UPdate: I’ve had a lot of questions lately about Price Matching. So I thought I would re- post this from earlier in the year for those who never saw it! It can save you a lot of money if you know how it works.
A great friend of mine, Annalee, is a Crazy Price Matcher! And, since she knows all of the ins and outs, I asked her to do a guest post on Price Matching for all of us. Those of you who want to be able to go to one store to buy all of the weekly deals, read on!
By Annalee:
I know when I first started couponing, I felt that I needed to get EVERY deal at EVERY store. That is a lot of running around- which to me is money spent, valuable time driving and valuable money on gas. It can also cause burn out which I did experience six months later. You don’t HAVE to get every deal at every store. Walmart and Target make it easy. They want you to come in to their store instead of the competitor’s.
First of all, check out Walmart’s Price Matching policy. It outlines what you can and can’t do. Target doesn’t spell it out in black and white, they have what is called “Low Price Promise” which I will explain bit later.
Here is Walmart’s policy:
Our goal is always to be the low price leader in every community where we operate. Our customers trust us to have everyday low prices … there’s no need for “special sales.”
Our unbeatable promise:
Store managers make the final decision in always taking care of our customers, but we do have guidelines for matching our competition.
• We do honor “Preferred Shopping Card” advertised prices. Must be like items, be advertised and require a competitor’s shopping card, for the discount to apply.
• We do not honor advertisements that require a purchase in order to receive the advertised price or free product.
• We do not honor “Buy One / Get One Free” advertisements.
• We do not honor double or triple coupons or percent off advertisements.
• We do not honor other retailers’ “Misprinted” advertised prices.
• We do not honor Internet Pricing.
• We do not honor competitor advertisements from outside of the store’s or Club’s local trade territory.
It also helps to be organized before you go to the actual store. I will make a list of everything I am buying, which store it is on sale at, and the price. That way I am looking at one list and not through everyone’s ads when I am at the checkout. It makes everything go more smoothly.
I can then tell the cashier what the price is and where it is located. They want you to have the ad with you so they can look and verify. But many times, cashiers will honor the price you tell them after showing them a few of the ad prices.
While at the actual store, I will separate my cart into two sections, if possible. Everything I am price matching in one section and everything I am not, in another.
I have heard of some people taking a sharpie along and writing it on the product. I don’t know that I would actually do that- in case they don’t honor the price, or you have gotten the incorrect product.
The most important thing is to find what works for you!
When I check out, I inform the people behind me that they should probably choose another checkout lane because I will be taking up a little more time. When putting the products on the belt, I will actually put the products I am NOT price matching first, so the cashier can start checking me out while I organize what I am price matching. Normally, the cashiers won’t have a problem. If they do, kindly ask for a manager (it also helps to have the policy with you, STAND UP FOR YOUR COUPONS!!) You put a lot of work into couponing, so make sure you get a manager if needed.
Price Matching at Target
Target’s price matching policy is called “Low Price Promise”. It is similar to price matching, the only drawback is that you have to go to customer service to check out. I emailed them concerning price matching and this is the response I received:
If you find an item in a competitor’s printed ad that is priced lower than it is at your Target store, we will match the price. The competitor’s ad must be local and current, and the product must be the identical item, brand name, quantity and model number, some exclusions apply.
Target.com is excluded from our price matching policy. Competitor catalogs can also be ad matched as long as the catalog displays a valid date and meets all other qualifications. For a list of exclusions, definitions and other conditions, please visit:
https://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-040400
Still have questions? Give us a call at (800)440-0680. We’re here to help!
Thanks for shopping with us. We look forward to showing you what’s new at Target.
Target’s policy isn’t as spelled out as Walmart’s, so it’s a little inconsistent. The cons outweigh the pros when it comes to Target for me. It seems much more of a hassle than a benefit, but if you are already there and there are only a few items that you need to price match, then I would probably do it.
Price matching can be very beneficial. You can make one stop and don’t have to drive around town hitting every store. And, more times than not, Walmart’s shelves aren’t cleared out.
