Price Matching Does Work

If you do virtually any shopping on-line, you've probably noticed that many sites have some sort of price guarantee. This isn't only limited to shopping on-line, either, since many larger retailers do the same thing in stores. It does pay to be aware of these offers, because they offer you opportunities to be creative with your shopping. You can end up with a nice savings that's below what was originally being offered in the first place. You can also have a local merchant match a price that can save you the time (and gas) to drive to a competitor much further away -- nowadays you have to factor in the cost of the trip to the store, it's getting to be that expensive to drive!

Sometimes the guarantees are just a general "we'll meet or beat any advertised price." Other stores offer a more specific "110% price guarantee" where they will drop the price by the difference between their and the competitor's and then tack on another 10% of the difference. In that case you've gotten an even better price than where you started.

My most recent case of price matching involves purchasing a high-quality juicer, which I had seen at a health seminar for $500. I noted the model number and did some on-line price-checking, and found prices ranging from $419 to $459. But I also noted some sites saying they couldn't mention anything below $419 since that was the "minimum advertised price." Those sites asked you to send in your e-mail address and they'd give you their special offers.

I wrote to a couple of them and they were returning prices in the $380-$390 ranges. I also noted that one of the sites had a note on the website that they would beat any competitor's quote by $15. So I sent them the quote with the special unadvertised price. Sure enough, they lived up to their pledge and offered to beat that by $15. So I was able to purchase this juicer for $365 (the regular price at their website without any price-matching offer was $439, so they were giving me $74 off their normal price).

Price matching works best when you are dealing with items that have specific model numbers which are sold by a variety of retailers. When a GPS system was on sale at Circuit City a while ago, I knew that Staples sold the same model, and they did the 110% price match, giving me a better price than if I had driven further and gone to Circuit City (and I also got Staples Rewards points for making my purchase there).

If you have some stores that are favorites, it's probably worth a bit of time to check their websites and see what their price-match policies are. Some sites make them very easy to see (shoebuy.com has their 110% price guarantee near the top of their webpage), and for others you have to check out their customer service links for information. But once you know they're there, you can use them as part of a shopping strategy. Just one more tool in the battle to keep more bucks in your own pocket.

Use On-line Tools for Last-Minute In-Store Shopping

By now, it's a little too late for on-line orders to be delivered in time for Christmas, so if you still have shopping to do, you'll probably be doing it in stores. That doesn't mean that on-line can't help you. Before you head out shopping, you can still do a little on-line research to help you get the best deal.

One way is to shop on-line for in-store pickup. Many sites have better prices on the Internet than they have for the product in the store. Some of the major dealers allow you to place the purchase on-line and see if the item is in stock at a local store to go pick it up. Electronics stores like Circuit City are big on this. But so are other types of stores like Sears. So if you are shopping for a particular item you can still do some checking to see if has any Internet pricing (along with any on-line coupon codes etc.) to land the best deal before you set foot in the store.

Another way to use the Internet is to check whether the stores you're planning to visit have any printable coupons valid for in-store use. Although coupons are plentiful for various vendors on the Internet, sometimes the coupons are also valid for use in the store as well. You can do a Google search of a store's name and "printable coupon" and see if anything pops up.

You can certainly use price comparison sites such as pricegrabber.com to see what sellers might have the best price for an item. It might help you pick one store over another, if you really see a price break somewhere. It's not unusual for one vendor to cut a price on a particular model at a different time than other sellers, so sometimes it can be a significant difference.

Price-matching policies can also come in handy. Many major stores offer some type of price-matching. This can be handy if you're located close to one major seller and others would be more of a hike. If the one near you price matches its competitors, you can do a search of all the competitors and bring the best price you find to the store that's closest. If you show them the lower price, they should offer to match it (or for some stores' policies they'll even offer to beat it). In this case the specific model/item must be an exact match, so this works when you know the specific item for which you're looking.

Don't forget about possible price-matching after the fact -- some sellers offer to match a better price if you find it lower within some time after the sale, so hold onto receipts and maybe check on some of those items a couple of days after the holidays to see if a better/lower price is being offered. Hey, a refund of a price difference is nothing to be sneezed at either.

Finally, if you know someone wants a type of item and you're not sure of which make/model is the best fit (i.e. a 7-megapixel digital camera), you can type "7 megapixel camera reviews" into a google search box and you may come up with a variety of sources to read on what's the best value for that person on your shopping list (or for yourself if you're looking for one). Internet reviews can be taken with a grain of salt, but if models have a preponderance of good reviews from both a technical source such as a magazine as well as from most of the users, you can have a bit more confidence in the product.

Good luck with all your last-minute shopping!

Price-Matching Policies, or How I Saved $75 on this PC!

If you look at the policies of many stores, one of the hidden benefits is the concept of price-matching. They will meet or beat any price if you show them proof a competitor is selling the same item at a lower cost. Some will even refund the difference if you buy something and then find a lower price elsewhere. It's a way of reversing the risk, making it a bit easier for the purchaser to go ahead with buying, having a little bit of 'insurance' against finding a better deal later and regretting it.

I saw a suggestion a few months back on a webpage board about asking for price-matching. I used it and got a store to drop the price an extra $75 on the laptop I'm using to post this blog. Here's what happened:

I had gotten to the point of being ready to upgrade my old PC and started researching what make/model/specs would meet my needs. I had found one laptop that seemed to offer good bang for the buck, with a 17" display, good processors and hard drive as well as brand reputation. Then looking through the Sunday paper one week I found that two retailers, Circuit City and Office Depot, were offering a sale on that model. Both of them had an ending price of $699 but the forms they took were different. Circuit City simply had a $699 price, while Office Depot offered an $849 price with a $150 rebate.

My normal way of thinking would have been to go to Circuit City as it would be less money out of pocket, less in sales tax and none of the rebate paperwork. But the price match suggestion I had read triggered me to try something else. The suggestion had been to ask in this kind of situation if the price-match policy for the store would be matched to the selling price at the other store. In other words, if Circuit City's price was $699, would Office Depot match that price? And the item would still be valid for rebate so the final cost would be lower.

The poster who made that suggestion said his local Office Depot had said yes to this kind of situation but that they knew him. One of the things about price-match is that it is largely at the interpretation and discretion of each store manager.

I figured it couldn't hurt to try. The two stores has locations about a mile apart so I wouldn't burn a lot of time or gas if I needed to go to both. So, ads in hand, I set off for Office Depot. I found the PC, double-checked the specs, model and price and then got some sales help. When I said I had a question about price-matching, the department manager came over and I asked if they would sell me the PC that day at the price offered by Circuit City (I told him I was ready to buy that day). He only took a few moments and then said he would do the price-match. I was thrilled. To get the better price and the rebate -- best of both worlds, right?

A couple of minutes later though, he returned with some bad news-- the store manager wouldn't do a full price-match because of the rebate offer, but they still would knock $50 off the price. Sounded good, but I figured it was an opening to negotiate a bit. I asked them if they would do $75. The store manager agreed, and voila! I had a computer + $75 less than I would have had to spend otherwise (actually about $71 with the sales tax difference).

I figure the store is still making money on the sale (they wouldn't agree otherwise) and I walked away a bit happier. I think it helped that I tried to create a win-win with my offer -- if they accepted it they would get my business on the spot. So my tip for the day is to check around for price-matching policies when you are looking for big-ticket items, the kinds that might be offered by a variety of stores. Know that it will be up to the store personnel's discretion, so use an approach that is positive and gives them a reason to want to match. And don't be afraid to at least ask.