Can You Get a Deal After You've Already Paid?

Especially when you’re buying a big-ticket item, it’s a good idea to know the specifics before purchasing in case plans change and you need to return or exchange your item—or, in this case, take advantage of a sale or lower price. Every retailer has its own return policy, so aside from saving your receipt, be on the lookout for the following details.

• Length of return window. (This is often extended around the holidays.)
• How the refund will be issued (for example, store credit or cash).
• How and where you can make a return.
• Whether you’re responsible for shipping costs if returning by mail.
• Whether the company has a price-matching policy, and if it applies only to its own inventory or to other retailers as well.
• Length of price-match window (when applicable).

Some retailers have policies in place for partial refunds, while others don’t. The lack of a policy doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to get a refund, but you may have to do a bit more work to get money back.

For example, Amazon claims that it doesn’t honor price adjustments or give partial refunds because prices can fluctuate pretty frequently. But a respondent on Facebook said they were able to get money back after contacting Amazon’s customer service because they could have just as easily returned the item and repurchased it for the lower price. So it’s always worth asking. When I once reached out to customer service via chat about a similar situation, I was told that the company couldn’t just refund the difference and that I would have to return and reorder it to get the discounted price. But Amazon typically offers free returns for Prime members, so it wouldn’t have cost me anything other than time to go to the store and wait for it to ship the new item.

In many cases, a retailer will refund the difference between what you paid and the sale price as long as your purchase was within a specified time, often 14 days. If it can’t or won’t refund in the original form of payment, you might be issued a store credit. This can be perfectly acceptable when it’s a retailer where you shop frequently. But if you’d rather have the money back, try one of the next two steps.

Depending on which cards you have, your credit card benefits may entitle you to file a claim and get a partial refund directly from them instead of the retailer.

The specifics will vary from company to company, and there are often limits on how much you can get back in a single claim, as well as annual caps on claims. The window of time you have to file a claim can vary as well. For instance, some credit providers will honor a claim for anywhere from 90 to 120 days after a purchase, which is more generous than many retailers’ policies.

If there’s no partial refund policy, customer service is a dead end, and you don’t have price protection through your credit card, you can always try returning the full-price item and buying it again at the sale price.

Some retailers may refund only the current value of the item rather than the full price paid if you don’t have proof of what you spent. So always save your receipts and online order confirmations. This can also vary depending on how long it has been since you made the purchase, whether the item has been removed from its original packaging or otherwise used, or if the retailer charges a restocking fee (more common for tech devices).

You’ll also want to look into different return options, especially if you’ve ordered online. Some retailers cover return shipping costs for items ordered online, but others may deduct this from your refund. This may make the eventual savings too minimal to be worth all the effort, so make sure you think through the whole process before diving in. You might decide that the time spent and the hassle are too high a price to pay for what you eventually receive, considering the extra shipping or restocking fees.

If possible, returning something in a store may be the better solution. Plus, if the store has the item in stock and available for the sale price, you can get a new one with no wait time. Do keep in mind, however, that refunds may not be immediately credited to your account, especially if the refund is going back to a credit or debit card vs. being offered in cash or as store credit.

Many major retailers will adjust the price of an item if a customer can show it’s available elsewhere for less when they check out. 

A number of popular stores, however, do have policies for post-sale considerations, whether you find a better price elsewhere or the item goes on sale where you bought it. Some may only price-match specific retailers, others only their own pricing, so it’s important to review the refund and price-matching policy wherever you shop. 

Here’s a closer look at the policies of some of the top retailers across the country. Bear in mind that these are select details, and each company has additional information that’s worth reviewing further.

Bed Bath & Beyond (Overstock)
Price matching is available for Club O members only. You can request a partial refund up to seven days after a purchase. If you find a better price at Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Hayneedle, Home Depot, Jet, Staples, Target, Walmart, or Wayfair, you’ll need to contact customer service with the URL and a screenshot of the product page.

Best Buy
Partial refunds are possible if you find an item on sale at Best Buy or a “Qualified Competitor” such as Abt Electronics, Amazon, Apple, Costco, Target, and Walmart within the return and exchange period, which varies by product and member status. Just contact customer service online or via phone. During the holidays, purchases made at Best Buy between Oct. 31 and Dec. 31 can be price-matched through Jan. 15. 2026.

Costco
You have 30 days to request a partial refund if Costco lowers the price of an item you purchased from Costco.com. If you made the purchase in a walk-in store, you’ll have to go to the in-store customer service department to see whether you can get some money back because Costco won’t price-match online and in-store purchases against one another. And the warehouse store doesn’t price-match with other retailers.

Crutchfield
After you’ve bought an item, you have 60 days to request a price match via phone or chat if its price drops at Crutchfield.

JCPenney
You can request a partial refund for 14 days after a purchase if you find the item available for less at JCPenney or another retailer. The company doesn’t honor prices listed by third-party sellers on Amazon and other marketplaces. But everything else, including items sold and shipped by Amazon, is fair game.

Macy’s
You have just 10 days to submit a request to Macy’s for a price adjustment, and the company recommends that your request be done through Macy’s chat support. There may be restrictions on certain items.

Staples
Staples will provide a partial refund within 14 days of buying an item that goes on sale in-store or at Staples.com. This must be requested in person at a Staples location.

Target
If you find a better price at Target or a qualifying online competitor, the company will refund the difference for up to 14 days following your purchase. You can bring in proof of the lower price to a store or contact customer service over the phone to get a partial refund for online purchases. During the 2025 holiday season, from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, Target is extending its price-matching policy. If anything you buy goes on sale during this time, you can request a refund of the difference. There are exceptions, such as finding a lower price at a different Target location than where you made your purchase, or if the lower price is part of a flash sale like an Amazon Lightning Deal or a doorbuster deal.