How Price Matching Can Save You a Bundle

Three steps to get a store to give you the same deal its rival would

Lisa Lee Freeman,

AARP

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En español

Published June 10, 2021

/ Updated August 23, 2024

a woman and a man use a smartphone to price check a blender

BEN MOUNSEY-WOOD

Price matching at Best Buy, Target, PetSmart and many other stores can save you time and money. Retailers have every reason to do so since, thanks to the proliferation of online shopping, physical stores have become showrooms of sorts. Customers come in to check out the product but buy it online often for cheaper. By offering to match the lower price, the retailer gets the sale.

Shopper beware

There are caveats with price matching. Some retailers make it easy, while others attach conditions that make it more complicated. Certain retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart, don’t offer price matching at all. Walmart did for decades but stopped doing so a few years ago.

“Some stores have ridiculous conditions,” says Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Consumers’ Checkbook, a resource for ratings, prices and reviews of businesses. The nonprofit recently scoured the policies of about 100 retailers and put them to the test. Makeup store Sephora landed on the list of retailers with complicated rules regarding price matching. Its policy states it will match lower in-store prices of only a handful of stores, including Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, but only if the competitors’ lower prices are for products not on sale, says Brasler. Best Buy and Target are the opposite — they both make it easy to get a lower price if the item can be bought for cheaper elsewhere.

Still, even the most generous price-matching policies come with limitations. Brasler says these are some of the most common restrictions:

The item must be identical in color and specifications
The retailer offering the lower price must have it in stock or be able to ship it immediately
Price matching from warehouse clubs is often excluded
Cellphones are often excluded from price matching policies
Retailers typically won’t price match on clearance or discontinued items

Despite these limitations, price matching can save you money and doesn’t have to seem overwhelming if you follow these three tips from Jeanette Pavini, author of The Joy of $aving.

How to use price matching to save money

1. Look for a store’s policies

Check the customer service or policies sections of a retailer’s website, or do a general web search for the store’s name plus the words “price match.” If the store has a policy, find out which competitors’ prices it will match and read the fine print. Typically the item must be in stock and be the same model number; it may also have to be the same size and color.

2. Find other prices

Before you check out, either online or in a store, use a price-comparison search engine like Google Shopping, ShopSavvy or Price.com. You can also set up email and text alerts for if and when the price changes. Alternatively, go directly to the sites of qualifying retail competitors, or look for their latest advertising circular.

3. Gather the evidence

If you find a lower price, print the offer, take a screenshot or bring the print ad featuring the deal you are looking to match to the store with you. (Do not photocopy the ad; some retailers will accept only the original.) If you’re in a store, show the cashier the deal. If you’re on the store’s website, call customer service or start an online chat. Tell the representative that you found a better price at another retailer and you’d like to request a price match. As long as you have proof and it complies with the company policy, you should get the deal.

Consumers’ Checkbook’s price matching test yielded some impressive results. Brasler said the nonprofit found a pair of Vince men’s Fulton sneakers for $225 at Nordstrom but got it to match Bloomingdale’s lower price of $168.75. Home Depot lowered its price for a Frigidaire refrigerator from $728 to $639 after researchers asked it to match the price at Lowe’s.

Brasler says the group’s shoppers typically received lower prices simply by pulling up competing offers on their phones, showing them to store personnel and asking for a price match. Sometimes shoppers were directed to customer service counters to complete the transaction, but the lower price was often provided right at the checkout register. The key takeaway for shoppers: Don’t be afraid to speak up. “I don’t think you should feel bad about saving money,” says Brasler. “It’s important to make sure you’re not being overcharged.”

10 Retailers That Offer Price Matching

Here are key terms from 10 national chains that offer price matching. Visit their websites for full policies.

Bed Bath & Beyond: Price match is available to Welcome Rewards members and is subject to several conditions. You only have seven days post-purchase and the retailer will only match identical, immediately available products sold and shipped by Amazon, Hayneedle, Home Depot, Staples, Target, Walmart and Wayfair. The price match is limited to three items per month.
Best Buy:The item must be an exact match, including the color, and be in stock.
Dick’s Sporting Goods: The item must match exactly. The sporting goods retailer won’t price match sales.
Home Depot: Price matching at the hardware giant excludes seasonal, obsolete and clearance items.
JCPenney: You can price match and use a coupon. The retailer won’t match prices from third-party sellers, such as deal websites and auctions.
Kohl’s: Kohl’s may match a competitor’s in-store price . Prices advertised by a competitor during the week of Thanksgiving and the week after will not be matched.
Lowe’s: For online purchases, matching will include shipping costs. In store, show the printed or digital ad to the cashier to get the savings. Online, reach out to customer service to receive the price match. There are some exclusions.
Michaels: The chain matches a select list of online retailers, including Athome, Hobbylobby, Homedepot, Joann, Kohls, Lowes, Officedepot, Partycity, Popshelf, Staples, Target, Walmart and any brick-and-mortar retailer.
Petsmart: There’s no price matching on animals but the retailer will match the price for in-store shoppers as long as the identical product is in stock at the store. It will also match the price for online shoppers as long as the online competitor’s product is in stock and identical.
Target: Customers have 14 days after a purchase to find a lower price, which Target will match.