Post-Christmas shopping at La Palmera Mall sees early risers tackling gift exchanges by arriving early to avoid crowds.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Holiday shopping might be over but gift exchanges and returns are in full swing.

RELATED: What to know about the Christmas Eve Powerball jackpot in Arkansas worth $1.8 billion

Over at La Palmera Mall, shoppers were tackling post-Christmas shopping like Sam Garcia who arrived before Dillard’s opened. 

“I came to return my wife’s Christmas present you didn’t fit her, so  I came to return,” Garcia said. “It was too big, so I got to order a different one, a smaller one, because they were too big.”

Joe McNabb is also exchanging his wife’s gift. 

“We returned some Nike dunks. So the size, it didn’t fit right with my wife’s foot, so we went a size smaller and we got a different color,” McNabb said.

Even though stores might be packed, Stephanie Carls with RetailMeNot said in person returns can be beneficial.

“So, looking at the seller’s return policy, pay attention to who pays for that shipping? Because if you have to pay, you might be able to save on some fees if you’re able to also return that to a local store,” Carls said.

Both McNabb and Garcia said the key is to arrive early.

“Just come in a little early, because if you wait later on during the day it’s gonna be there’s gonna be a lot more people,” Garcia said.

“Way more easier than I thought, and it’s way more calmer and it’s not too much with the lines and everything like that, not so chaotic during the seasonal time,” McNabb said.

Even though he arrived early, Garcia is heading home empty-handed—but he said it was still worth it.

“It didn’t even take me two minutes to do everything. It was real quick. I’m real proud of them. They did a good job,” Garcia said.

Carls said if you still want to avoid the crowds….

“Take a look again at the number of days that you have, so that could be the 30, 60, 90 days, and try to go in and schedule it maybe in a couple of weeks,” Carls said.Â