Walmart has no official limitations on the return of clearance items. In other words, if you buy an item on sale, rollback, or clearance at Walmart, you can return it as long as you follow the guidelines of Walmart’s general return policy.
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The basic rules of Walmart’s return policy are:
- Returns of most items must be made within 90 days of purchase unless otherwise noted
- A receipt or other proof of purchase must be presented at the time of the return
- If you do not have a receipt, you may be granted a return exception if you can provide a valid, government-issued photo ID (Walmart uses these to keep a record of your no-receipt returns)
Walmart’s return policy also applies to all exchange requests.
Some items are only eligible for exchange, such as…
- Open or used drones (within 30 days of purchase)
- Unlocked wireless phones (within 14 days of purchase)
- Air mattresses
- Open or used durable medical equipment
Return & Exchange Policy Exceptions
While Walmart’s general return policy applies to most items sold at Walmart and Walmart.com, there are a number of exceptions.
Primarily, items purchased through a third-party seller on Walmart Marketplace must be returned through that seller’s returns process. Walmart does not facilitate third-party returns.
Here are the rest of Walmart’s return policy exceptions (applicable to clearance and non-clearance items)…
The following items are only eligible for return for 14 days:
- Prepaid wireless cell phones
- Contract cell phones (except Verizon cell phones)
The following items are only eligible for return for 30 days:
- Verizon contract cell phones
- Electronics
- PC components
- New, unused drones
The following items are only eligible for return for 60 days:
- Prescription eyewear (including contacts)
- Hearing aids
Here is a list of items that are ineligible for return or exchange at any time:
- Firearms and ammunition
- Pepper spray
- Airsoft guns
- Gas-powered vehicles
- Prescription medications
- Sex toys
Keep in mind that these lists are not exhaustive. For a full list of Walmart’s return policy exceptions, click here.
How To Return Clearance Items To Walmart?
Walmart offers several different way to returns items, including:
- In-store returns
- Curbside returns
- Returns pickup
- Fedex dropoff
- Mail-in returns
To return your item in person at Walmart, follow these steps:
- Gather your item, all of its original packaging and accessories (preferably unopened), your original form of payment, and your purchase receipt
- Visit your neighborhood Walmart location
- Find the customer service desk and let them know you’d like to return an item
- The employee will walk you through the rest of the returns process
Any item purchased at Walmart or on Walmart.com can be returned to any Walmart store location, with the exception of alcohol and tobacco products which must be returned to the same store where they were purchased.
If you purchased your item through Walmart.com or the Walmart app, you can start your return online by following these steps provided by Walmart:
The return methods you’ll be offered include the following:
In October 2022, Walmart introduced a new way to process returns (not listed above). Now, when initiating your returns process online, you can select “curbside return” as your preferred return method.
Similar to curbside pickup, curbside returns allow customers to wait in their car for a Walmart employee to come outside and pick up the returned item. Your refund will be issued to you on the spot, either in cash or as a refund to your original form of payment.
If you have any questions about the returns process, contact Walmart customer service by calling 1-800-925-6278 (1-800-WALMART).
Returns Without Receipt
As mentioned above, Walmart prefers that customers provide proof of purchase when requesting a refund for a returned item.
However, if you cannot provide proof of purchase, you may be able to provide a government-issued photo ID instead. Walmart store management has the right to approve or deny your return regardless of whether you have a receipt. But with a valid ID, you can become eligible for a refund even without proof of purchase.
Just keep in mind that Walmart tracks customers who request no-receipt returns, which is why they scan your ID.
For a full look at how to return an item to Walmart without a receipt, check out our post about it here.
Returns Without Box
In most cases, items must be returned to Walmart in their original packaging. However, you might get lucky with certain items.
Walmart employees and management can use discretion when granting or denying refund requests, so returns may or may not be accepted if a box or other packaging is missing.
How Are Refunds Processed?
How you receive your refund from Walmart will depend entirely on how you paid for your item originally.
If you paid in cash and you’re requesting your return in person, then you will receive a cash refund on the spot.
However, if you paid with a credit or debit card, your refund may take up to 10 days to process, even if you return your item in person.
When returning items through the mail, via pickup, or via FedEx dropoff, your refund can take up to several weeks to process due to shipping and processing times.
What Does Walmart Do With Returned Clearance Items?
What happens to your returned clearance items after you bring them back to Walmart depends on many different factors, such as whether Walmart still carries the item, what condition the item is in, and whether it’s safe to resell the item.
In most cases, Walmart either disposes of or returns returned clearance items to the manufacturer. In most cases, clearance items are marked down because the retailer no longer plans on selling them, so when you return a clearance item, Walmart probably won’t be able to resell it.
In the end, they may be able to receive credit back for the item from the manufacturer. However, it might also just represent a loss for Walmart.
FAQs
Can Walmart deny your clearance return?
Yes. Walmart reserves the right to deny any return request at any time for any reason. Even if your item is not a clearance item, there is never any guarantee that your refund request will be approved.
Can you return Walmart clearance items to any store?
Yes. Walmart does not have any restrictions on the return of clearance items. You can return your clearance item to any Walmart location.
How many times can you return to Walmart with no receipt?
This depends. The management at a given Walmart location has the right to deny returns to any customer who is suspected of abusing the no-receipt return policy exception. Walmart does not technically limit no-receipt returns, but if you attempt this too often, you will likely be banned from making returns at some point.
