Return Policy at Best Buy: 15 Days, 60 for Members, 14 for Phones and Fees

Best Buy’s return window is the shortest of the big retailers, and the policy page makes the clock, the fees and the paid-membership exception explicit. As of October 10, 2026, most products can be returned within 15 days, counted from “the day you receive your product,” and the same 15 days apply to new, clearance, open-box, refurbished and pre-owned items. My Best Buy Plus and Total members get 60 days on most products. Phones and other activatable devices get 14 days for everyone, and an opened one carries a $45 restocking fee, while drones, cameras, projectors and a list of other categories carry 15% of the price. Without proof of purchase, the refund is store credit at best. This guide sets out every window, fee and refund rule on Best Buy’s page, with the arithmetic Best Buy does not do. The same windows set against Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco are in our return windows comparison.

The quick answer

• Most products: 15 days, “the time period begins the day you receive your product”
• My Best Buy Plus and Total members: 60 days on most products, excluding Marketplace products
• Activatable devices: 14 days for everyone, members included; Verizon devices 30 days
• Restocking fees on opened items: $45 for activatable devices other than prepaid phones; 15% of the price for drones, digital cameras, lenses, camcorders, golf launch monitors, premium and mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs, projectors and screens, cold tubs, saunas and special orders
• No restocking fee: if unopened, or if bought in Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina
• Refund: same method you paid; mail returns processed in 7 to 10 business days; large cash and check payments refunded by check within 10 business days
• No proof of purchase: store credit, possibly denied or limited, with state sales taxes and fees not reimbursed
• Longer windows: litter boxes 90 days; pet training devices and hearing aids 60 days; Microsoft Office 30 days

Key facts at a glance

Item or situation	Standard	My Best Buy Plus or Total
Most products	15 days	60 days
Activatable devices (phones, cellular tablets, hotspots, cellular wearables)	14 days	14 days
Verizon activatable devices	30 days	30 days
Halloween and Christmas decorations	15 days	15 days
Litter boxes	90 days	90 days
Pet training devices, hearing aids	60 days	60 days
Hearing amplifiers	15 days	15 days
Microsoft Office	30 days	30 days
Marketplace products	Seller rules; the 60-day member window does not apply	Same

Windows from Best Buy’s return and exchange policy, read October 10, 2026, counted from the day you receive the product.

The 15-day clock, and who gets 60

Best Buy’s policy page sets the start and the scope in one sentence: “the time period begins the day you receive your product and applies to new, clearance, open-box, refurbished and pre-owned products.” The table beneath it gives 15 days for most products at standard status and 60 days for “My Best Buy Plus™ and My Best Buy Total™ members,” with the note “(Excludes Marketplace Products).” So the membership quadruples the window on Best Buy’s own stock, by our math, and does nothing for third-party listings.

The policy covers purchases “shipped from and sold by Best Buy at Best Buy, Best Buy Outlet, Pacific Sales, Pacific Sales® Outlet, Magnolia® Design Center, Best Buy Education and Best Buy Business.” A store purchase made “directly with a vendor” follows the vendor’s policy instead.

Phones and activatable devices: 14 days and $45

Activatable devices are the one category where membership does not help: 14 days for both columns. Best Buy defines them as devices “capable of being activated and include cell phones, cellular tablets, mobile hotspots, and cellular wearables,” and carves out one carrier: “Verizon devices capable of being activated have a 30-day return period for all customers.”

The fee follows the device. Activatable devices other than prepaid phones carry a $45 restocking fee if opened. Two things remove it: “There is no restocking fee if the product is unopened, or if the purchase occurs in: AL, CO, HI, IA, MS, OH, OK, SC and where prohibited by law,” and “The restocking fee will be taxed in select states.”

Returning a phone on a carrier contract has a second job attached: “you are responsible for cancelling your service contract with the carrier, and for all carrier charges.” Best Buy says to tell the store associate you want to cancel the service, or call Best Buy Mobile for mail-return instructions, and to make sure “all data has been removed, and the device is no longer linked to any cloud account.”

