Can you return something without a receipt in New Zealand?

For a faulty item, yes. The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 gives you rights when goods or services from a business fail, and it protects the purchase, not the receipt. You need to show you bought the item from that business, and Consumer Protection accepts more than a till slip as proof.

For a change of mind, it's up to the shop. No law gives you a right to return something just because you no longer want it. Many retailers accept change-of-mind returns anyway, as a store policy, and their policy decides whether you need a receipt.

Those are two different rights, and most arguments at a returns counter come from mixing them up.

Faulty goods: the Consumer Guarantees Act#

Products you buy from a business must be of acceptable quality, fit for purpose, match their description, and last a reasonable time. Services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. When they are not, the business that sold them has to put it right.

To make the claim, show that you bought the item from them. Consumer Protection lists what counts:

• a receipt or invoice
• a sales contract
• an email confirmation
• a statement of your bank or credit card transactions

If you have none of those, give as much detail as you can: when and where you bought it, how you paid, what it cost. The right does not disappear with the paperwork, but a business is entitled to ask you to show it was their sale. See what counts as proof of purchase.

Change of mind: the shop's rules#

"A business usually doesn't have to let you return an item you have simply changed your mind about," in Consumer Protection's words. Where a shop does offer change-of-mind returns, it can set its own conditions:

• a receipt or proof of purchase, which many shops insist on
• a time limit for bringing it back
• an exchange or credit note instead of a refund
• no change-of-mind returns on sale items, which Consumer Protection says retailers are allowed to exclude

A gift card or exchange card usually has an expiry date, and a shop is not obliged to honour one after it.

What the Act does not cover#

• Private sales, including through Trade Me, Marketplace, eBay and auctions.
• Business purchases where the buyer and seller have agreed in writing that the Act does not apply.
• Damage you caused, or a fault you were told about before you bought.

If the shop says no#

Stay with the right that applies. For a faulty item, explain that you are asking under the Consumer Guarantees Act, offer the proof you have, and put it in writing if the conversation stalls. Consumer Protection publishes template letters and steps for escalating a complaint, and a claim can go to the Disputes Tribunal if it cannot be settled.