Today was the first time I had price matched at Wal-mart. I generally go to one or two grocery stores each week when I shop. I check out the adds and decide which is the best value for my time. This week, however, there were great deals to be had a 4 or 5 different stores. I was NOT going to drag my 38 week pregnant body and 2 year old son all around town!
I had a pretty good experience price matching and I will let you know what I did that made everything go smoothly and what things were problematic.
I made a list of the items I wanted or needed to purchase, then I scanned my ads to find the lowest price advertised. Next to the the item I wrote the advertised price and the store it was at. My list looked something like this:
Highland butter- 16 oz $1.59- SF (Sunfest)
Watermelon 2.99 Jubilee
Peaches/Nectarines .69/lb Jubilee
grapes .99/lb Apple Market
Cheerios, Reeses, Trix, LC- 5/$10 (10-14oz) CM (Country Mart)
Best Choice yogurt- 6oz 30 cents SF
When I got to Walmart I went to customer service to ask a few questions. I asked about store brands. Most of my grocery stores carry Best Choice and Walmart offers Great Value. These are interchangeable! I also asked about store loyalty cards. My Walmart will match those advertised deals, but not if they have to be paired with a store coupon. (Country Mart does this often.) The woman also said that meat is not always price matched because the size of packaging is different. I found the same to be true for produce like blueberries. One store was selling 2lbs for $5 and Walmart had their berries in 11oz containers. This made the berries about $3/lb and Walmart would not match this, but they did match the rest of the produce. Things that are sold per item (like 4/$1 kiwi) or per pound (like grapes .99/lb) they will match.
When I got to the check out I separated my purchase to make it easier for the cashier and me! I put all of the non-price matched items on the conveyor belt first then all the items I wanted to match. I let her know at the beginning of my transaction that I was going to price match. Some stores or cashiers may ask to see the ads, I did have those handy, but today she just asked for the price and store. Since I had this on my list it was very easy to let her know.
Overall I think price matching went well. It does take a little longer and some forethought, but less time than visiting 3 stores! Also, if I were going to use coupons Walmart does not double them like the grocery stores. I will probably try it again!
This post is linked to
Frugal Friday at Life as Mom