The rule is this: never buy anything from Gap unless it's on sale. Nothing like purchasing a $45 pair of jeans, then seeing them marked down to $20 two weeks later.

@Gene Gemperline: werd to that. i monitor some coupon sites and use old navy coupons when available

As a shopper at these stores, it's disappointing but from a business standpoint, I get it. I once bought a suede purse at BR at full price, came back 2 weeks later, saw the lower price and I got refunded $75 making my final price $19.99. Great for me, big loss for them. I guess my new strategy will have to be to buy on the weekend, check the store again the following Thursday and always carry my receipt.

Target has a 7 day limit on internal price change adjustments. Yet they will take back items up to 90 days after purchase. Seems like a big flaw in logic to me, which I pointed out in an email to their executives. In effect I could return the item and then purchase another at the sales price. So why not just price match.

@Saltillopunk: Will they accept it used/washed?

FYI- the return period is now 30 days, not 90. Gap does the majority of their mark-downs on Wednesdays, so keep that in mind. Also, if you return something, you cannot buy it right back as a way of circumventing the price adjustment policy, (unless the employee puts it right back on the selling floor in a fit of efficiency that I've never witnessed.) They usually hold go-backs, (returns,) until after closing to prevent immediate buy-backs.

/insider info