumer electronics, and says most items bought between 1 October and 31 December can come back until 31 January. The examples of exceptions it gives, in its policy dated 9 October 2026, are wireless phones, protection plans, major appliances, Dyson products, and select seasonal and luxury goods.

Costco accepts televisions, computers, tablets and cameras back within 90 days. Best Buy charges a restocking fee on some opened items: 15% on projectors, cameras, drones and camcorders, and $45 on activatable devices, with no fee if the product is unopened. Apple’s return policy, for one, wants the item in its original condition with all its parts, accessories and packaging, which is why the return window is worth diarising the day you buy.

How to claim a price drop

1. Write down the closing date on the day you buy. Target and Apple give 14 days, Costco and Home Depot 30, Best Buy your return period. Apple counts from delivery; Target, Costco and Home Depot from purchase.
2. Check the store’s own listing for the identical item. Every one of these policies is about the same product at the same store; a lookalike with a different model number will not count.
3. Ask while the lower price is still live, through the channel the policy names. Target says the price must be “listed and valid at the time of match”, and Costco wants sale-dated claims inside the sale. Best Buy: chat, or the Order Details page for an order you already have. Target: Guest Services in store, or chat or 1-800-591-3869 for an online order, with the receipt or packing slip. Apple: an Apple Store or 1-800-MY-APPLE. Costco: the form on its price match page for online orders, the Returns counter for warehouse purchases. Home Depot: phone, chat or a store.
4. Decide about promotional gift cards at checkout. At Target, accepting one removes the right to an adjustment later.
5. If the policy says no, check the return terms before you rebuy. Window, condition and any restocking fee decide whether a return and rebuy leaves you better off.

Questions people ask

Does Walmart do a price adjustment after purchase?

Not on its written policy. Walmart.com does not match “prices for items previously purchased on Walmart.com that have since decreased in price”. In a Walmart store it matches a Walmart.com price only if you tell the associate at checkout, and not Rollback, clearance, Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals.

If the price drops a few days or weeks after I bought it, can I get the difference back?

At five of the six stores we compared, yes, if you ask inside the window and the lower price is still live. Target and Apple give 14 days, Costco and Home Depot 30, and Best Buy your return period, which is 15 days for most products. Walmart.com does not adjust.

Does Best Buy refund the difference if the price drops?

Yes, on request, if Best Buy lowers its own in-store, online or app price during your return and exchange period. Items advertised as limited quantity, gift card offers and bundles are excluded, even when the offer is Best Buy’s own.

Does Target do price adjustments after purchase?

Yes, for 14 days, against a lower price on Target.com or at the Target store you bought from, with the receipt or packing slip. Not if a promotional Target GiftCard came with the purchase, or if the product currently has one offered as part of a promotion.

Does Apple refund the difference if the price drops?

For Apple-branded products, if Apple cuts the price within 14 days of delivery and you ask within 14 days of the cut, through an Apple Store or 1-800-MY-APPLE. Apple excludes limited-time reductions and special sales events, such as Black Friday.

Do Costco and Home Depot give price adjustments?

Both give 30 days from purchase. Costco also requires a claim on a sale-dated item, such as its Holiday Savings Promotions, to be made while the promotion runs. Home Depot excludes Black Friday and other limited-time promotions.

Can I get a price adjustment for a Black Friday price?

It depends on the store. Apple and Home Depot exclude Black Friday in writing. Target’s exclusions list does not name it, so a purchase from 13 November onwards is inside its 14 days on 27 November. Best Buy excludes items advertised as limited quantity.