Here’s What Happens When You Return Items to Costco Without a Receipt

It's happened to the best of us. You buy an item at the store you're unsure about and pledge to hang onto the receipt until you're certain it's a keeper. But in the multi-day period between bringing home that item and heading back to the store to return it, your receipt has magically managed to vanish without a trace. It's not in your wallet, handbag, desk drawer, or car. It's just gone.

In many cases, not having a receipt will make returning an item more difficult. Some retailers might throw you a bone and, if you paid by credit card, use your card as a means of verifying your purchase. But in a lot of situations, without a receipt, your options for making a return are limited.

Not at Costco, though.

When your Costco receipt is nowhere to be found

When you check out at Costco, you can't just take your receipt and toss it in the trash. You're required to present your receipt at the door before leaving your local warehouse club store.

But from there, things can happen. You might stick your Costco receipt into your pants or jacket pocket only to have it fall out in the parking lot.

The good news is that you are able to return products to Costco without a receipt in most cases. In fact, Costco even says on its website, "Costco has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Simply bring the product to any Costco warehouse and our Member Services Team will be happy to assist you. It helps if you have the receipt or original product packaging, but it may not be necessary to process your return."

Here's how the returns process generally works at Costco. When you arrive at your local store, you'll go directly to the customer service counter with the item(s) you're looking to take back. You'll then present your Costco membership card so a customer service representative can look up the item and issue you a refund, whether it's money back on your credit card or cash you can stick back in your checking account. Often, a receipt isn't needed at all or even asked for.

Be mindful of Costco's return policy

Costco generally has a very flexible return policy, but there are some rules you should know about. Electronics, for example, generally need to be returned within 90 days. Also, diamonds of a certain size need to go through a verification process before your refund can be processed. And unfortunately, you cannot return cigarettes or alcohol to Costco under any circumstances.

But otherwise, Costco will pretty much take back any item you don't want or aren't satisfied with -- receipt or not. You can even return half-eaten food to Costco if you discover quality issues along the way (though you need to be reasonable when doing so, which means you can't bring back a cake that's 90% consumed and claim it didn't taste good).

All told, Costco receipts have the potential to land in that magical abyss just like any other receipt you might bring home. Thankfully, that generally won't stop you from getting your money back.