Playing the Price-Matching Game

These is the list of stores (in the US) that price match:

Bass Pro Shops
Best Buy
Home Depot
Kohl's
Lowe's
Office Depot
Office Max
Petco
Petsmart
Sears
Staples
Target
Toysrus.com
Walmart

Price match policies vary from store to store. You can also increase your savings with some pre-planning by purchasing gift cards at a discount from Plastic Jungle.

Bass Pro Shops will price match competitors. In addition, they will accept competitaor coupons (varyies from store to store. If you're planning on a big purchase, I recommend first contacting your local store manager to try to get a deal going). We managed to get a very expensive bow set for a fraction of retail after coupons, price matching and using Plastic Jungle gift cards.

Best Buy will match local in-stock competitor prices. Depending on the store, you may need to bring a print out of the price. If the store is nice, customer service may check the price online for you. If you do a price match, their system will not allow you to stack relevant store coupons. Best Buy will match bestbuy.com's prices.


Home Depot and Lowe's policies are similar. They offer a 110% price match policy (they don't mention that the competitor has to be local) as well as accept competitor coupons. My local Lowe's will not price-match and stack coupons but you can try your luck at your local store.
Be sure to look out for the 20% off coupons from Harbor Freight usually found in the Sunday Paper coupons. There are also often $5 off $25 Ace Hardware coupons on many magazines. Both stores should accept them. Matching their own online prices varies by store.


Petsmart/Petco will both match competitor pricing as well as accept competitor coupons. It's best to bring a printout of the prices but my local Petsmart will just take my word on it. Petco will not match its own online prices but Petsmart will match petco.com


Kohl's general price is very high - their regular pricing is normally above MSRP. HOWEVER, in store, they will price match competitors - my store will even match Amazon (kohls.com will only match brick and mortar stores). In addition, you can stack 15%, 20% or 30% (only available to Kohl's charge holders) when they have their very regular promotions. 
PLUS when they have their 30% off promo, they usually also run their $10 Kohl's cash for every $50 spent. Kohl's cash can be spent in the period after the earning period ends. Kohl's cash is only valid for a stated time frame.
If you return your purchase, Kohl's cash will be deducted from your refund. HOWEVER, if you opt to take store credit,  you can keep the value of the Kohl's cash!


Sears has a 110% price match guarantee. However, I tried price matching in store once and it was a horrible experience. After a long wait, the manager verified the competitor price, and she still refused to price match. I have not shopped at Sears since.
 
Target is very clear about their policy - they will only match printed local, in store ads. You can use 1 Target coupon and 1 manufacturer coupon per item. If you're lucky, customer service may allow you to price match and apply those 2 coupons off on top of it. Official policy states that the they will only price match the price AFTER the target coupon is taken into account. Target does not match its own online prices.
If you use a Target Red Card, you get another 5% off your total purchase. I personally don't have the Red Card but it would be one of only 2 store cards (the other being Kohl's) that I would apply for.

Toys R Us stores usually will not price match. If you're lucky, your local store manager might agree to a match. HOWEVER, toysrus.com will usually match prices, including Amazon's prices. In addition, they will normally let you still take advantage of whatever promotion they have (eg B1G1 or free gift with purchase etc). Even better, if the free item is out of stock, you can request additional discount off your purchase to make up for it.  Remember, if you don't get an agreeable customer service rep, try try again!


Office Depot/OfficeMax/Staples will match competitor prices as well as accept competitor coupons. The official policy is that all rebates/store coupons will be considered before the price match but if you have a nice store manager, they will let you stack offers, sometimes making purchases money makers after rebate! Please be sure to also check out my post on taking advantage of each of these store's ink rewards programs. Stores will match their own online prices.

Walmart claims to match local competitor prices even without an ad. I have yet to try this because to save time, I just bring the ad or printout to avoid arguments. Walmart will also accept competitor and manufacturer coupons.Walmart does not match its own online prices.


If you know of any other stores that price match, either in the US or outside the US, please let me know and I'll add to the list!

Disclosure: I am a Plastic Jungle affiliate