Target’s “Low Price Promise” is what they call their Price Matching Policy. You can view the complete policy HERE. In a nutshell- they state that they will match the price of an item in a competitor’s printed ad that is priced lower than at your Target store. It sounds really simple right? While there are advantages to price matching there are quite a few stipulations. While I feel it is pretty clear that the policy’s exclusions are directed at their competitors - some Target stores do give customers a hassle or refuse to price match based on misinterpretations.
If you have smooth sailing and your store has a good understanding and acceptance of the Low Price Promise it can be very beneficial. It saves a trip to multiple stores, therefore saving on gas. You can also price match a competitor who does not accept manufacturer’s coupons. And the other benefit is when there is an incentive involved like a Gift Card Offer.
For those new to Price Matching and having troubles doing so- I wanted to give a closer look at the Low Price Promise. While I cannot say this information will solve any of your troubles- it might help some of you understand why some refusals may have been valid on Target’s part and why others are not and just a result of their misinterpretation of certain points in the policy.
THE COMPETITOR’S AD
The competitor’s ad must be local and current and an original printed ad (no photocopies or showing them an on-line ad on your phone), and the product must be the identical item. Current competitor store catalogs can also be price matched. They will also honor a price match on a Target purchase made within 7 days of the competitor’s ad. So if you bought say a Monopoly Game at Target and paid $14.99 for it on Saturday, and the very next day Toys R Us had it in their new ad for $9.99, you would just bring in the Toys R Us ad with your receipt and they will refund you the difference.
IDENTICAL STORE ITEMS
Target stipulates that the item must be the “identical brand name, size, weight, quantity and model number”. Many stores require that a size, brand and name be indicated in the ad. Usually this is not a problem as most stores do indicate a size on their ad, however many ads also list “selected varieties” like this ad for Glad from Publix. Now, while Publix will beat the sale price of the Glad products on sale this week at Target ($6) and you should have no trouble price matching the 50 ct. Tall Kitchen Bags in the picture- the rest would be a ymmv.
USING COUPONS WHEN PRICE MATCHING
Their policy stipulates that Target Coupons are to be used BEFORE a price match is made. So let’s say for example KMart is selling Oreos for $2.00 and Target’s price is $2.50. And you want to price match and have a Target Store Coupon and a Manufacturer’s coupon you want to use. Instead of just price matching and accepting both your coupons- they will take that Target coupon first and if it makes Target’s price cheaper than KMarts price (which it will- now the Oreo’s become $1.50) they will not match the price. Honestly all the explaining they do will probably always only mean one thing- you can no longer use a Target Coupon when Price Matching. But manufacturer coupons are accepted on a price match.
EXCLUSIONS TO PRICE MATCHING
IMO most of the exclusions are easy enough to understand and it is clear that they are referencing their competitors.The following is a list of the ones that are pretty self-explanatory.
EASY ENOUGH
No expired Ads
No On-line prices, including Target.com
Timed events (e.g., early bird, door busters)
Items advertised as limited time/limited supply/limited quantity
Prices advertised only as a percent off or $ off
Mobile coupons
Sales tax promotions
Damaged product or opened packaging
Clearance or closeout items
Mail in offers or instant rebates
Product services (warranties, assembly, etc.)
Going-out-of-business liquidations
Special financing
Used or previously owned items
Display merchandise
Pricing or typographical errors
Owned brands (i.e., Home, Merona, Circo, Market Pantry and Archer Farms)
Meaning you can’t match a competitor’s brand to a Target Store Brand- ie if Publix has Publix Oatmeal on sale for $1. you can’t price match and buy Archer Farms Oatmeal for $1. -Thanks Stephanie!
Non-branded items (e.g. produce not marketed under a specific brand name)
Basically they mean you can’t bring in an ad offering something like a ”Head of Lettuce $1″
Target Portrait Studio, Optical, and Clinic offers
You can’t bring in JC Penny’s ad for a free portrait or any competitor pharmacy offer
But there are a few that seem to be vulnerable to misinterpretation by some stores:
PROMOTIONS OR PRODUCTS….
