What is Price Matching?

“We guarantee the lowest prices!” “We’ll beat any advertised price!” “We’ll match any price or give you a discount if you find the same item for less at another store.” You’ve probably heard these claims before, often from major retailers, who obviously want your patronage. This is called price matching, when one retail outlet offers to sell something for the same price you’d purchase it for somewhere else.

Price matching is a common practice, especially in large stores that stock a lot of merchandise. You can also find price matching on the Internet if you look hard enough. Though these offers sound terrific, there are a few things about price matching before you head off to the nearest store looking for the best price.

In some stores, especially mom and pop outlets where the owner gets to set prices, you may simply be able to tell an owner that you can purchase the same thing for X amount lower at a certain store. You may not need to provide proof of a lower price elsewhere, but you might need a longstanding relationship with the store if they don’t advertise that they price match. Sometimes small businesses simply can’t price match because they lose too much money by doing so. If they order less inventory, they usually have to pay higher prices for it than larger companies that order much more inventory.

Virtually no stores will attempt price matching with Internet prices. Further, they may not even match their own Internet prices on items. It’s important to read the fine print before asking companies to price match, even at their own Internet prices or with another Internet store.

Most companies will require that you provide proof that an item is priced lower at another store. If you see an advertisement for a lower price, take it with you to prove a lower price elsewhere. Most companies won’t match prices just on your word alone.

Price matching typically only exists for items that are identical. For instance if you’re buying a mattress, it has to be exactly the same mattress type, make and model in order to get a company to price match. If someone has a Mattress 2000 (generic name) for a lower price and you attempt to match it with a Mattress 2001, you won’t get a lower price.

The same standards may exist for cars. Often a single car is featured with a much lower price than the rest of the same models on a lot. You’re not likely to get that price because the single car price usually even has a vehicle identification number attached to the price. Only that car is for sale. However, you can use this as a bargaining tool, to try to get an overall lower price at the same dealership or at a different one.

In all, some consumers find price matching a benefit, while others find it too much work. It usually does have exclusions, and you’ll have to jump through some hoops in most cases to get it. Many people find it worth a little effort when they’re trying to economize.