If I buy something in the sales, what are my return rights?

MSE_Laura_F

Chipping in with a question that gets asked a lot elsewhere on the Forum. What are my return rights if I've bought something in the sale?

MSE_Oliver

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlBRKeL9U8Q

Here is a transcript of the video above:

So this depends on whether you bought something online or in store. If you buy something online, then you've actually got more return rights, because by law, you've got 14 days where you can change your mind and notify the company of that. You don't have to have a reason, you can just be like, ‘actually I don't want this anymore’. Tell them within 14 days, and then you've got another 14 days to then send the item back.

In store, you don't actually have any return rights if you change your mind. If an item is faulty, then yes, but if you just changed your mind, you don't actually have any rights within law. Now, a lot of stores, of course, do have a returns policy. Some of them are quite generous. Some of them actually this time of year will be extended into January. But also on the other hand, there are some that suspend their returns policies during sales. So it's always worth checking on that if you're shopping in store before you buy something.

I would say also, if you're buying a gift for someone, then ask for a gift receipt. Write on it: ‘this is a gift for (whoever it might be)’. Because then they're able to return something, otherwise it's you the person who bought it that will have to return it and it could be a bit of an awkward conversation if they think, ‘actually I don't like this, I’d quite like to return it’.

Oli Townsend - MSE Deals Expert

This question and answer came about during the MSE Forum 'Ask An Expert' event. It won't be updated so may no longer be correct at time of reading. This info does not constitute financial advice: always do your own research on top to make sure it's right for your circumstances

Ask an Expert: Deals & Shopping (Nov 2022)