All About Price Matching

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:


http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-040400


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.