• Share

PRINT

Kevin Brasler recalls barraging an obliging salesperson with questions about car seat safety when he was a concerned new parent.

Before they checked out, Brasler and his wife found the seat they were considering for $50 less on Amazon. But they were so invested in their in-store experience that they bought from the salesperson anyway.

However, they likely could have purchased the car seat at the store and gotten the Amazon price by simply asking the retailer to match it.

Price matching typically requires asking the cashier to meet a lower advertised price at the time of purchase, or asking a representative at the customer service desk for a price adjustment within a post-purchase grace period.

To price match online, call the site’s customer service line. You’ll usually need a digital or physical ad for evidence of the lower offer, and there can be exceptions and exclusions.

Brasler is executive editor at the nonprofit Consumers’ Checkbook. The group has found that mystery shoppers saved considerable amounts by price matching, including $140 on an LG sound bar speaker system at Best Buy.

Even though price matching works, fewer than 10 percent of consumers do it, according to Sucharita Mulpuru, chief retail strategist for Shoptalk.

She said that although price matching has grown during the last decade, many consumers are still unaware of it, and others don’t bother because it seems like a hassle. And some stores keep such a close eye on pricing that matching isn’t often necessary.

How to price match

• Check retailer websites for price matching policies. For example, Amazon honors TV prices from select stores, but won’t price match anything else. Best Buy matches Amazon.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, HP.com, Newegg.com and TigerDirect.com, in addition to local competitors. But Kumar said price matching policies often exclude businesses offering the lowest prices because they might not sell genuine products.

• Match comparable products. It can be more difficult to price match items such as electronics because retailers might sell different model numbers, Mulpuru said.

• Download a price comparison app such as ShopSavvy or Scan. Then scan the barcode of the item you want and see what it’s selling for elsewhere — and whether you should request a price match.

• Some retailers, including Target, will match their own online prices in store, so check both before buying.

• If you find your item for less post-purchase, ask for a price adjustment. Many credit cards offer a price protection perk if an item drops in price after you buy.

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.