When it comes to holiday gifts, even the most well-meaning friends and family sometimes get it wrong.

This year,people are holiday shopping earlier than ever.

But when you oughta return a purchased item, return policies can often be unreliable.

Woman displeased when opening a box with pants

This season, stores might not be offering free returns as much as they used to, perUSA Today.

Here is what you better know.

For each $1 billion in sales, $165 million worth of merchandise is returned.

Woman holds a shopping bad that says “refund” in red text

And on average, an item is returned 16.5% of the time.

On average, retailers offer a 14 to 30 window for returns or exchanges, perDeal News.

For a complete account of every major retailer’s return policies, check out the listcompiledby Deal News.