Free Returns by Mail Are Shrinking. Here's How to Avoid the Fees.

Macy's holiday 2026 return policy covers purchases made from October 5 through December 31, 2026, and most of them can come back until January 31, 2027. A mailed return still costs $9.99 plus tax unless you join its free Star Rewards program. Macy's isn't alone: in a National Retail Federation and Happy Returns survey published October 15, 2025, 72% of large merchants said they had started charging for at least one return method in the previous 12 months. For you, free returns haven't vanished so much as moved to the store counter, to loyalty programs and to a few big retailers that still pay for the label. Where you do pay, the fee usually shows up as a smaller refund rather than a charge at checkout.

Key takeaways

As of October 14, 2026, mailing back an online order costs $4.95 at Zara, $5.99 at H&M, $7 at Abercrombie & Fitch, $7.50 at J.Crew and $9.99 plus tax at Macy's for non-members. Each amount is taken out of the refund.
Returning in a store avoids the fee at Zara, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy's; J.Crew's page doesn't say. Amazon, Nordstrom and Best Buy still offer free mailed returns on most eligible items, and Temu pays for the first return on each order. Amazon now lists fees for late returns, damaged returns and an unusually high return rate.
On an illustrative order of three $60 sizes with two sent back, the fee takes about 4% to 6% of the $120 refund at Zara, H&M and J.Crew. At Zara the fee doubles if the items go back as two separate return requests.
Electronics add restocking fees: Best Buy charges $45 on opened phones and 15% on categories such as drones and cameras, with state exceptions.
No federal law gives a general right to return unwanted goods. California and New York require many sellers to post their return policy, and a seller that doesn't must take most returns for 30 days.

What it means for you

You order several sizes and send most back: fees are charged per return, so one combined return beats several; the worked example shows the arithmetic.
You shop mostly on Amazon: most items still go back free, but a non-free drop-off option, a heavy item, a late return or a high return rate can cost you; the fee list is under the retailer table.
You return by mail rather than in store: at Zara, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy's, a store return avoids the fee; the table lists each free route.
You belong to a loyalty or paid program: membership can remove the fee (Macy's Star Rewards) or extend the window (Abercrombie VIP, My Best Buy Plus and Total, Target Circle Card).
You are buying holiday gifts: extended windows lengthen the deadline but keep the fees and exclusions.
You return a lot: retailers screen more closely; Amazon may charge return shipping for an unusually high return rate, and Target says it can deny returns for suspected fraud or abuse.

How much free returns have shrunk

The clearest dated numbers come from the NRF and Happy Returns 2025 returns survey, released October 15, 2025. Retailers estimated that 15.8% of 2025 sales, about $849.9 billion, would be returned, down from 16.9% and $890 billion in 2024. For online sales the estimate was 19.3%. These are industry survey figures from 358 e-commerce professionals at US merchants with over $500 million in revenue and 2,006 consumers who had returned an online purchase in the past year; Happy Returns is a UPS company that sells returns services.

The full report (PDF) puts the fee shift in numbers. 72% of merchants surveyed said they had started charging for at least one return option in the past 12 months, up from 66% in 2024. Rising operating and carrier costs led their reasons. Asked about the downsides of charging, 51% of merchants reported more shoppers switching to a free return method, 47% more complaints and 37% lost customers. On the shopper side, 57% said they had decided not to shop with a retailer after it started charging for returns, up from 40% in 2024.

So "disappearing" overstates it. Fees are now common for mailed returns at clothing and department stores, but every retailer below that states a cost for store returns lists them as free (restocking fees on some electronics aside), and several large retailers still pay for the mail label. "Quietly" is accurate in one respect: none of these mail fees is charged at checkout. Each is deducted from the refund.

Return fees at 10 major retailers

Each row was checked on the retailer's own policy page on October 14, 2026. Policies change, so confirm on the return screen.

