Walmart prides itself on everyday low prices. In fact, it’s a store whose name is well-recognized for offering affordable shopping. Therefore, it’s no surprise that they offer the Walmart Price Match Guarantee. After all, the store usually has the lowest prices anyway. However, it’s important to know what the details are for their price matching. Otherwise, you won’t be able to take full advantage of it. And it’s more limited than you might expect.
What Is Price Matching?
Price matching simply means that a store offers to match the lowest available price on any item it sells. If you find the exact same item at another store at a lower price, then you tell the store that offers price matching. If it’s within their regulations, then they’ll match that lower price.
Stores offer this when they want customers to know that they get the best deal with their brand. So, you aren’t going to find price matching among high end jewelry and clothing stores. Instead, you find price matching at stores that emphasize affordability as part of their brand. Walmart is definitely one of those stores.
Sometimes, however, there are different types of price matching. For example, the Walmart price match guarantee isn’t about offering a lower price than competitors. Instead, it’s about matching their own lowest prices.
Does Walmart Have a Price Match Guarantee?
Walmart is known for its low prices. Therefore, they have a reason to offer price matching. The small amount of money that they might lose by matching a lower price, they more than make up for by retaining customers who choose them for their consistent low prices. So, yes, there’s a Walmart price match guarantee.
However, as aforementioned, it’s not quite what it seems. The store isn’t offering a guarantee to match lower prices at other stores. Perhaps that’s because they know they typically have the lowest prices anyway. Instead, they offer to match the lowest Walmart.com price inside of their physical stores. So, if you find a lower price on a Walmart.com item than the same item in the store, they’ll honor the lower price. That’s the only Walmart price match guarantee.
6 Rules of The Walmart Price Match Guarantee
Every store has rules and regulations for their price matching policies. Walmart is no exception. If you’re the type of shopper who keeps an eagle eye on prices, then you can take advantage of price matching at Walmart. However, you’ll need to know these six rules:
1. You Need to Know The Price
Walmart isn’t responsible for knowing the lowest price of every item in its store. Instead, it’s your job to find those low prices. Therefore, you need to check online to find out if there are lower prices on the store websites. If you find an item that’s a lower price on Walmart.com than in the store, then you’ll need to let the customer service associate at Walmart know about it. In other words, you need to request price matching. Moreover, you need to know what the lower price is. Obviously, you can prove this by bringing up the website.
2. Price Matching is for In-Stock Items
You can’t come into the store requesting a lower price for an item that isn’t currently available at that Walmart store location. If you go to Walmart to make a purchase that you believe qualifies for price matching, then you have to find that item on the shelf. If that location is sold out of the item, then you can’t purchase the item. Therefore, you can’t ask for price matching on it. After all, there’s nothing there for you to purchase. If you want to make the purchase on Walmart.com instead, then, of course, you can do so.
3. Price Match Is For Exact Same Matches Only
In other words, you can only get the lower price on an item that’s sold exactly the same as the version online. Therefore, your customer service associate might check the following details before honoring the Walmart price match guarantee:
- Item brand
- Size of item
- Item model
- Color of item
- Quantity
So, for example, let’s say you find a bag of 10 Brand A Blue Marbles on Walmart.com for $5. Walmart stores sell them for $6. Before they honor the $5 price, they’ll check to make sure that they are also selling a quantity of ten marbles, that are also blue, in the same brand. If you bring the cashier a bag of 18 blue marbles or 10 green marbles, that’s not the exact same item that Walmart.com sells for $5. Therefore, Walmart doesn’t have to honor that price as part of their price matching guarantee.
The register might prompt a call to a supervisor. In that case, the supervisor must verify the price and other details.
4. Quantities Are Limited
You might think it’s worth it to go on Walmart.com and find the exact price of every item you plan to buy in the store. However, if you discover that there are two items that are cheaper online than in the store, then you might be out of luck. The Walmart price match guarantee is limited to one item per customer per day. Therefore, you can only get the lower price on one item. That is, unless you want to come back the next day for the second item.
5. They Match Their Own Online Prices, Not Other Walmart Store Prices
Walmart prices can vary from store location to store location. If you see an item that’s a lower price at a different Walmart or Neighborhood Market store, that’s great. However, you have to purchase it at the store where it’s a lower price. Walmart offers price matching to the lowest price on Walmart.com. However, it doesn’t match other Walmart store prices.
6. Other Limitations on Price Matching
They truly do only offer the Walmart price match guarantee as compared to the price at Walmart.com. They don’t offer price matching on other Walmart Marketplace retailers, third party sellers, or auction sites that sell Walmart items. Furthermore, they don’t match mail-in offer, instant rebates, various ads, etc. Plus, of course, they don’t match the advertised prices pf their competitors.
Additionally, it’s important to note that price matching doesn’t apply in Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico. It is limited in New Mexico.
Is The Walmart Price Match Guarantee Worth It?
Obviously, there are a lot of limitations here. So, is it even worth it to check Walmart.com before shopping in store to see if there’s a lower price online? There are two times when it’s probably worth the extra effort:
- If you’re about to make a large, pricey purchase at Walmart. Why not check if Walmart.com offers it at a lower price.
- If you’re purchasing items that you purchase regularly. For example, if you always buy the same shampoo every time that you go to Walmart, then it’s worth knowing if it’s cheaper on Walmart.com. Make a shopping list of regularly purchased items. (You might want to use your last few Walmart receipts to build this list, if you have them.) Then check the prices online to see if they qualify for the Walmart price match guarantee.
Read More:
- These 5 Stores Have the Best Price Match Guarantee
- 5 Downsides of Price Match Guarantees
- What Is The Price Match Guarantee at Walgreens?
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Kathryn Vercillo is a professional writer who loves to live a balanced life. She appreciates a good work-life balance. She enjoys balance in her relationships and has worked hard to learn how to balance her finances to allow for a balanced life overall. Although she’s only blonde some of the time, she’s always striving for total balance. She’s excited to share what she’s learned with you and to discover more together along the way.
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