5. If you buy an item by mistake, you can bring it back for a cash refund. Costco ranks number one among stores with the best return policies, according to the website, gobankingrates.com, which ranked stores in December 2013 for return policies just after the holidays. Second was Nordstrom and third was Zappos. Costco member Joan Silver of Fairfax, Va., described how she was able to return a case of yogurt to Costco within days of purchasing it because it was not the kind she had intended to buy. She said she also has returned jeans that didn't wear well.