Guest Post: Price Matching 101

*The following is a guest post from Shelly at Coupon Teacher.  She loves to save time and money.*

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First, let me preface my post by saying that I am not endorsing Walmart in this post.  As a matter of fact, I avoid going to Walmart like the plague.  But for busy moms, stores that price match, including Walmart, can be an easy solution to saving money.

What is Price Matching?

Several grocery stores, electronics stores, and office supply stores offer what is called price matching.  In other words, they will give you the advertised price on an EXACT item that you planned to purchase at another store.  Let’s say I really need Kraft cheese, Dannon Yogurt, and Cheerios at the store.   Those items probably aren’t all on sale at the same store at the same time.  Pricing matching means, I would look through my ads for those items, circle the prices, and take the ads with me to the store that is willing to price match.

Here is the Price Matching policy from Walmart (most other price matching stores have similar policies):

• 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.

How does it save you time?

Well, if you are like me and trying to save money for your family, you go to more than one store each week for groceries.  I go to each store in my area and buy what is on sale.  This can get to be pretty time consuming and use a lot of gas (my stores are all within a mile of each other and closer than my Walmart).  There are only two ways that price matching takes up your time.  It takes a few minutes to look through the ads, and it will take longer at the checkout than a regular transaction.  Assuming your checker has the register under control; it should still save you a ton of time over running around to different stores.

How does it save you money?

You will get the sale price for the item, which would usually be lower than the store’s regular price.  At Walmart and some other price matching stores, you can still use coupons on the items you price match.  It will also save you money on gas, because you aren’t running to different stores all week.

I am definitely not saying that Price Matching is for everyone, but it can be a valuable tool for saving money.

What about you, do you price match items?

Shelly is a full-time fourth grade teacher and blogs at Coupon Teacher. She wants you to share and celebrate your successes with her, and she may give you a few tips along the way!  Right now, she is offering a free savvy shopping course.  She would love for you to join her!