The 15% restocking list

The second fee tier is a percentage: 15% of the item purchase price on “Drones, digital cameras, camera lenses, camcorders (including action cameras), golf launch monitors, premium scooters, super scooters, mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs, leg and body recovery systems, projectors, projector screens, premium cold tubs, premium saunas, and special-order products.” The same unopened and eight-state exemptions apply. By our math, an opened $1,200 camera returned in a state without the exemption gives back $1,020.

What cannot be returned

Best Buy splits the list in two. Nonreturnable once purchased, from Best Buy and Marketplace sellers alike: “Custom orders, personalized orders, Items marked as Final Sale; non-subscription digital content (including digital gaming but excluding Microsoft Office), codes or prepaid cards (including third-party gift cards and prepaid phone cards), vehicle replacement key fobs, memberships, trading cards (including Pokémon cards),” batteries and products of 300 watt-hours or more, golf carts, utility terrain vehicles and electric bikes, among others.

Nonreturnable once opened: “Products that interact with bodily fluids, SIM kits, LEGO products, completed services, delivered home standby generators, delivered whole home backup,” Marketplace sellers’ physical software, movies, music, games and books, and consumables such as batteries, cleaning agents, oils, fuel, filters and health supplements.

Two more lines limit what comes back at all. Hazardous materials: products “including flammable liquids, flammable gases, and lithium batteries with a capacity of 300 watt-hours or more” cannot be returned through Best Buy channels, and “Items that include a rechargeable battery must include the original battery to qualify for a return.” Condition: “Items need to be returned in a like-new condition,” and apparel “must not be worn or laundered” with tags attached.

How to return, and what cannot ship back

Any item sold and shipped by Best Buy can go to any Best Buy store; the page asks for the packing slip or receipt and “the credit card used to make your purchase” for faster processing. Mail returns use a free prepaid label from your account, with exclusions: “Major Appliances; TVs over 50 inches; Kegerators; and Soda Stream makers cannot be returned via shipping,” and lithium and specialty batteries face limits. Returns shipped from outside the country are not accepted.

Major appliances have their own path. Inspect before accepting delivery and refuse it if there is a problem; after acceptance, “please contact us immediately regarding defects, damage or other issues. Please do not contact the store.” The number is 1-888-BEST BUY. Heavy items from some brands “may require that you return your Heavy items purchased from Best Buy directly to the manufacturer (e.g., Burrow, Lovesac, Plunge, Sun Home).”

Marketplace products can often be returned to a store too, for non-delivery-truck items: “After inspecting the product, Best Buy will handle the refund in the store and will ship the product back to the Marketplace Seller.”

Refund method and timing

“With a few exceptions, Best Buy and Marketplace Sellers will reimburse you for returned items in the same way you paid for them.” For mail returns, “once your return is received, it will be processed within 7–10 business days,” and the bank may take “up to 10 days after processing” to show it. Large cash and check payments switch to a check: “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, we will refund you by check within 10 business days.” Gift card payments come back as a new gift card or e-gift card.

Without proof of purchase, the terms get narrower: reimbursements “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.”

Two deductions can apply even with a receipt. Missing accessories or packaging: Best Buy “may either deny the return, or allow a return with a nonrefundable deduction on your refund for what is missing.” Bundles: “If you received a discount or free item by purchasing multiple items together, you will lose that benefit if you do not return all items purchased.”

Gifts, holiday decorations and the longer windows

A gift bought from Best Buy and returned in store gets store credit for the purchase price; by mail, “we will credit the gift purchaser and notify them via email.” Marketplace gifts always credit the purchaser.

Holiday decorations do not get the member extension: products in the Halloween and Christmas decoration categories “can be returned within 15 days for all customers,” members included. In the other direction, “Litter boxes have a 90-day return policy for all customers,” “pet training devices and hearing aids have a 60-day return policy,” and hearing amplifiers stay at 15. Microsoft Office “can be returned within 30 days by all customers,” which is the exception to the digital content rule.

