No-Receipt Gift Returns Mostly Pay Store Credit, Not Cash

You can usually return a tech gift without a receipt at Walmart, Target and Best Buy, but you get store credit rather than money, and Walmart and Target ask for government ID first. Apple’s published policy describes returns with a receipt or a gift receipt and states no route without one, so an Apple gift needs one of those.

All three that take no-receipt returns say they can refuse, so the policy is a route, not a guarantee.

What each retailer gives you

Retailer	No receipt allowed?	What you get back	ID and limits	With a gift receipt
Walmart	Yes, if verification accepts it	Walmart gift card	Valid government-issued photo ID; number and frequency limited	Exchange, Walmart Gift Card, or credit to the giver’s payment
Target	Yes, in store	Merchandise return card, Target stores only	Government-issued ID; opened items “may be denied”	Target GiftCard; not the same day it was bought
Best Buy	Yes, but “may be denied or limited”	Store credit, no sales tax or fees	May need an email address	In-store gift return: store credit for the purchase price
Apple	Not described	—	—	Apple Gift Card
Costco	Receipt “may not be necessary”	Not stated	“Limitations apply”	Not stated
Amazon	Uses the gift’s order number	Amazon.com gift card	Item must be marked as a gift, or ask the giver	Order number on the digital gift receipt

Every row is the retailer’s own wording, read on 17 October 2026. Amazon’s row is from its newsroom (aboutamazon.com), because we did not read amazon.com itself.

Walmart and Target: ID, then a store card

Walmart is the most explicit. “To return or exchange items without a receipt, the customer must present a valid government-issued photo ID.” The ID goes into a database Walmart uses to authorise returns, and if its refund verification accepts the return, you get a Walmart gift card. Walmart says it “limits the number and frequency of non-receipted returns a customer may complete”, without publishing the number.

With a gift receipt, Walmart offers three routes: exchange, a Walmart Gift Card, or credit back to the sender’s card. Without one, “Items without a gift receipt can be exchanged or refunded to a Walmart Gift Card.” Walmart’s holiday rule already applies: most items bought from 1 October to 31 December can go back until 31 January, with exceptions it names, including wireless phones.

Target issues a merchandise return card for “non-receipted returns for Target products in store”, and “a government issued ID is required for issuance”. The card works on merchandise in Target stores, not on Target.com, and not for cash or gift cards. Target can also ask for the same ID when you spend it.

Two Target rules bite on tech in particular. Its returns page says “Items that are opened or damaged or do not have a receipt may be denied a refund or exchange.” And it gives electronics 30 days but “All Apple® & Beats products (including mobile phones)” 14, so a gifted pair of AirPods gets less than half the time most other electronics do. A gift receipt gets a Target GiftCard instead, though not on the day the gift was bought.

Best Buy: store credit, minus the tax

Best Buy’s line is one sentence: “Reimbursements on returns lacking proof of purchase may require an email address, will be in the form of store credit, may be denied or limited, and state sales taxes and fees will not be reimbursed.” So a no-receipt return at Best Buy loses the sales tax that was paid on it. The page mentions an email address but no ID requirement.

For a gift returned in store, Best Buy gives “store credit for the purchase price”. Mail it back instead and Best Buy credits the giver and emails them. Best Buy also asks that a device be “no longer linked to any cloud account” before it takes it back; a phone still locked to the giver’s account is the problem in the hand-me-down phone that will not switch on. Opened boxes can cost money at some of these stores, which is in our restocking-fee comparison.

Apple and Costco: different gaps

Apple’s U.S. retail policy says you can return a product “with a receipt within 14 days of the date you receive the product from Apple”, and “For returns with a gift receipt, Apple will offer you an Apple Gift Card.” Neither that page nor Apple’s online returns help describes a return with neither. That is an absence in the published policy, not a statement that a store will refuse.

Costco goes the other way: “It helps if you have the receipt or original product packaging, but it may not be necessary to process your return,” followed by “Limitations apply.” It does not say what form the refund takes without a receipt, and it publishes no gift rule. Its 90-day limit covers TVs, computers, tablets, smart wearables, cameras and phones.

The price question

None of the six retailers’ pages says whether a no-receipt refund is valued at what the giver paid or at a lower current price. Best Buy is the only one to put a value on a gift return, “the purchase price”, and that is for gifts, not for no-receipt returns in general. If the counter offers a lower figure, the published policy does not settle it either way.

What to do

1. Ask the giver for a gift receipt first. It turns a store card into a gift card at Target, opens the giver’s card at Walmart, and is what Apple’s policy requires. At Amazon, a digital gift receipt carries the order number.
2. Take government photo ID to Walmart or Target.
3. Check the window. Apple’s 14 days and Target’s 14 for Apple products run out fast; our guide to holiday return windows works out when Apple’s and Best Buy’s close for a Black Friday purchase.
4. Keep the box and everything in it, and sign the device out of any account.

Questions people ask

Can you return a gift without a receipt?

At Walmart, Target and Best Buy, often yes, but you get store credit rather than money, and each says it can refuse. Walmart and Target ask for government ID. Apple’s published policy describes returns with a receipt or gift receipt and states no route without one.

Does Walmart need ID to return without a receipt?

Yes. Walmart says the customer “must present a valid government-issued photo ID”, stores its details in a database, and issues a Walmart gift card if its refund verification accepts the return. It also limits how many no-receipt returns one person can make.

What does Target give you for a return with no receipt?

A merchandise return card, issued in store with government ID. It can be spent on merchandise in Target stores, not on Target.com, not for cash and not on gift cards. Target also says opened items or items without a receipt “may be denied”.

Does Best Buy take returns without a receipt?

It may. Best Buy says refunds without proof of purchase “will be in the form of store credit, may be denied or limited”, may need an email address, and do not include state sales tax or fees.

Can I return an Apple gift without a receipt?

Apple’s policy pages describe returns with a receipt or a gift receipt, and pay gift receipt returns as an Apple Gift Card. They do not describe a return with neither, so ask the giver for a gift receipt before you go.

Do you get the price paid or the lowest price without a receipt?

None of the six retailers’ pages we read says. Best Buy says an in-store gift return gets store credit for “the purchase price”; for no-receipt returns, no page names a value.

How do I return a gift to Amazon?

Amazon’s newsroom says the recipient enters the 17-digit order number from the packing slip or digital gift receipt in the Returns Center, and gets an Amazon.com gift card. If the item was not marked as a gift, it says to ask the giver or contact customer service.