Christmas gift returns: your rights, gift receipts and the extended returns windows

What's happening

If you're buying presents early this year, the returns clock may run out before anyone opens them. Shops deal with this by offering extended Christmas returns windows, but those are goodwill policies, not the law. Your legal rights depend on whether you bought in a shop or online, and whether the item is faulty.

When we checked on 1 November, Marks & Spencer had published its 2026 Christmas returns dates. Here's how those extra weeks fit with your legal rights, and how gift receipts work.

At a glance

• In a shop, you have no legal right to return something you've simply changed your mind about. Any return is down to the shop's own policy.
• Online, you usually have 14 days from delivery to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations.
• Faulty goods are different. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you 30 days to reject them for a full refund.
• M&S full-price items bought on or after 22 October 2026 can go back until 17 January 2027.
• Gift receipts usually get the recipient an exchange or a credit, not cash.

Your legal rights vs shop policies

When you buy in person, the law only gives you a right to return goods that are faulty, not as described or not fit for purpose. If the jumper is the wrong size or the wrong colour, the shop doesn't have to take it back. Most do anyway, and once a shop publishes a returns policy, it should stick to it.

Online and phone orders come with a cooling-off period. Under regulation 30 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, you can cancel until 14 days after the goods arrive, for any reason. After you send the item back, the seller has 14 days to refund you. Personalised items, perishable goods and sealed items unsealed after delivery, such as some cosmetics, are excluded. For an early Christmas order, those 14 days may well be over by 25 December.

Extended Christmas windows

M&S normally gives 28 days to return most items. For Christmas 2026, it says full-price items bought on or after 22 October 2026 can be returned until 17 January 2027, and if your normal 28 days end later than that, you get the later date. Sale items bought online keep the usual 14-day rule. If a gift is returned by post, M&S refunds the original payment method, so to get a gift card or credit receipt instead, the recipient needs to take it to a UK store. Outlet, Simply Food and travel stores are excluded.

Many big retailers run similar schemes, but the dates change each year. When we checked, we couldn't find 2026 dates on the pages we could reach for several other big names, so check each shop's returns page, or ask at the till, before you buy.

A worked example

This is an illustration. On 28 October, Sam buys a £60 full-price jumper at M&S for his sister. Under the normal 28-day policy, he'd have until 25 November to return it. Under the Christmas policy, his sister can take it back until 17 January 2027 with a gift receipt.

Sam also orders a £45 board game online from another shop on 2 November, and it arrives on 5 November. His legal 14-day cancellation period ends on 19 November. Unless that shop runs a Christmas extension, a game that's still unopened on Boxing Day has no right of return. If the game is missing pieces, that's a fault, and his Consumer Rights Act rights apply whatever the shop's returns policy says.

What to do now

1. Ask for a gift receipt at the till, or check if the website offers one with gift orders.
2. Check the Christmas returns dates before you buy, and note any exclusions for sale items.
3. Keep your own receipt or order email, in case a refund to the original card is needed.
4. Leave items sealed where hygiene rules might stop a return, such as earrings or make-up.
5. For faulty gifts, use your legal rights: a full refund within 30 days, then repair or replacement.

Questions

Can the person I gave it to return it?

The legal contract is between you and the shop, so faulty goods claims are easiest if the buyer makes them or helps with proof of purchase. For change-of-mind returns, most shops accept a gift receipt from the recipient, usually for an exchange or credit.

Why won't I get cash back with a gift receipt?

Because the refund normally goes back to the card used to pay. Shops often give the recipient a gift card or exchange instead.

What if a gift breaks in February?

Under the Consumer Rights Act, if a fault shows up within six months of delivery, it's assumed to have been there all along unless the shop proves otherwise. You can ask for a repair or replacement, and then a refund or price cut if that fails.

Ways to save

We list current codes for M&S, Next, John Lewis, Boots and Argos. Check the returns dates on the shop's own site before you use a code, and remember that sale items often have shorter return windows.

Sources: Marks & Spencer: Returns and refunds, Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 30, Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regulation 34, Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22, Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 19