What Is Costco's Alcohol Return Policy?

Unless you live in one of the few states without a Costco, you are probably aware that the warehouse giant has great prices on beer, wine, and liquor. Depending on where you live, you might even be able to buy alcohol at Costco without a membership, thanks to variants in state liquor laws. But state laws can also affect your Costco alcohol-buying experience in another significant way: namely, whether you are allowed to return your purchases for any reason.

Costco is known for its generous 100% Risk-Free Satisfaction Guarantee — which is so lenient that some folks even manipulate it to get a free year of Costco membership shopping — but there are some notable exceptions. Per the store's return policy, Costco will not accept returns on alcohol when state law stands in the way. An even more specific answer is spelled out in the FAQs, where the company urges shoppers to check with their local Costco store to see just what laws apply when it comes to bringing back that extra bottle of wine or other alcohol.

There are a number of reasons you might want to return alcohol other than a bad-quality bottle. Maybe you bought multiples of something new and didn't like the first one. Or you took advantage of the warehouse's great prices and stocked up for a DIY wedding bar and now you want to unload what wasn't used. Regardless of your reason, some states simply won't permit you to return even unopened, perfectly resalable bottles of booze.

As it turns out, it can be really frustrating trying to get an answer as to whether or not your state will take unopened alcohol back. In California, for instance, it's fairly easy to verify that returns of alcohol are not permitted unless there is a defect with the bottle or contents. A person can't buy a ton of bottles for a party and then return them, for example. At ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, however, a liquor store with physical stores currently only in Florida, the return policy maintains that you can return pickup or in-store purchases within 30 days, more or less proving that alcohol returns are legal in the Sunshine State.

In real life, however, sometimes things get murkier. On a Reddit sub dedicated to wine and a specific thread as to whether wine returns were allowed where commenters live, one poster declared, "I wouldn't take returns in Oregon. I mean, flawed bottles, yes, but not 'oops I bought too much for my event' wine." This is despite other anecdotes saying that people have returned unwanted wine in Oregon. Overall, it seems as if many folks don't actually know what's legal and what's not in their states when it comes to returning alcohol, and even store employees may be confused. If you buy alcohol from Costco, maybe your best bet is just to plan on keeping it no matter what.