Amazon price adjustment: does Amazon refund a price drop?
In our record, on 41% of the days one of 7,279 Amazon products could have been bought, its price fell by at least $1 and 3% within the next 14 days. When it did, the median fall was 15% ($12.00).
No. Amazon does not refund the difference when a price falls after you order, and its only price guarantee covers pre-orders. What you can do is return the item inside the return window, 30 days from delivery for most items, while it is unused and in its original condition, and buy it again at the lower price.
Updated · BasketPrice editorial
What Amazon’s policy says
Amazon’s help page on pricing says it compares its prices with competitors itself and, “as a result, we don’t offer price matching compensation.” The one price guarantee that page links to is for pre-orders.
The Pre-order Price Guarantee covers items that are not released yet, are sold by Amazon.com and show the “Pre-order Price Guarantee” message on their page. For a physical item, you are charged the lowest price Amazon.com offered between your order and the end of release day. It does not cover items already released, prices from other sellers, or lower prices you only get by joining a program.
The remedy: return it and buy again
Most items can be returned within 30 days of delivery “as long as they are in original or unused condition.” If the price falls inside that window, order again at the new price and return the first one. New Apple-brand products have 15 days, and some items cannot be returned at all: the product page and your order history say which.
The window is longer in the holidays. Most items bought between November 1 and December 31, 2025 could be returned until January 31, 2026, and Apple products until January 15. Amazon sets the window again each season, so check the current terms before counting on it.
Timing follows from this. Buy something two weeks before an announced Amazon sale and the sale falls inside your return window; buy it the day after and the next sale is probably outside it. The dates of every Amazon sale are on our sales calendar.
When the price is a mistake
Amazon’s Conditions of Use say that for items it sells, “we cannot confirm the price of an item until you order,” and that “a small number of the items in our catalog may be mispriced.” If the correct price is higher than the one shown, Amazon will, “at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before shipping or cancel your order.”
So an order placed at an obvious error price is honored only if Amazon chooses to ship it. Items from other sellers on Amazon follow that seller’s own policy, which the same page says may differ. A price far below anything the item has sold for in recent months is more likely a mistake than a sale, and a mistake is exactly the case in which the order can be cancelled.
Stores that do refund a drop
A few stores pay back a later drop in their own price, on request. Target matches a lower price at Target.com, in its stores or from an automatic Target Circle deal for 14 days after purchase. Best Buy matches its own lower price during the return period: 15 days for most products, 60 for My Best Buy Plus and Total members. Costco gives members the difference when a Costco.com price falls within 30 days of purchase.
Walmart does not: its policy excludes “items previously purchased on Walmart.com that have since decreased in price.” None of these stores refunds a drop at another retailer, Amazon included, once you have bought. Where you buy before a sale decides which remedy you get: a refund on request at those stores, a return and a new order at Amazon.
How to know the price fell
Amazon now shows a product’s price history itself, and its help page says Alexa for Shopping can share up to a year of it.
What a product page here adds
Every product page here shows the prices we recorded for that item, how long today’s price has held, and the lowest we have seen, so you can check the price you paid against what came after.
How often it got cheaper after the day you bought
| Within | Products | Lower later | Median fall, when lower |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 7,286 | 25% of 97,120 days | 15% ($11.93) |
| 14 days | 7,279 | 41% of 46,131 days | 15% ($12.00) |
Questions people ask
- How often does an Amazon price drop after you buy?
- In our record, on 41% of the days one of 7,279 Amazon products could have been bought, its price fell by at least $1 and 3% within the next 14 days. When it did, the median fall was 15% ($12.00).
- Does Amazon do price adjustments?
- No, except on pre-orders. Amazon’s pricing help page says it does not offer price matching compensation. Items covered by the Pre-order Price Guarantee are charged the lowest price Amazon.com offered between your order and the end of release day.
- Does Amazon honor price mistakes?
- Only at its discretion. Amazon’s Conditions of Use say it cannot confirm an item’s price until you order, and that when the correct price of an item it sells is higher than the price shown, it will either contact you before shipping or cancel the order. Other sellers on Amazon may follow different policies.
- Does Amazon price match?
- No. Amazon says it compares its prices with competitors itself, and “as a result, we don’t offer price matching compensation.”
- How long do I have to return an Amazon item?
- Most items: 30 days from delivery, in original or unused condition. New Apple-brand products: 15 days. For the 2025 holidays, most items bought November 1 to December 31 could be returned until January 31, 2026.
- Which stores refund a price drop after you buy?
- Target, for 14 days after purchase, when its own price or an automatic Target Circle deal is lower. Best Buy, during its return period: 15 days for most products, 60 for My Best Buy Plus and Total members. Costco, for members, when a Costco.com price falls within 30 days. Amazon and Walmart.com do not.