Expert Reviews
Kim Pinnelli October 25, 2021
2 comments
There’s no worse feeling than buying something only to find out you could have gotten it cheaper. You’d think shopping at Walmart, you’re getting the cheapest prices, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes prices are cheaper elsewhere including Walmart.com versus in a Walmart store.
Many stores price match, including Walmart, but they have some pretty tough restrictions that make price matching a difficult task.
What is the Walmart Price Match Policy?
Walmart has two price match policies – one for shopping on Walmart.com and another for shopping in-store. We’ll cover both here.
Price Matching on Walmart.com
Walmart will price match items bought on its website if the item is identical down to the size and even color. Every aspect of the product must be the same and it must be in stock on both Walmart.com and the online retailer you’re using to price match.
You can price match one item per day and you cannot price match if the item isn’t in stock. Walmart will also only price match for these stores:
- Academy.com
- Amazon.com
- Autozone.com
- Babiesrus.com
- Basspro.com
- Bedbathandbeyond.com
- Bestbuy.com
- Cabelas.com
- Chewy.com
- Dickssportinggoods.com
- Dollargeneral.com
- Familydollar.com
- Homedepot.com
- Jcpenny.com
- Kmart.com
- Kohls.com
- Lowes.com
- Michaels.com
- Newegg.com
- Officedepot.com
- Oreillyauto.com
- Pepboys.com
- Petco.com
- Petsmart.com
- Sears.com
- Staples.com
- Target.com
- Walgreens.com
Walmart.com won’t price match items that decreased in price after you bought them on Walmart.com. They also won’t price match the following:
- Any items sold in the marketplace or by a third party
- Discounts only applied at checkout
- Percentage off sales
- Dollar off sales
- Membership deals
- Bundled offers
- Rebates or coupons
- Prices that rely on a certain quantity purchased
- Clearance items
- Closeout deals
- Refurbished items
- In-store prices
- Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals
Price Matching In-Store
To price-match an item you’re buying at a Walmart store, Walmart will only price match Walmart.com or Jet.com prices. To get the lower price, the item must be in stock on the website you’re comparing it to and be verifiable by a Walmart associate.
Like online price matching, Walmart will not price match in the following instances:
- Walmart Marketplace prices
- Bundle pricing
- Rebates or coupons
- Purchases that pay you a gift card
- Percentage off sales
- Dollar-off sales
- Buy one get one free sale
- Competitor prices
How Does it Work?
Walmart doesn’t automatically price match, you have to ask for it. Depending on how you’re shopping, there’s a different way to approach it.
If you’re shopping online, contact Walmart customer care before you check out. You can contact them online or by phone at 1-800-925-6278. The associate will compare the products, ensure they are identical, in stock, and that you’re comparing the price to an eligible store.
If you’re shopping in-store, tell the cashier you want to price match. They’ll typically call over a manager who will make sure the product details are identical and the price is eligible for a price match on Walmart.com or Jet.com. The managers do have the final say whether or not they’ll accept a price match.
Why can’t you Price Match Buy One Get One Free Deal?
Any item you price match must have an exact price. That’s why Walmart doesn’t price match buy one get one free deal or even dollar off/percentage off deals. These sales don’t give an exact price.
What if the buy one get one free deal at another store prices the product much higher than Walmart’s price? Each store plays around with its prices before creating sales. Sometimes what looks like a great deal really isn’t as large of savings as you think.
This is why Walmart will only match prices that have a specific price mentioned and if there aren’t any stipulations to get that price.
Does Walmart Have to Honor your Price Match Request?
In a perfect world, Walmart would always honor your price match request, but that’s not the reality. Walmart didn’t get as big as they are today by giving their items away. While they have a generous price match policy, especially online, they don’t have to honor any price match requests.
When you call in your request or ask for it at the store, you’re at the manager’s mercy whether they match the price or not. Even if you’re price matching an item on Walmart.com to the same item in the store, if the manager doesn’t feel like it’s a good decision, he/she can say no.
How to Increase your Chances of Getting a Price Match?
Because Walmart has the final say regarding a price match, it helps to know how to increase your chances of getting it approved.
- If you’re price matching online, make sure it’s at one of the eligible stores. Walmart is very specific about which stores they will price match and which stores they will not price match.
- Make sure all the details of the product match down to the color. Walmart will look at the size, design, color, model number, and any other details they feel are necessary to give you the price match.
- Don’t request more than one price match in a day. Most of the time they will not approve it.
- Avoid items in the Walmart.com Marketplace because they can’t be price matched. You can filter your search results to ‘Walmart.com only’ items.
- Be polite, remember, they have the final answer whether you can price match your item or not.
FAQs on Walmart’s Price Match Policy
Does Walmart price match local stores?
Walmart will not price match local stores. If you’re shopping in-store and notice something was cheaper at Target, for example, Walmart will not price match it in the store. But, if you’re shopping online at Walmart.com and notice something was cheaper on Target.com, you can call customer service and ask for a price match after ensuring all details are identical.
Does Walmart match their online prices in-store?
If you find the identical item, down to the size and color for a better price on Walmart.com than is offered in the store, you can price match it. You will need to ask the cashier and/or management to approve the price match and they have the right to check if the product is in stock on Walmart.com before approving the price match.
Does Walmart honor mismarked prices?
If you’re in a Walmart store and a product is priced incorrectly (lower than it should be), most Walmart managers will honor the price posted even though it’s incorrect. It is up to each store’s discretion if they want to honor it, though. If the mistake was an honest one by an employee or a malfunction of the computer, they’ll usually honor it as long as it’s not a tremendous difference.
Does an item have to be in stock to price match it?
Yes, an item must be in stock at the store you’re price matching. For example, if you’re shopping online at Walmart.com and price matching an item at Target.com, the item must be in stock and ready to purchase that second at Target.com. If it’s not in stock, Walmart won’t price match it.
The same is true if you’re shopping in-store and trying to price match an item on Walmart.com or Jet.com. If the cashier or manager can’t verify that the item is in stock, they won’t price match.
Does Walmart price match with Amazon’s?
If you’re shopping in a Walmart store, unfortunately, you can’t price match with Amazon. But, if you’re shopping online, you can absolutely price match with Amazon.com, but the same rules apply. The product must be identical including the brand, size, color, and features. If there’s anything different about the items sold at Amazon or it’s sold in the Walmart Marketplace, you won’t be able to price match it.
Final Thoughts – Walmart Price Match Policies
Walmart does price match, but they are strict about the rules. Even though Walmart typically has low prices, there are other stores that offer better prices sometimes. If you know a product is cheaper somewhere else, but you want to shop on Walmart.com, make sure you call to get the price match.
They make you work hard to get the price match, but it’s worth the effort if you can save money, especially on large purchases. Remember, you can only price match one item per day, so use your price matching wisely so you save the most money on larger purchases.