Retailer	Mailed return of an online order	Free route	Standard window
Zara	$4.95 per return request, subtracted from the refund	Any Zara store	30 days from shipment
H&M	$5.99 flat fee on all mail-in returns, deducted from the refund	Any US H&M store (not Puerto Rico), with receipt and tags	30 days
Abercrombie & Fitch	$7 deducted from the refund	US stores; free exchanges; no fee if you take an e-gift card refund (not for gift-card or merchandise-credit purchases); several orders in one package pay the $7 once	30 days from delivery; 60 for members already VIP when they ordered (credit only after day 30)
J.Crew	$7.50 deducted when you use the prepaid label	Free size exchanges (same style and color); stores take online returns, fee not stated	30 days from purchase
Macy's	$9.99 plus tax for non-members; free for Star Rewards members	Stores, always free; Star Rewards Bronze is free to join	30 days from delivery or purchase
Amazon	Free for eligible items; paid methods, heavy or bulky items and an unusually high return rate can cost you	Over 8,000 drop-off locations; most returns need no box or label	30 days from delivery for most items
Target	No flat rate, fee depends on method; free label when mail-in is required	Stores, with no stocking fees on most items	90 days for most unopened items; 30 for electronics; 14 for Apple and Beats; 30 extra days with a Target Circle Card
Best Buy	Free with the prepaid FedEx label (not for major appliances or TVs over 50 inches)	Stores too	15 days from receipt; 60 for My Best Buy Plus and Total members; 14 for activatable devices
Nordstrom	Free with a prepaid label	Stores too	No set time limit, with some exceptions
Temu	First return on each order free; later returns from the same order cost $7.99 plus tax	Put everything from one order in the first return	90 days from purchase for most items

Amazon's return shipping page says fees are calculated when you choose a return method, and a paid method's shipping and restocking fees come out of the refund. Its return policy page, checked October 14, 2026, lists the fees. Return shipping can be charged if you pick a drop-off option that isn't free, return a heavy or bulky item, or have "an unusually high return rate." Missing the return-by date costs 20% of the item price for the first 30 days and 100% after that. An item sent back damaged, used or missing parts, through no fault of Amazon or the seller, can cost up to 50% of its price (100% for Amazon Luxury items). Opened software and video games, and opened collectible cards, board games and collectible figurines, carry a 100% restocking fee.

What sizing out costs by mail

Ordering two or three sizes and sending back the ones that don't fit (retailers call it bracketing) is where flat fees add up. In the NRF report, 33% of retailers that see bracketing said charging for return shipping is one of the tactics they use to discourage it.

Net refund = (item price × items returned) − (mail fee × number of separate returns)

item price          what you paid for each returned item
items returned      how many items go back
mail fee            the retailer's flat charge per return
separate returns    how many return requests or labels you use

Illustrative example. You order the same $60 jacket in three sizes, keep one and mail two back together. The refund before fees is 2 × $60 = $120.

Retailer	Fee, one return	Net refund	Fee as share of refund	Fee if sent as two returns
Zara	$4.95	$115.05	4.1%	$9.90
H&M	$5.99	$114.01	5.0%	$11.98
J.Crew	$7.50	$112.50	6.25%	$15.00

The last column assumes each return is charged separately. Zara states this outright (per return request); J.Crew's page says only that $7.50 is deducted when you use its prepaid label. Each fee is small next to a $120 refund, but it repeats with every order: sizing out six times a year costs 6 × $7.50 = $45 at J.Crew and $29.70 at Zara. Zara lets you combine items from different orders in one return request, and Abercrombie & Fitch charges its $7 once for several orders in one package. At Zara and H&M, taking the same two items to a store costs $0, and at J.Crew a straight size swap of the same style and color is a free exchange.

Holiday windows and restocking fees

Extended holiday windows

Under the Macy's holiday 2026 policy, most purchases made October 5 to December 31, 2026 can be returned until January 31, 2027. Items bought in a store must go back to a store, and the $9.99 mail fee for non-members still applies. Dyson and Mac Duggal items keep a 30-day window, and Last Act items are final sale. Amazon had not posted a 2026 holiday window as of October 14, 2026. For the 2025 season, its holiday return announcement let most items bought November 1 to December 31 come back until January 31, 2026, with Apple products due by January 15. Last year's dates are a pattern, not a promise. Some seasonal items get less time: Best Buy gives every customer, members included, 15 days to return Halloween and Christmas decorations.

