IF YOU WERE

the recipient of a too-small sweater, three copies of the same DVD or a nutcracker shaped like Hillary Clinton, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

Due to lackluster holiday sales projections, retailers have loosened their return policies this season, making it easier for consumers to exchange unwanted gifts. "Before, if you were a Black Friday shopper and someone didn't like your gift, you and they were stuck," says Edgar Dworsky, editor of Consumer World. This year, 35% of retailers have special holiday policies in place, offering such things as extended deadlines for when you can return an item and being more lenient if you don't have a receipt, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade association.

Those concerns were somewhat unfounded: The latest consumer spending numbers Stores also know that happy customers are more likely to return. A report by market researcher Gartner found that of the shoppers who hit a snag while returning an item, 33% don't return to that store on future shopping trips.

Even though the retailers may be more forgiving this year, there are still some rules of thumb you should follow before you try to return that dud gift:

Dig for that receipt. Don't be bashful about asking whoever gave you the gift for a receipt. "Having that really greases the wheels of a return," says Patti Freeman Evans, a senior analyst with Jupiter Research. (You can also check the item itself for a receipt. Increasingly, retailers are stapling them to clothing tags or taping them to boxes). Without one, you're typically entitled to store credit for the item's lowest price in the past 30 days, if the store accepts the return at all.

Get your timing right. If you do have a receipt, there's no need to rush out to the store the day after Christmas, says Daniel Butler, vice president of merchandising and retail operations for the National Retail Federation. While some stores do require that you return items within two to four weeks, others like Best Buy and Amazon.com are extending their deadlines to the end of January.

But if you don't have a receipt and you want to exchange your daughter's Island Princess Barbie for a Hannah Montana doll, you'll want to get there before the post-holiday sales deplete the store's stock.

Handle with care. It's hard to resist the urge to keep tearing through the wrapping, but try to exhibit some self-control. "Opening the box or removing shrink wrap triggers restocking fees," points out Dworsky. "You could lose 15% [of the item's value] right off the top." And in the case of DVDs, software and other media, any change to the product's packaging could render the item nonreturnable.

Know the policy. Take a look at the retailer's policy before you attempt a return. With a few exceptions, you'll find all of the details on the customer service section of the retailer's web site. In stores, there should be signs posted near the registers. Policies are increasingly complex, and there are plenty of gotchas that could make the process tougher than you think, says Dworsky. Buy.com, for example, won't accept returns of products from Motorola, Samsung or JVC, among other manufacturers. You must deal directly with the manufacturer for a return or exchange. Online orders from Toys 'R' Us can be mailed back for a refund, but can only be exchanged in stores for credit.

Of course, there are a few retailers that have generous return policies all year round. Wal-Mart, for example, allows 90 days for most items. So does Target; plus, its employees will search the database for a receipt if you don't have it. Here's a sampling of the big-name retailers that are stretching their regular return policies this holiday season: