Monitor prices AFTER making a big purchase

[disneysteve]

Most stores have a policy of doing price adjustments if an item you bought goes on sale after your purchase. The terms vary and the time window varies. Fourteen or 30 days are common.

I was reminded of this today. My daughter bought a MacBook on Monday night at Best Buy. We went back today to get a college student credit that she was eligible for and while the manager was processing that, he told us that the computer was also on sale this week. We got back $60 that we weren't expecting thanks to the price adjustment. Had we not stopped in, we would have lost out because I had not looked at the sale ads this weekend because we had already made the purchase. Lesson learned.

[marvholly]

Also watch for your item on comparable store sites & ads. MANY stores, I believe Bb, Target, Walmart just to name a couple, will price match.

Same goes for the Menards, Lowes, Home Depot stuff.

[MonkeyMama]

I think there is a rule out there that every time we buy something a better sale comes out the next day. I can't tell you how many times we have done a post-purchase price match.

[greenskeeper]

I thought BestBuy and other brick/mortar stores where places only to look at items and and then buy online much cheaper

[disneysteve]

I thought BestBuy and other brick/mortar stores where places only to look at items and and then buy online much cheaper

Generally true but we ended up getting a MacBook Air for $799 after the sale and the college credit. I don't think you can beat that online anywhere.

[moneysma]

I always make it a point to review prices for a month after a big purchase. It doesn't always pay off, but there have been a few times where I found another store with a lower price. I think I ended up saving close to another $100 overall. It's not a huge amount, but since it only takes me a few minutes to scan the ads once a week, it's easy money.

[George707]

I never want to look at prices after making a big purchase!

It maybe theoretically useful to conduct such analysis for future learnings, but boy is the kick in the guts worth it?!?

[HappySaver]

George, I think you're missing the point.

If you catch a price reduction, you can often go back to the store and they'll match it. Some credit cards will also refund you the difference if the retailer won't.

I always do this with clothing. Many clothing retailers will honor a 14 days price match if they drop their price - I've saved tons this way at Nordstroms, LL Bean, and Brooks Brothers. These are all stores with great customer service, by the way. Other stores are not so accommodating, and that's why I really do give preference to stores with better customer service policies.

I admit I'm not so great about doing it for other items, but same idea. Within 30 days you can usually return an item, get a full refund, and re-purchase it, so it makes smart business sense for retailers to just honor a price reduction instead.