Opened entertainment products, meaning physical software, movies, music, games and books, “can only be exchanged for an identical item” when bought from Best Buy, and are non-returnable when bought from a Marketplace seller.

Where the page is silent or needs a second look

No holiday extension on the page. The policy lists holiday decorations at 15 days but no seasonal extension for gifts bought in November or December; Best Buy has announced those separately in past years.

The 60 days have exceptions inside them. Phones at 14, decorations at 15, Marketplace excluded. The member window is for most products, not all.

Restocking fees depend on your state. Eight states remove them entirely; elsewhere the fee may be taxed.

Open-box and refurbished get the same clock. The 15 days apply to “new, clearance, open-box, refurbished and pre-owned products” alike.

Services and subscriptions are elsewhere. Antivirus, Microsoft 365 and other plans follow their own terms at BestBuy.com/PlanTerms.

Third-party storefronts. Purchases from a Best Buy Marketplace store on Amazon or eBay follow those sites’ policies, and manufacturer-site orders fulfilled by Best Buy follow the manufacturer’s.

If a refund has been issued but has not arrived, our refund timing guide covers what the bank side adds.

Before you return

This is a sequence of checks, not a recommendation:

1. Count from delivery, not purchase. 15 days, or 60 with Plus or Total on Best Buy’s own stock
2. Phones: 14 days and keep the box sealed if you can. Opening triggers the $45 fee outside the eight exempt states
3. Cameras, drones, projectors, scooters: 15% if opened. Same state exemptions
4. Bring the receipt or packing slip and the card. Without proof of purchase it is store credit, possibly denied, with no tax refund
5. Big TVs and major appliances cannot ship back. Store for TVs over 50 inches; phone call for appliances
6. Return everything in the bundle. A split return loses the bundle discount or free item

Quick answers to what people search

How many days do you have to return something to Best Buy? 15 days from the day you receive it for most products, per Best Buy’s policy read October 10, 2026. My Best Buy Plus and Total members get 60 days on most products.

What is Best Buy’s return policy on phones? 14 days for activatable devices for all customers, 30 days for Verizon devices, with a $45 restocking fee if opened except in eight states.

Does Best Buy charge a restocking fee? Yes, on opened activatable devices ($45) and on opened drones, cameras, lenses, camcorders, projectors, scooters and some other categories (15% of the price). Unopened items and purchases in AL, CO, HI, IA, MS, OH, OK and SC have no fee.

Can I return to Best Buy without a receipt? Possibly, but the refund would be store credit, may require an email address, may be denied or limited, and sales taxes and fees are not reimbursed.

How long does a Best Buy refund take? Mail returns are processed within 7 to 10 business days of receipt, then up to 10 days for the bank. Cash over $800 or checks over $250 are refunded by check within 10 business days.

Can I return an opened video game to Best Buy? Opened games bought from Best Buy can only be exchanged for the identical item; from a Marketplace seller they are non-returnable.

Do My Best Buy Total members get longer returns on phones? No. Activatable devices are 14 days for every customer.

Can I return a TV by mail to Best Buy? Not if it is over 50 inches. Those, major appliances, kegerators and Soda Stream makers must go back another way.

Bottom line

As of October 10, 2026, Best Buy gives 15 days from delivery on most products and 60 to Plus and Total members, but phones stay at 14 for everyone and carry a $45 fee once opened, while cameras, drones, projectors and scooters carry 15%, unless you are in one of eight exempt states. Refunds follow the payment method, mail returns take 7 to 10 business days to process, and a return without proof of purchase is store credit that Best Buy can refuse.

Windows, fees and quotations from Best Buy’s return and exchange policy page, read October 10, 2026. The fee examples are our own arithmetic. Best Buy’s page is the authority and may change. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.