Here’s another reason to keep your receipts!

After-Christmas sales are in full swing as stores try to clear their inventory and get people to use those gift cards they received beneath the tree. Prices are dropping everywhere.

That’s good news if you’ve got some more shopping to do — and it’s great news for everyone who kept their receipts from Christmas shopping!

Here’s how to take advantage of the sales to get some money back.

The basics

If an item you bought dropped in price at the store you bought it from, just head on over to the customer service department, show them your receipt, and ask for the difference. Obviously, if you bought the item back in June you might not get anything, but you’re almost guaranteed some money back if the return period has not expired.

Driving across town might not be worth it for a few dollars, but you could save hundreds if you bought a lot of high price gifts like expensive electronics. Now that is a Christmas gift!

Online shoppers have it even easier

If you bought a lot of stuff online, the process is even easier — which might make it worth your time to get back a few bucks here and there. Bought something from Amazon? Check out Amazon’s price drop policy and, if your purchase qualifies, head over to their returns and refunds page.

It gets even easier if you use a price watch tool like this Amazon price watcher. This one even has a Firefox add-on you can use to automatically watch price drops on your purchases.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, it is! Expert bargain shoppers know that sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Image: kennymatic on Flickr