When it comes to raising babies, parents can count on using a ton of diapers during the first couple of years. Unfortunately, babies grow quickly and they will sometimes move through the early sizes quite quickly. If you’ve been stockpiling diapers or received a bunch as a gift from Target then you might be wondering about returning diapers to Target for a refund or exchange.
Most major retailers, including Target, will allow you to return or exchange unopened diapers within 90 days even without a receipt. Open packages of diapers will likely need a receipt if they are accepted at all. In most cases, you won’t be allowed to return diapers purchased in a different store to Target.
Every store will be a little different, but these days it’s usually pretty easy to return items to the major retailers, even diapers. Let’s check out some general policy and then what specific stores have to say about this question.
Can diapers be returned or exchanged to any store?
If you received your extra diapers as a gift, then you might not know exactly where they came from. Unfortunately, you could run into trouble here because most major retailers won’t let you exchange or return diapers that were purchased at another store. There have been anecdotal success stories from many parents that were able to do this, but it is definitely not the norm.
In most cases, different stores will carry slightly different packages of diapers (count size, number of packages in the box, etc.) so they will know right away if they were bought somewhere else. In other cases, the bar codes will be different enough so that they won’t scan into their system for an exchange or refund.
Oddly enough, most parents that ask about returning or exchanging diapers to a different store originally bought their diapers on Amazon and don’t want to deal with their return policy. Honestly, Amazon has one of the easiest return policies I’ve seen for an online retailer and driving over to drop it off at the UPS store isn’t that much different than driving over to Walmart or Target, in my opinion.
Either way, it’s probably not going to work, even if they sell the same pack.
By the way, diapers don’t have an expiration date so if you think you might use the diapers down the road then it might just be easier to keep them for the future!
Target diaper exchange and return policy for 2020
In general, it should be quite easy to do diaper exchanges or returns at Target for items that were originally purchased there if you have your receipt and it has been less than 90 days. In this case, you’ll receive a full refund via whatever method you used to buy them (cash, debit card, credit card, etc.)
If you purchased your items with Target’s REDcard, then you’ll also get an extra 30 days to return those items – a total of 120 days!
They do have exceptions to their return policy that might not allow you to bring them back, but it’s unlikely that diapers would fall into this category and it would be noted on the receipt or packing slip if this is the case.
One-year return policy on baby registries and the Up & Up brand
Recently, Target has also extended their normal return to one year for products made by Target brands (of which there are many) as well as items purchased under a gift or baby registry. This is great news if you decided to have your baby registry at Target because you won’t have to worry too much about which sizes of diapers you get as gifts – you can just bring them back or exchange them!
I have heard anecdotally that Target can be a bit of a pain to return items off of a baby registry so please try to bring in a gift receipt with those items.
Since Target’s store brand of diapers is Up & Up, that particular brand will be eligible even if it wasn’t purchased through a registry.
For a full list of Target brands, you can check the list here.
Returning diapers to Target with no receipt
If you don’t have a receipt, Target reserves the right to deny a return or exchange so it will really be up to the customer service rep on this one. If the diapers are in good condition, then you probably won’t run into a lot of trouble, but there are no guarantees.
Assuming that you purchased them recently, the customer service rep can also try to look up the purchase and print out a copy of the receipt for you if you paid with a debit card, credit card, Target gift card, or check.
If no receipt can be found or you paid with cash, but they still give you the go-ahead for the return, you’ll receive funds on a ‘merchandise return card’ which is similar to a gift card but you can’t add more money to it. They will scan your photo ID and there may be a $200 limit for your total returns without a receipt for a year. You can also only return something without a receipt three times per year with the same ID.
This limit is company-wide as every Target store is connected with the same computer system.
Returning diapers to Target after 90 days
For items purchased after 90 days or longer than one year if it was a baby registry or Target-branded item, you are unlikely to receive a refund. Although it is against store policy to do a refund at this point, some parents have reported that they were still able to return an item after speaking to customer service. In some cases, the amount they were offered was less than the normal price though. Your mileage may vary!
If the diapers are truly in good condition and you have a receipt, I would plead your case to the manager on duty if customer service denies your return initially. If all else fails, go for an exchange.
Exchanging diapers at Target
Exchanges will mostly follow the same rules for returns. If you have a receipt and it has been less than 90 days, you’ll be fine.
After that, it will depend on the same variables as a return would. In some cases, you would have to take credit on a merchandise return card rather than exchanging an item outright.
Can you return opened diapers to target?
If you have a receipt and it has been less than 90 days (or a year for qualifying items) then the answer is probably yes. You are way more likely to get a refund for an open package of diapers if it is because of a product defect, allergic reaction, or some other serious issue the diapers caused for you or your baby.
For those of you that only realized you bought the wrong size of diapers AFTER you opened the box, the answer might be yes. Speak to customer service and plead your case. While there have been anecdotal reports of customers being allowed to return open diapers, it will be up to the store manager.
The problem is that because diapers are a sanitary product they can’t be resold under any circumstances once they’ve been opened. If they accept the return, they will be eating the loss.
What about online orders?
Online orders will follow the same rules as for in-store purchases as far as policy goes. You can also generally return items bought online to a physical store as long as you have the receipt or payment details.
The only major difference between online and in-store orders is that shipping may or may not be covered depending on the situation. If your return is declined or the return is not because of an error on Target’s end then you WILL NOT have your shipping charges refunded.
If you are returning diapers to Target because you simply ordered the wrong size, then you won’t get your shipping back.
Overall return experience at Target
Overall, returning diapers to Target should be a pretty painless process if you have your receipt and you do it quickly. In general, a polite conversation with a manager can help in situations in which you are outside of the return or exchange policy. Don’t be afraid to ask!
You may also be interested in returning diapers to Walmart. If so, I’ve covered all of that information right here!
