Do shops accept photos of receipts?

Layo909

Instead of having piles of receipts to wade through, it would be much easier to have photos of receipts organised on computer. When taking something back, do shops (or anywhere else) accept print outs of photos of receipts, as opposed to the receipts themselves?

williams22

What do you mean by photos of receipts... can you explain it in little detail ?

JournalGirl

OP is suggesting taking a digital photo of receipts instead of saving the originals, and only printing one out if they need the receipt.

OP - not sure.... legally you need proof of purchase, and I would have thought a photo of the receipt should provide that adequately, but not sure I would risk testing it on larger purchases just in case.

JournalGirl

just another thought...maybe try it, but also keep the receipts as back up in the short term...?

MrsBartolozzi

I doubt it. You would need the actual receipt so they can write on it that you have had a refund/exchange. Otherwise you could just pick up several of the same item cheaper elsewhere and get refunds from the original shop just by printing off another "receipt". It could lead to abuse and I really can't see that retailers would allow it as a matter of course.

Layo909

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

I doubt it. You would need the actual receipt so they can write on it that you have had a refund/exchange. Otherwise you could just pick up several of the same item cheaper elsewhere and get refunds from the original shop just by printing off another "receipt". It could lead to abuse and I really can't see that retailers would allow it as a matter of course.

Suppose that the same could be done even if original receipt was kept.

[Deleted User]

We always photocopy all receipts onto plain paper as the ones the shop gives out will fade very quickly or disappear if in a wallet and rubbed. not as neat as the photo idea but they are still there when needed

Enterprise_1701C

I simply file all my receipts that I need to keep by the month, then when the year has passed I put them in a file for that year and start again.

Don't forget that for things that are faulty all you really need is a credit card statement if you pay by card.

Meepster

I scan all my receipts onto my computer and then file accordingly, makes them much easier to find.

The only company I've ever had a problem with was Boots, but that got resolved after speaking to someone who understood that you don't need to provide the original receipt, you only need proof of purchase.

A print out of a copy of a receipt has exactly the same legality as the original receipt...

russ331

Meepster wrote: »

I scan all my receipts onto my computer and then file accordingly, makes them much easier to find.

The only company I've ever had a problem with was Boots, but that got resolved after speaking to someone who understood that you don't need to provide the original receipt, you only need proof of purchase.

A print out of a copy of a receipt has exactly the same legality as the original receipt...

I also use a scanner to store .pdf files of my receipts on my laptop.

I also keep the original receipts for expensive purchase, until the warranty expires. When disposing of old receipts, it's surprising how often the ink has faded so much that the receipt has become illegible, & I'm no longer sure what product the receipt was for. A cynical person might think this was a deliberate practice by the vendor...

Js_Other_Half

Some of the new smartphones can be used to scan documents, might be worth considering rather than a scanner if you have one.