By Kelly Hodges
Each Sunday, I browse through the ads in my local newspaper over a cup of coffee. This process usually yields a handful of good deals from a number of different retailers. Let’s say for example, that this week I find cheap batteries at Office Max, discounted dog food at Fleet Farm, a sale on diapers at Walgreens, and a clearance on laundry detergent at Target. Now I, like you, have neither the time nor the energy to traipse to these four different retailers just to get a good deal on these few items. However, thanks to stores with a price match guarantee, driving all over town is no longer necessary to enjoy the best deals from all these different stores in your area.
Price matching is becoming a more popular tactic of major (and minor) retailers who are always trying to increase their edge in attracting the business of increasingly savvy shoppers. Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, Best Buy, and Staples are just a few of the big chains that offer some form of price matching. Target refers to its policy as the “Low Price Promise,” and states “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.” So in the example given above, you would simply bring the Office Max, Fleet Farm, and Walgreens ads to Target and then when you check out they will honor the sale price from these ads on your batteries, dog food and diapers. This is a great way to aggregate multiple deals into a single shopping trip without much additional effort.
Each individual retailer has a slight variation on the policy, so make sure you are familiar with it before you head to the store with your stack of ads. Most do require you to have the physical flyer, and most also exclude internet prices from the guarantee. Each retailer also has a certain post-purchase time frame that they will also guarantee a price match, usually 7-14 days. This means that if you find the identical item advertised for a lower price after you have purchased it, you simply bring in your receipt with a copy of the ad and they will refund the difference. You probably wouldn’t bother to do this over a box of cereal, but if you just spent $1200 on a new TV it’s worth holding onto that receipt for a few weeks in case a better price pops up, which could mean a savings of a few hundred dollars.
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Any opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not in any way represent the views or opinions of her employer or any other person or entity.
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