Day after Christmas brings more savings for shoppers

HOUSTON -- The Christmas holiday may be over, but that's not stopping retailers from trying to lure shoppers into their stores.

While the day after Christmas is a big day for returns, it's also a huge day for shopping.

Houstonians lined up at The Galleria Mall to catch sales with stores such as Macy's opening up at 7am.

Shopper D'Andra Bigot arrived early and waited two hours for Dillard's to open.

"If you come early, your chances of getting more stuff is bigger, but if you wait everything is gone if you wait too late, " said Bigot.

While many came for sales, others came to return.

The National Retail Federation estimates that $90 billion worth of merchandise will be returned, which is about 15 percent of holiday sales.

A good rule of thumb, return the item within 14 days, if you can.

If you plan on bringing something back, you want to check with the store and their return policy. According to Banking Rate, Nordstrom, L.L. Bean and Bed Bath and Beyond have good return policies. Stores whose policies weren't listed as so good included Forever 21 and K-Mart. Forever 21 only offers exchanges and no returns. K-Mart requires a receipt for all returns.

The most returned items include clothes and flashy jewelry.

Other stores also have similar return policies for sales. Those include:

JCPenny: Full return at any time on its items. Returns made without a receipt or gift receipt will receive store credit.

Costco: No time limit on returns except for electronics. Those products have a 90-day window for returns. A receipt is not required, but encouraged to bring if you return an item.

Staples: Returns are accepted at any time for any reason -- no time limits. Without a receipt, Staples will try and look up the purchase to give a full refund. If that can't be located, you'll still get a refund for the item's lowest sale price in the last 30 days in the form of a store credit.

Macy's: No time limit on return. Items returned with a gift receipt are only eligible for store credit.

Khol's: No time limit on return. Items can be returned without a receipt. If the purchase can't be found in the store's database, a refund will be issued in the form of a merchandise credit.

In a list compiled by ABCNews.com, some of the post-holiday sales include:

Aeropostale: Get an extra 30 percent off clearance items online with code EXTRA30 through Jan. 6, 11:59 p.m. ET.

Calvin Klein: Save an extra 35 percent off sitewide through Christmas Day 11:59 p.m. PT with code DECEMBER35.

Carter's: Take 20 percent off your purchase of $40 or more through Dec. 31. excluding clearance items or doorbusters, as posted by RetailMeNot. GoBankingRates.com points out you can also get 15 percent off your purchase with code CARAUG12 through Dec. 31.

Express: Get 50 percent off everything in stores and online through Dec. 27, excluding Express Edition collection, Express One Eleven, gift cards and some other items.

Foot Locker: Get 15 percent off online purchases of $70 or more with code LKS15D5T or 10 percent off online orders over $50 with code LKS15D5N. Free shipping online on orders over $75 with code IPFL2R52.

Hollister: On Christmas Day, all jeans are only $24 online with free shipping. The deal applies in stores tomorrow. Through Dec. 28 in Hollister Co. stores and online at HollisterCo.com, get 40 to 60 percent the entire store.