Best Buy, Target, B&H and Newegg Can Charge Restocking Fees

Best Buy, Newegg, Target and B&H can keep part of your refund on opened electronics: 15% at Best Buy and Newegg on set categories, $45 at Best Buy and up to $35 at Target on phones, and at least 15% at B&H if a return misses its conditions. Walmart, Costco, Apple and Micro Center list no restocking fee on what they sell themselves.

The fee is about the box more than the calendar. Best Buy, Target and Newegg all say an unopened return pays nothing.

Earbuds are the awkward case once opened; each store’s policy on opened earbuds reads differently.

Who charges what

Retailer	Restocking fee	Applies to	Exemptions	Source
Best Buy	15% of the price; $45 on activatable devices	Drones, digital cameras, lenses, camcorders and action cameras, projectors and screens, special orders, and items such as premium scooters, saunas and cold tubs; $45 on phones, cellular tablets, hotspots, cellular wearables	Unopened; prepaid phones (from the $45); purchases in AL, CO, HI, IA, MS, OH, OK, SC	Return & Exchange Promise
Newegg	15%	Opened hard drives, motherboards, graphics cards, projectors, TVs	Unopened; arrived damaged or defective	Return policy
Target	Up to $35	Opened phones	Unopened; where prohibited	Returns help
B&H	Minimum 15%	A return that fails its conditions	A return in new condition with box, packing and accessories	Returns & Exchanges Policy
Walmart	None listed on its own sales	Marketplace sellers may charge up to 20%	—	Standard Return Policy; corporate policies
Costco	None listed	—	—	Return policy
Apple	None listed	—	—	Returns & Refunds
Micro Center	None	—	—	Return policy

Each row is the store’s own policy page, read on 9 October 2026. Both Best Buy and Target say the fee is taxed in some states.

Where the fees bite

Cameras, drones and projectors at Best Buy. These are the categories where an opened return costs the most, because 15% scales with the price. Best Buy’s restocking section names no membership exemption, though the same page gives My Best Buy Plus and Total members 60 days to return most products instead of 15.

PC parts at Newegg. The fee covers hard drives, motherboards and graphics cards, the parts most likely to be bought for a build and then not used. It also covers projectors and TVs. Newegg’s wording is that the fee “may apply” to these categories “if items are returned in opened condition”.

Phones at Target and Best Buy. Target’s charge is up to $35; Best Buy’s is a flat $45 on activatable devices, prepaid phones excepted. Both stores also give phones a shorter window: 14 days at Best Buy for everyone, members included, and 14 days at Target for phones bought in store or for Order Pickup. Target gives all Apple and Beats products 14 days.

Anything incomplete at B&H. B&H has no fee list. It “reserves the right to refuse the return or to charge a minimum 15% restocking fee” when a return is not “in new condition, in their original unaltered box” with “all packing material, blank warranty cards, manuals, accompanying free items and accessories”. It also deducts return shipping if you use its label.

Where there is no fee

Micro Center says it plainly: “No, we don’t charge restocking fees.” It shortens the window instead, to 15 days for desktops, laptops, tablets, processors, motherboards, drones, cameras, projectors and phones. Open-box items there follow the same windows as new, as our Best Buy open-box guide noted.

Costco’s policy names no fee and gives 90 days on televisions, projectors, computers, tablets, cameras, drones and cellular phones. Apple’s U.S. pages name none either, within its 14-day window.

Walmart’s policy mentions restocking fees only for Marketplace sellers, which may charge up to 20%. Check the seller on the order before you assume Walmart’s own terms apply. Walmart gives most consumer electronics 30 days and wireless phones 14, and says most items bought from 1 October to 31 December can come back until 31 January.

How to avoid a fee

1. Return it unopened. At Best Buy, Target and Newegg this removes the fee outright. If you are unsure about a camera or a graphics card, decide before you break the seal.
2. Report a fault as a fault. Newegg states that a product received damaged or defective carries no fee. Best Buy’s policy says it will arrange a replacement for a damaged, defective or wrong item returned within the window, but does not say how its fee applies; ask for the replacement rather than a refund for change of mind.
3. Stay inside the window. A late return is not a fee problem; it is a refusal. Windows run from 14 days at Apple to 90 at Costco, and the dates for a Black Friday purchase fall earlier than most people expect.
4. Keep everything. Box, inserts, manuals, cables and any free items. B&H makes these a condition of avoiding its fee, and Best Buy may deny a return or deduct for missing parts.
5. Buy fee-prone categories where the fee is absent. A projector or camera returned to Costco or Micro Center carries no listed fee; the same item opened and returned to Best Buy can cost 15%.

If the price drops rather than the item disappointing, a return is not always the cheapest fix; several stores will refund the difference instead.

Questions people ask

Does Best Buy charge a restocking fee?

On some opened items. It is 15% of the price for drones, digital cameras, lenses, camcorders, projectors and a few other categories, and $45 for phones and other activatable devices. Unopened returns carry no fee, and neither do purchases in AL, CO, HI, IA, MS, OH, OK or SC.

Does Walmart charge a restocking fee on electronics?

Not on items Walmart sells itself, according to its policy pages. They mention restocking fees of up to 20% only for items from Marketplace sellers. Most consumer electronics bought from Walmart go back within 30 days, wireless phones within 14.

Does Target charge a restocking fee?

Only on phones, as far as its return policy says: up to $35 if the phone is opened, taxed in some states. There is no charge on an unopened phone. Other electronics carry no listed fee, with a 30-day window, or 14 days for Apple and Beats products.

Does Costco charge a restocking fee?

Its return policy names none. Televisions, projectors, computers, tablets, cameras, drones and cellular phones can come back within 90 days of when you received them.

How do I avoid a restocking fee?

Return the item unopened if you can: Best Buy, Target and Newegg all waive their fee for unopened products. If it is faulty, say so; Newegg waives its fee for damaged or defective items. Keep every part, manual and piece of packing, which B&H makes a condition of avoiding its fee.

Does Apple charge a restocking fee?

Its U.S. return pages list none. You have 14 days from receiving the item to return it, repackaged with its cords, adapters and documentation. Opened software that has been installed cannot be returned.