Bought a gift early before the price dropped? Best Buy and Target will refund the difference. Here’s how to ask.
Best Buy and Target both run holiday guarantees that refund you when their prices fall. The catch: You have to ask. Here are the deadlines, the phone numbers and the stores that won’t pay up.
🤯 WOW! 43% of holiday shoppers planned to start buying gifts before November, according to the National Retail Federation. If that’s you, Best Buy and Target will refund the difference when their prices drop later this season. Nobody sends you a check. You have to ask.
The Short Version: Bought early? Check your receipts against today’s prices and claim the difference. Steps below.
📖 Read time: 2 minutes
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You did everything right. You beat the rush. You bought the TV in early November.
Then Black Friday rolls around, and the same TV is $150 cheaper. Ugh.
Good news. At two of the biggest stores in America, that money is still yours. You just have to go get it.
💰 The stores that pay you back
Best Buy: Its Holiday Price Match Guarantee covers products sold and shipped by Best Buy from Oct. 30 through Dec. 31. If Best Buy drops the price, ask by Jan. 15.
- Bought in store? Bring your receipt to the customer service desk.
- Bought online? Use chat or call 1-888-237-8289. Stores and email can’t handle online orders.
- Not covered: Marketplace sellers, phones on contract, AppleCare and holiday décor.
Target: Its holiday guarantee covers purchases from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24. If Target’s price drops before Christmas Eve ends, you get the difference.
- Bought in store? Take your receipt to Guest Services.
- Bought online or in the app? Chat or call 1-800-591-3869.
- Clearance, open-box and Target Circle Bonus deals don’t count.
🛑 The stores that won’t
- Amazon doesn’t refund price drops. Your move is returning it and buying it again at the lower price, if the item qualifies. I’ve done that myself.
- Walmart doesn’t refund price drops either. Same advice here.
- Apple refunds within 14 days of delivery, but it excludes Black Friday and other limited-time sales. That’s exactly when prices fall.
FYI, these guarantees cover each store’s own prices. Spotting the TV cheaper somewhere else is a different policy with a lot more fine print.
Make it a two-minute habit: Every Monday through Christmas, open your order history and compare what you paid to today’s price. Set price alerts in the store’s app, so the drop finds you.
One chat, a few minutes, money back on your card. That’s your cash walking back in the door. What did the bird say to the price tag? Cheep!
🗣️ Text/post this stat: Bought a gift early and the price dropped? Best Buy refunds the difference until Jan. 15, and Target until Christmas Eve. You have to ask. GetKim.com
📩 Send this to someone who finished their holiday shopping before Halloween.
