Do Stores Have to Accept Returns? Return Laws by State (2026)

No, in most of the US a store doesn’t have to accept a return if nothing is wrong with the item. No federal law gives you a right to bring back something that works, so the store’s own return policy is the rule. Thirteen states have a general law about return policies, and in some of them a store that doesn’t post its policy has to take the item back for a set number of days.

A defective item is a separate question, and the answer there is usually better for you.

Do stores have to accept returns?

No, not if the item works. No federal law requires a store to take back something that isn’t defective, so each store writes its own policy: the time limit, whether you need a receipt, and whether you get cash, a card refund or store credit. Where a state law applies, it mostly controls how the store has to show you that policy.

The Federal Trade Commission’s rules here are narrow. One covers sales made at your home or at a temporary location, and another covers shipping times for online and phone orders. Neither gives you a general right to return something you bought in a store.

Which states have return policy laws?

Thirteen states have a general law about store return policies. Most require the store to post its policy before you buy, at the register, the entrance or on the item. In nine of them, a store that doesn’t post its policy has to take returns anyway, and most of those laws set the window, from 7 days in Florida and Connecticut to 60 in Hawaii.

The California and Florida rules apply only to a store that limits returns without posting a sign. In California, that’s a store that doesn’t offer a full refund or an exchange for at least 7 days after the sale. In Florida, it’s a store that takes no returns at all.

Every other state has no general law on return policies, so the store’s policy decides. In Ohio, refusing without good reason to refund a cash or check purchase, when no refund sign was posted, is one of the things a court weighs in deciding whether a store treated a customer unfairly.

What the state rules don’t cover

Each law has its own list of exceptions, and the common ones are food, flowers and other perishables, custom-made or altered goods, and items that can’t be resold for health reasons. California also leaves out goods marked “as is” or “all sales final,” items you used or damaged, and anything returned without its original package. In Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island, the default refund applies only to an item you haven’t used.

New York’s rule now reaches online stores

New York’s posting law used to cover physical stores. Since a 2025 amendment, it also covers online retailers, which can meet it with a notice or link near the item or at checkout. An online store selling to New York that shows no refund policy owes you a cash refund or credit, your choice, for up to 30 days.

Can a store refuse to take back a defective item?

Usually not, unless it sold the item as is. Under the implied warranty of merchantability in the Uniform Commercial Code (opens in a new tab), which nearly every state has adopted, something a merchant sells has to be fit for its ordinary use. An item that was defective when you bought it gives you a claim against the store, whatever its return policy says.

In most states, a store can disclaim that warranty in writing, with words like “as is” or “with all faults,” but not in every case:

• A store that gives you a written warranty, or sells you a service contract, can’t disclaim the implied warranty under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (opens in a new tab).
• Some states don’t let a store disclaim the implied warranty on consumer goods, so an “as is” sign doesn’t remove it. They include Massachusetts (opens in a new tab), Maryland, Maine (opens in a new tab), Kansas (opens in a new tab) and West Virginia (opens in a new tab).

In Utah, a store that wants to refuse refunds on a defective item has to mark it both as is and as not refundable.

What about online orders?

No federal law gives you a right to return an online order, so the store’s policy decides there too. Amazon (opens in a new tab), for example, takes most items back within 30 days of delivery. Federal law covers shipping instead.

Under the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (opens in a new tab), a seller has to ship within the time it promised, or within 30 days if it didn’t say. If it can’t, it has to offer you the choice to cancel for a full refund before that deadline passes. If you cancel, the seller has 7 working days to refund you, card payments included. If you bought on credit from the seller itself, it has one billing cycle instead.

If a package shows as delivered but never reached you, our guide to a package stolen from your porch covers who to contact.

Does the 3-day cooling-off rule apply to returns?

Only to sales made away from the seller’s business. The FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule (opens in a new tab) lets you cancel a sale of $25 or more made at your home, or $130 or more at a temporary location like a hotel room or a convention center, until midnight of the third business day. The seller then has 10 business days to refund you. A purchase in a store or online isn’t covered.

What to do if a store won’t take it back

Start with the policy and your state’s rule. If the item works and the store’s posted policy says no, that’s usually the end of it. If the item is defective, or the store didn’t post a policy in a state that requires one, take these steps:

1. Read the policy. Check the receipt, the sign at the register and the store’s website, and take a photo of the sign.
2. Put the problem in writing. Say what’s wrong, cite your state’s law from the table if it applies, and ask for a repair, a replacement or a refund.
3. Go to the manager, then corporate customer service. An email gives you a dated record.
4. Dispute the charge with your credit card issuer. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (opens in a new tab), an item that never arrived or wasn’t what you agreed to buy is a billing error you can dispute in writing within 60 days of the statement. For a quality problem, another section (opens in a new tab) lets you withhold payment on a purchase over $50 made in your state or within 100 miles of home, once you’ve tried to settle it with the store.
5. Complain to your state attorney general. The National Association of Attorneys General (opens in a new tab) lists every office.
6. Take it to small claims court if the amount is worth your time.

Getting your money back, then keeping it

A refund goes back to the card or account you paid with, and once it’s there, it’s easy to spend again without noticing. If you’d like to keep it, Lodavo is a free app that gives you a reason to. The bigger your savings, the more free tickets you get for weekly cash prize draws, and the money stays in the bank account you already have. Lodavo is live in Canada, and you can sign up below to hear when it opens in your state.

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

This is general information, not legal advice, and state laws change, so check your state’s law before you rely on it.