Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Making a Sephora Return

By fromermedia@gmail.com On Nov 23, 2022

The return policy at Sephora is, more or less, very straightforward. Where it becomes slightly murky is when you’ve purchased beauty products from Sephora Inside JCPenney or Sephora at Kohl’s. And then depending on how you received your Sephora order, determines how you must return or exchange it.

But Sephora doesn’t want you stuck with a gift you received or a purchase you made that you’re not totally happy with — for literally any reason. That includes used products that are still in good condition, but you didn’t jive with. What you can’t do is to use almost all of a product and then take it back and say you don’t like it, for example.

A couple of things to be aware of: Sephora monitors your return activity and can limit returns or exchanges. Any Beauty Insider points you gained are removed once the return is processed, but that’s true of pretty much any retailer rewards program.

Sephora Return Policy

Here’s the basic info you need to know about Sephora’s return policy:

You get 30 days from the date of your purchase to return new or gently used products for a full refund or exchange to the original method of payment.
Returns made within 31 to 60 days after the date of purchase are eligible for online credit (if returned by mail) or store credit (if returned in-store).

Sephora store credit doesn’t expire so you have, well, pretty much forever to use it. Some returns must be made at a Sephora store, depending on how you purchased it. But in all cases, you must have a proof of purchase to qualify for a Sephora return.

How To Make a Sephora Return

The Sephora return policy is pretty much the same across the board, but where you made the purchase dictates how you’ll return it.

Online Sephora Returns

Purchases made at Sephora.com or through an authorized third-party qualify for a full refund or exchange within 30 days of purchase and with a receipt.
Returns made within 31 to 60 days qualify for an in-store credit with a receipt that’s redeemable only at Sephora stores.

Just go to a free standing Sephora store, and take along the original packing slip and the credit or debit card used when you placed the order.

Sephora In-Store Returns

In-store purchases cannot be returned by mail, so you’ll have to return or exchange the merchandise in person.

Products purchased at a Sephora store are eligible for a full refund or exchange within 30 days with a receipt or gift receipt at any store location.
You’ll receive store credit for any in-store purchase you return between 31 and 60 days after the original purchase date. With a gift receipt, however, you’ll get a Sephora store credit that can only be redeemed at a Sephora store.

Buy Online, Pick Up Returns

If you used Sephora’s Buy Online, Pick Up to grab your beauty gear, you have the option of picking up your purchase in-store or curbside. The option you don’t have a say in is how you return or exchange it. You can’t return the order by mail because you have go into a Sephora store to take care of that.

Sephora Buy Online, Pick Up in-store (or curbside) purchases are eligible for a full refund or exchange within 30 days with a receipt or gift receipt at any store location.
You’ll receive a store credit if you return those items between 31 and 60 days after the original purchase date. With a gift receipt, however, you’ll get a Sephora store credit that can only be redeemed at a Sephora store.

Same-Day Delivery Returns

Sephora’s Same-Day Delivery lets you get your order in as little as two hours from Shipt or Instacart. However, you have to take your returns or exchanges to a Sephora store, so you can’t mail it back.

If you used Same-Day delivery and want to return or exchange all or part of your order and it’s only within 30 days of your purchase, you’ll receive a full refund.
For returns made between 31 to 60 days after purchase, you’ll receive an in-store credit.

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Sephora Instacart, Shipt and DoorDash Order Returns

Instacart, Shipt and now DoorDash returns cannot be returned by mail.

If you had your beauty gear delivered with Instacart or Shipt and then decide to return or exchange all or part of your order within 30 days, you’ll receive a full refund.
For returns made between 31 to 60 days after purchase, you’ll receive an in-store credit.

Note: You won’t receive a refund for any fees or tips you made to the personal shoppers.

Sephora at Kohl’s Returns

Making returns when you’ve purchased from a Sephora at Kohl’s location is straightforward because you can only return or exchange items at a Sephora at Kohl’s location. Pretty easy to remember, eh?

It doesn’t matter how you received your Sephora order (in-store or online), returns are all same, but the the return policy is a little different, which is the reason you have to create two separate accounts:

Sephora at Kohl’s returns can only be made in-store at Kohl’s up to 60 days after picking up your order and with a receipt for a full refund.
If you used a Sephora Gift Card to pay for the item, you’ll get a sephora.com credit.

Sephora Inside JCPenney Returns

Sad news: Sephora Inside JCPenney stores started closing this past September and will continue to close through Jan. 2023, which changes the store’s return policy somewhat.

For purchases from a Sephora Inside JCPenney location, you must return or exchange the merchandise at a Sephora store location. You’ll receive either a Sephora gift card or Sephora store credit, depending on when the return is made.

Sephora’s Extended Holiday Return Policy

Making sure your holiday gifts can be returned is pretty important to your giftee. Unless they’ve specifically told you the exact product they want, it can be a crap-shoot. And Sephora knows it.

That’s why Sephora extends its usual return policy around the holidays to make allowances for those unwanted gifts. In 2022, the extended return policy includes purchases made on Oct. 28 through Dec. 2. That means you (or your giftee) have until Jan. 31, 2023 to return or exchange merchandise. It applies to both in-store and online orders.

Purchases made after Dec. 2 follow Sephora’s normal return policy guidelines. These are the methods for returning merch:

In-store exchanges.
Store credit as a Sephora merchandise credit for returns made in-store.
Online credit for returns made by mail through Sephora.com.

Note: Merchandise credits can only be used at Sephora stores and not on Sephora.com. Online credits can be used at Sephora.com but are not valid for use in Sephora stores.

Sephora Gift Returns

Need to return a Sephora gift you received by mail? If you don’t want the refund to go back to the person who gifted it, then before you mail it back, call 1-877-SEPHORA (1-877-737-4672) to get the gift return under your account. You’ll receive an online store credit to use at Sephora.com.