Restocking fees on electronics

A restocking fee is a charge for taking back an opened item, separate from any shipping fee. Best Buy charges $45 on activatable devices such as phones (prepaid phones excluded) and 15% of the price on drones, digital cameras, projectors and some other categories. There is no fee if the item is unopened or was bought in Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma or South Carolina. Target may charge up to $35 to restock an opened phone. On a $1,200 camera, Best Buy's 15% works out to $180, far more than any shipping fee above.

Refund-only deals and the law

Returnless refunds

A returnless refund means you get your money back and keep the item. The retailer decides when that happens, not the shopper. Temu's return flow, for example, sends some requests straight to choosing a refund method when "there is no need to return your items."

If you return a lot

In the NRF survey, 85% of merchants said they use AI or machine learning to spot return fraud, and they estimated that 9% of returns are fraudulent. Target's policy says it reserves the right to deny returns, refunds and exchanges in cases of "fraud, suspected fraud, or abuse." Returns without a receipt follow separate and often stricter rules, which this page doesn't cover.

What the law requires

No federal law gives you a general right to return something you no longer want. The FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule covers shipping. Sellers must ship within the time they state or, if they state none, within 30 days, and must offer you a refund if you don't accept a delay. Some states regulate disclosure. California Civil Code section 1723 requires sellers to post their policy if they don't give full refunds or exchanges for at least seven days with proof of purchase. A store that breaks the rule must take returns for 30 days after purchase. Food, "as is" and "all sales final" goods, customized items and goods returned without their original package are among the exceptions. New York General Business Law section 218-a requires stores and online sellers to post their refund policy, including fees such as restocking fees. If they don't, buyers can return unused, undamaged goods within 30 days of purchase for cash or credit, at the buyer's choice, as long as they can show the purchase date with a receipt or similar proof. This is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is the mail fee charged per item or per return?

Per return, where the retailer spells it out. Zara charges $4.95 per return request, and Abercrombie & Fitch charges $7 once even when a package holds items from several orders. Temu's free return covers the first return per order, however many items, and charges $7.99 plus tax for each later return from the same order. H&M describes its $5.99 as a flat fee on mail-in returns.

Do I get the original shipping cost back?

Usually not. Nordstrom says it cannot refund shipping charges, even though its return label is free. Temu refunds the original shipping fee and import tax only when the return is the company's or the seller's fault.

Do I pay a fee if the item arrived damaged or wrong?

Usually not in the same way. Best Buy asks you to return an item that arrived damaged, defective or wrong within the return period and arranges a replacement. Amazon's damage fee applies only when the problem is not Amazon's or the seller's fault, and it asks you to contact customer service if a final-sale item arrives damaged, defective or materially different from your order.

How long does a refund take after a mailed return?

Longer than in a store, because items are inspected first. Target says its online return center takes an average of 7 to 10 business days to approve a refund after it receives the package. Best Buy processes mailed returns in 7 to 10 business days, and your bank may take up to 10 more days. Amazon says it can take up to 30 days to receive and process a return.

Can sales tax be added to a return or restocking fee?

Yes, in some states. Macy's charges its $9.99 mail fee "plus tax," Temu adds tax to its $7.99 fee depending on the shipping address, and Best Buy and Target both say their restocking fees are taxed in select states.

Before you click buy

Find the mail fee, the window and whether it counts from purchase, shipment or delivery.
Check whether a store near you takes online returns. Zara, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's and Nordstrom all list store returns as free.
If you shop a brand often, see whether its free loyalty tier removes the fee, as Macy's Star Rewards does, or adds time to the window.
When ordering several sizes, plan to send all the extras back in one return request.
For electronics, keep the box sealed until you are sure, and look up the restocking fee before opening.
Keep the order confirmation email or packing slip until the window closes.
When the refund arrives, compare it with what you paid to see which fees were taken.