How to keep track of warranties and receipts

Last checked 7 October 2026. The legal parts describe EU rules, with a note on Iceland and Norway.

A warranty only helps if you can show when and where you bought the thing, and if you notice before the time runs out. Both are easy at the till and hard two years later, when the dishwasher starts leaking and the receipt is a blank strip of paper in a drawer.

What to keep

• The receipt or invoice. It shows what you bought, where, when and for how much.
• The date you received it. The EU legal guarantee runs from when you got the item, so for a delivery that is the delivery date rather than the order date.
• The shop. The legal guarantee is a claim against the seller, so you need to know who that was.
• The model and serial number. They are on a sticker on the back or the underside, or on the box. Whoever repairs it will ask.
• The manufacturer's warranty card, if there is one. Some manufacturer warranties only apply if you register the product within a set time, so read it before the box goes out.

Photograph the receipt the day you get it

Most till receipts are printed on thermal paper, which fades with heat, light and time. One kept in a wallet or a sunny drawer can be unreadable well before a two-year guarantee runs out. A photo or a scan stays readable. Keep the paper as well if you like, somewhere cool and dark.

If the receipt is gone, a card or bank statement can still act as proof of when and where you bought something. It does not show what you bought, though, so the receipt is the better record.

The legal guarantee and the warranty are two different things

In the EU, things you buy from a business come with a legal guarantee of at least two years from the day you received them. It is a claim against the seller rather than the manufacturer, and it costs nothing. If the item turns out to be faulty, the seller has to repair or replace it. If that is impossible, or cannot be done within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, you are entitled to a full or partial refund.

For the first year, a fault is assumed to have been there from the start unless the seller can prove otherwise. In some EU countries that period is two years. After it, it can be up to you to show the fault was there from the start. Some countries also give a legal guarantee longer than two years under their own law.

Second-hand goods bought from a business are covered too, although in some countries the seller can agree a shorter period with you, never less than one year. Sales between private individuals are not covered.

The manufacturer's warranty is extra. It is voluntary, its terms are whatever the warranty statement says, and it can never take away or shorten the legal guarantee. A one-year manufacturer's warranty does not mean you only have one year.

Since 27 September 2026, sellers in the EU have to show a standard notice about the legal guarantee wherever they sell, in the shop and at online checkouts, so expect to start seeing it.

Iceland and Norway

Both have their own consumer sales laws. In each, you can complain about a fault for two years, or for five years if the item is meant to last much longer than that. Which items count is judged case by case, and furniture and large household appliances are typical examples.

Elsewhere the rules differ, and your country's consumer authority will have the details.

Know when it runs out

Write down the date the guarantee or warranty ends. "Two years" is easy to remember and easy to miscount. Then put a reminder in a calendar a month before that date, which leaves time to have a fault looked at while the item is still covered.

If something starts playing up, tell the seller as soon as you notice. Some countries set a deadline for reporting a fault once you have noticed it.

Keep it all in one place

The receipt, the date, the shop, the model number and the manual are only useful together. A folder per room works. So does a spreadsheet with a column for the end date and a link to the receipt photo. What matters is that it is one place, and that someone besides you knows where it is.

Where OrbitMemo comes in

OrbitMemo keeps each purchase as one record: what it is, when and where you bought it, what it cost, the receipt as a photo or PDF, and how long the warranty runs. New items start at two years, the EU minimum. The list shows how long each warranty has left and turns amber when the end is under 90 days away, and the app can send a reminder to your phone a month before it ends. Everyone in the household sees the same list. See what else it holds, or try it free for a week with no card.