When the return window starts
Best Buy’s policy says the period “begins the day you receive your product.” For a shipped order, it’s the day it’s delivered. The policy doesn’t spell out how store pickup counts, so the purchase day is the careful date.
By mail, the package has to be dropped off and on its way within the return period. In a store, bring it in by the last day.
Best Buy’s return rules at a glance
| What you bought | How long | Counted from | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most products sold by Best Buy | 15 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | 60 days for Plus and Total members |
| Activatable devices (phones, cellular tablets, hotspots, cellular wearables) | 14 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Same for members. $45 restocking fee if opened, in most states |
| Verizon activatable devices | 30 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Same for members |
| Halloween and Christmas decorations | 15 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Same for members |
| Microsoft Office | 30 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Same for members |
| Hearing aids and pet training devices | 60 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Hearing amplifiers get the standard window |
| Litter boxes | 90 days | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | Same for members |
| Opened entertainment products sold by Best Buy | 15 days, exchange only | The day you receive it (for store pickup, count from the purchase) | For the identical item |
| Items sold by Marketplace Sellers on BestBuy.com | 15 days, or 14 for activatable devices such as phones | Delivery | The member extension doesn’t apply |
| Can’t be returned once bought | Listed under “What can’t be returned” below | ||
| Can’t be returned once opened | Listed under “What can’t be returned” below |
Exceptions that change the deadline
Phones and other activatable devices. Cell phones, cellular tablets, mobile hotspots and cellular wearables have 14 days, members included. Verizon devices that can be activated have 30 days for everyone. If you return a phone on a carrier contract, you have to cancel the contract with the carrier and pay any carrier charges.
Longer windows for everyone. Microsoft Office has 30 days, hearing aids and pet training devices 60, and litter boxes 90. A hearing amplifier isn’t a hearing aid here: it gets the standard window.
Holiday decorations. Halloween and Christmas decorations have 15 days, and membership doesn’t change that.
Opened movies, games, music, software and books. Once opened, physical copies bought from Best Buy can only be exchanged for the same item. The policy doesn’t give a separate period for that, so the 15-day date is the careful one.
Items sold by other sellers on BestBuy.com
Best Buy calls them Marketplace Sellers. Their items follow the same standard policy (15 days, or 14 for activatable devices such as phones), and the Plus and Total 60 days never apply to them. Many shipped Marketplace items can be returned at a Best Buy store, which refunds you and sends the item back to the seller; otherwise, print the free label from your order and ship it to the seller within the return period. For a Marketplace appliance or anything delivered by truck, contact the seller through your order within the return period and set up a pickup.
Opened movies, games, music, software and books from a Marketplace Seller can’t be returned at all.
Online orders and store purchases
The windows are the same either way. Any Best Buy store takes back in-store and online purchases sold by Best Buy, or you can mail them with Best Buy’s prepaid FedEx label. Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home purchases go back only to those stores.
Memberships and store cards
My Best Buy Plus and My Best Buy Total. Both memberships turn the 15-day window into 60 days on “most products” bought from Best Buy. The membership terms say the rest of the return policy still applies, so phones stay at 14 days, holiday decorations at 15, and Marketplace items at 15 (14 for phones). The free My Best Buy tier has the standard window.
Best Buy’s pages don’t say whether members also get 60 days to exchange an opened movie or game. Count on 15.
Holiday returns
Best Buy hadn’t posted holiday return terms for 2026 when we last checked this page (Oct 13, 2026). We’ll update this page when it does.
Gifts and returns without a receipt
A gift bought from Best Buy and returned in a store gets store credit for the purchase price. A gift returned by mail is credited to the person who bought it, and Best Buy emails them. Gifts from a Marketplace Seller are credited to the buyer too.
Without a receipt or packing slip, Best Buy may still take a return, but the refund is store credit, it may be limited or refused, it can require an email address, and sales tax and fees aren’t refunded.
How to start a return
- Gather the item with everything it came with, including accessories and packaging.