(Special Thanks to Annalee for helping us all out on Price Matching!!)
corrine
wow that was way helpful, thanks!
Kristy
I just can't seem to get over Walmart's horrible customer service.
The Schofield Family
Will Walmart also price match fresh produce?
Melea
Yup!!
Jenny
Will Walmart and Target price match and then use a coupon on top of that?
Shantelle
I talked to a manager at my Walmart and she said they would even match the price in the other ads after their in store coupons. For example, the Winco ads always have huge sale items on the front page of their ad, using their coupon. I just go to Walmart and get it there! I cut out the ad and put them in the sleeves a little photo book I carry around. That way it is much easier to flip through and find for the cashier if they ask.
Melea
Jenny-Yes, you can still use coupons after you price match!
Anonymous
I was at WalMart buying oranges.. They were 10c each at the Grocer Wal Mart and then 16c each at the Super WalMart. I explained this to the cashier and that I wanted to price match and she said that they can't price match with their own stores because their manager was running a special on that store only!! I think this is ridiculous.. Melea is this true? Or was the cashier being stingy?-Frustrated Oranges
April
I currently work for walmart and most of what everyone has posted is true. However, walmart will not price match another walmarts price.. so layton supercenter will not price match layton neighborhood market walmart and vice verse. They will also only price match store locally surrounding that store so check with the walmart that you shop at and ask them what stores they will accept price matches from.
Johnson Family
I love price matching. It does require effort, but I save so much time going to one store. I rarely have a problem with the cashier's and I literally price match everything from produce to toiletries. I rarely have had them ask to look at an ad, but always keep them on me in case.
Amanda
I love, love, love price matching. I always price match at walmart. Now there are downsides. It always takes me at least a half an hour to check out and sometimes if I accidentally get someone new it can be twice that but between coupons and price matching I usually walk out of walmart with $600 dollars of groceries for in the $200-$300 range. I use a spiral notebook. Break down by store and then list items, size and dollar amount. I bring the ad's but I've found that the checkers don't usually need to see the ad (except meat) as long as I've broken it out this way. Thanks.
Julie
Oh this is one I have not done yet. I usually only shop at Smith's anyway but I may have to try out price matching when I move to another area. I don't like the Wal-mart closest to me. The new target might not be so bad though.
Lisa
You DON'T need to show them an ad…if they ask for it, point to their coupon policy. I LOVE price-matching at Wal-Mart, but it does have its downsides (incompetent cashiers and LONG checkout times), but after a while the cashiers figure it out and can spot you from a mile away and it still saves me time over running around everywhere. They will take other stores' coupons, so I like to stack, say Target coupons, with manufacturer coupons for an even better deal given Wal-Mart's usually lower prices.
Nicole
I tried to price match something at Target once to a Smith's ad and the customer service rep said they couldn't do it because the price in the Smith's ad price was with the Fresh Values card and the wouldn't match prices that needed special cards. So basically they won't price match Smith's ads.
CoolEwellFam
I was wondering with Walmart and price matching if they would price match the 10 for 10 specials that Smiths has or even like just lately the Smith deals for 10 where you had to buy 10? Do we still have to buy 10 to get the deal at walmart?
Kristin Robinson
I was just wondering say they have bayer on sale at walgreens for $3 and you get a $1 Register Reward How would walmart price match that would they just give it to me for $2 instead of the $3??
Jatonia
Hi, I wanted to let you know that Walmart has up dated it’s price matching policy. At the time this was written Walmart did not price match bogo but now does as long as the price is listed in the ad. It does not have to say buy one for x amount get one free it can say save x amount on 2. The qualifier is that the store has to have a way to find the price.
For CoolEwellFam the answer to the 10 for 10 question is yes they will honor it the conditions that exist in the ad will still need to be met if they limit/maximize the amount we will as well.
For Kristin Robinson the answer is not an easy one it is up to the stores managers, the policies which were very recently updated do not address this, in the store where I work it depends on which csm you get.
Hope this helped
Danny
How far can the competitors store be we only have one other grocery store in our town the closest town is 60done miles away