How to Match a Price at Walmart

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If you are crunched for time or do not have the motivation to shop a couple of different stores each week, Walmart’s price matching policy can help you save a lot of money. While matching a price, or “comping,” can be intimidating, it is a simple process which takes very little effort.

How to “Comp” a Price

First, mark your shopping list with the sales price you want to comp and initials of the store where it is advertised. For instance, if american singles are 2 for $3 at Winn Dixie, I would write “american singles 2/$3 W/D” on my shopping list.

It is optional but convenient to place post-it notes on the items you want to comp to help remember. As you are shopping, you simply make a note of the price and store on a post-it note and stick it to the item as a reminder of which items you will be matching. This does not work very well on cold or frozen items.

Tell the cashier before you start, “I will be comping some items today.” That gives the cashier a heads-up and you a reminder.

Try to group all your comp items together at the end of the conveyor belt. Why? So that you will be in front of the cashier when it is time to start matching the prices.

Tell the cashier the price and the store. They might require the price be verified against the ad but they should have the advertisement available at the Customer Service Manager’s desk. To make the process more time efficient, bring a copy of the advertisement with you.

But Doesn’t Walmart Watch Prices?

Sometimes they watch the prices in the sales ads but they do not always catch everything. Even then, they may not roll the price back until the following week.

You are their volunteer workforce!  When you “comp” a price, it is stored in their database and when enough “comps” are made, it triggers a “rollback.”

They do not watch for unadvertised sales prices.

Managers are allowed some choice in pricing items.  If an item is not moving as quickly as they want, especially clearance merchandise, they might mark it down another price-point to clear the shelf quicker.

Some Noted Variations

Lately, several people have told me that they local Walmart’s policy has some fabulous differences from the corporate policy. Ask about these at your store:

• Several Walmart stores in various regions of the country (not mine) have started doubling coupons.
• Some Walmart stores are accepting competitor coupons for dollars off, such as a Target coupon for $1 off Bertolli pasta sauce.

Have you ever matched a price at Walmart?