- For a phone, tablet or other connected device, remove your data and sign it out of every cloud account.
- In a store, bring the item, your receipt or packing slip, and the card you paid with.
- By mail, find the order in your Best Buy account, print the prepaid label, and drop the package at an authorized drop-off location within the return period.
- For a major appliance or anything delivered by truck, call 1-888-BEST BUY rather than the store.
Best Buy wants items back in like-new condition. Apparel has to be unworn and unwashed with its original tags, and anything with a rechargeable battery needs its original battery.
Major appliances, TVs over 50 inches, kegerators and SodaStream makers can’t be shipped back. Some heavy items, from brands such as Burrow or Lovesac, may have to go back to the manufacturer.
Shipping, drop-off and fees
Return shipping is free with Best Buy’s prepaid label, for Best Buy and Marketplace items.
Some opened items carry a restocking fee: $45 for activatable devices (not prepaid phones), and 15% of the price for drones, digital cameras, lenses, camcorders and action cameras, projectors and screens, golf launch monitors, premium, super and mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs, leg and body recovery systems, premium cold tubs and saunas, and special orders. There’s no restocking fee on unopened items, or on purchases in Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma or South Carolina, or where the law prohibits it.
Missing accessories or packaging can mean a deduction from your refund or a refused return. If you got a bundle discount or a free item, returning only part of the bundle loses it.
Refunds
Best Buy refunds the way you paid, with a few exceptions. A mailed return is processed within 7 to 10 business days after Best Buy receives it, and your bank may take up to 10 more days to show it. If you paid more than $800 in cash, or more than $250 by check or by a debit card without a major credit card logo, Best Buy mails a check within 10 business days. Anything paid with a Best Buy Gift Card comes back as a new gift card or e-gift card.
What can’t be returned
Once bought: custom and personalized orders, items marked Final Sale, digital content and codes (Microsoft Office is the exception), prepaid and third-party gift cards, vehicle key fobs, memberships, trading cards, products with batteries of 300 watt-hours or more, golf carts, utility vehicles, electric bikes and mopeds, and plumbing items.
Once opened: products that come in contact with bodily fluids, SIM kits, LEGO sets, consumables such as batteries, filters, ink, cleaners and supplements, health test kits, delivered home standby generators, and Marketplace sellers’ movies, games, music, software and books. Fully regulated hazardous materials can’t be returned through Best Buy at all.
Questions people ask
How long do I have to return a phone to Best Buy?
14 days, whether or not you’re a member. Verizon devices have 30 days. An opened phone can carry a $45 restocking fee, except in the states listed above.
I’m a Plus member. Does my order from a Marketplace Seller get 60 days?
No. Best Buy’s policy says the extended member timeframes don’t apply to any Marketplace purchase. Those items have 15 days, or 14 for activatable devices such as phones.
Can I return something I opened?
Usually, if it’s in like-new condition with everything it came with. Some opened items carry a restocking fee, opened media can only be exchanged, and the “once opened” list above can’t come back.
What this page doesn’t settle
- Whether picking up an online order in a store starts the clock on the order day or the pickup day.
- Whether members get 60 days to exchange an opened movie or game.
- Return windows for Geek Squad plans, services and subscriptions, which follow their own terms.
Best Buy’s published pages don’t answer these. If one matters for something you bought, ask Best Buy before relying on the later date.
Official sources
- Best Buy Return & Exchange Policy (checked Oct 13, 2026)
- My Best Buy Plus Terms of Service (checked Oct 13, 2026)
- My Best Buy Total Terms of Service (checked Oct 13, 2026)
How we keep this page current
We read this guide against Best Buy’s pages listed above at least once a month, and every week from November through January. “Last checked” is the last day every rule on this page was read against them; “Last changed” is the last day the guide’s content changed. Best Buy decides what it accepts: if your receipt, order page or the item’s page says something different, that applies to your purchase. How we check these guides.