I hope you liked all your Christmas gifts this year, because retailers are determined to keep you from returning them.

You can’t blame them. Every year retailers lose part of their holiday profit on returned items. Electronics that are returned in opened boxes often cost them most, as they may have to discount the items for resale. To combat this, many retailers are imposing a “restocking fee” on certain returned items, to cover the cost of repackaging and any loss they may suffer on the resale of the item.

Other retailers are keeping track of just who returns what and how often. Wal-Mart, for instance keeps track of the number of returns for any one person and if a shopper exceeds the limit they are disqualified from any further returns.

Receipts will definitely be required. Easy refunds and store credits are a thing of the past. Retailers have been burned once too often. If you have your receipt you shouldn’t encounter any difficulty, but be prepared for long lines.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.