Know the price-matching policies for Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and others

Nothing is more frustrating than buying a new pair of headphones, an OLED, or a backpack just to find out that you could have gotten it for a lot cheaper somewhere else. In order to keep customers happy — and prevent them from going elsewhere — many retailers offer price-matching policies where they promise to match a lower price that you’ve found elsewhere. That’s information that could come in handy, especially given Black Friday is right around the corner and Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale kicks off on October 12th.

What follows are the price-matching policies for a variety of major retailers. There are a few things to make note of here. First, all price-matching policies have a number of rules attached to them. We’ve summarized some of the rules here, but you’d be advised to go to the links that we’ve provided and read the policy carefully. Second, and logically enough, retailers that serve as marketplaces for other sellers, such as Amazon or Costco, don’t have price-matching policies.

Finally, some retailers that do have price-matching policies suspend them for special occasions, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day. But at other times of the year, these price matches can save you a nice amount of cash. So keep them in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind: there are exceptions to most rules. So if you’re looking for a deal on a product and you know of a lower price elsewhere (or one that was offered previously at the same retailer), it never hurts to call (and in some cases, live chat from your PC or phone) and ask if they’ll match the price. After all, what do you have to lose?

Price-matching policies for retailers and companies

Amazon

Target

Best Buy

Walmart

Apple

B&H Photo

Costco

Dell

DJI

eBay

GameStop

HP

Google

Lenovo

Microsoft

Newegg

Sam’s Club

Sonos