One of the exclusions in the policy says the following “Promotions or products advertised on another company’s web or mobile sites, even those advertising in-store prices.” This is why it is always good to have the low price promise printed and with you and know it. I have had several e-mails from people telling me that they did not get a gift card when trying to price match because they were told that Target does not price match on Promotions. I believe this line is where that is coming from. The word “promotion” is only mentioned on this page three times- once referencing tax promotions and both other times referencing on-line promotions. If you are unfamiliar with the policy or are new to Target shopping and told they “don’t Price Match Promotions”- you may just give up and walk out- but if you have the policy & know the policy- you can hand it to them and ask them to show you where it says that. If they point to this line- ask them to really read it again- clearly this exclusion is intended to mean on-line promotions and other companies promotions.
MEMBERSHIP CLUBS OR LOYALTY CARDS
Membership club or loyalty programs (e.g. prices that require a club or loyalty card). Unfortunately this leaves out a large portion of grocery and other stores. Sams, BJs, Costco etc are definitely out but many non-membership fee required stores like CVS, Winn Dixie etc, also have some kind of card that is required to get the price in their ad. If you have to hand over a card to get what is listed in an ad – then price matching is out.
COUPON REQUIRED OR GIFTCARD OFFERS
Coupon-required or giftcard offers. Okay so this line in the policy seems to be the biggest thorn in everyone’s side. The first part of this line is easy and many of you have seen ads like this one to the right for Walgreen’s. The price is being advertised as 2/$4 but in small lettering underneath it says “after instant coupon in store”. Target will not honor a price listed like this in a competitor’s ad that requires a coupon found in a competitor’s store.
The second part of that exclusion line refers to Gift Card Offers from their competitors. In other words- you cannot bring a Best Buy ad like the one shown above into Target and expect them to sell you the product shown here and give you a $10 Target Gift Card instead. They will likely honor the price in the ad- but they will not honor the Gift Card Offer. Many stores refuse their own Target gift card offers on a price match citing this line. This makes a mess for you to straighten out- if you get a refusal from the store you will have to take it up with corporate. Even doing so may be tricky. You will have to get someone knowledgeable at corporate who understands this to contact your store and explain that the “Low Price Promise” references competitors’ Gift Card Deals, not their own.
COMPETITOR’S FREE PRODUCT ETC…
Competitor’s free product, buy one, get one, bundled offers, or special purchases. “Bundled Offers” is another one of the exlusions referenced often for refusing to price match. A few weeks back when K-Mart was offering 12-ct PopTarts for 2/$4, many of you said you were turned down and told it was a “bundled offer”. To me, that is just silly. The above ad from Best Buy is an example of a “bundled offer”. Target will not price match products bundled together and offered at a discounted price in a competitor’s ad. When price matching a competitor’s ad that has something advertised like Glade Candles 2/$4 or a similar sale- then the only thing you may be required to do is purchase it in multiples of 2 or whatever the specified amount is. Even though most stores don’t make you buy 2 of something to get the price.
A FINAL FEW WORDS
While this post cannot solve the problems some of you have when Price Matching- I do hope that in some small way it has helped you to understand where some of the refusals to price match are stemming from. I get e-mails all the time from frustrated shoppers, and while I can definitely sympathize- my hands are tied. It is up to you to try and solve the issues you have with your store or corporate and there are no guarantees it will be resolved. Only you can decide if it is worth the time and trouble.
hi! kerry,
i went to 2 local target stores in my area and tried to do price match on kelloggs cereal with albertson’s flyer. they took a good look at the flyer and gladly to do it. but after scanning qty 4 and followed by a $5 GC, i was told i can NOT get the gift card with a price matching. i questioned him and he called for a supervisor. supervisor said the the same thing. i asked for a written/printed price-matching policy, but they failed to provide it. have you called corp or emailed them about this issue? i don’t know where i should go from here.
Hey Margaret- sounds like you will have to call corporate and try and straighten it out with them. 1.800.440.0680.
thank you, kerry. i will have them email me so that i can print it out and show it to my local stores. so i guess you have already contacted them regarding this matter and you were told we are still entitle with the GC promotion?
yes I was. I was told that one has NOTHING to do with the other and if you are buying the right items there should be no conflict. I had to talk to 3 different people and It took them a week to get back to me.
Thank you i have been keeping my receipts for two weeks. I have found at least one item go lower in price. Which is money back in my pocket!!! I love target. Thank you for this post. I was unaware that you could also bring in a competitors ad within in two weeks of purchasing and they have to give you back the difference to. i will definitely be on the look out for that. From now i will also be getting two receipts when im submitting for a rebate. To ensure i can see if i need to go in and get paid for price adjusting or matching. Thank you again your an AWESOME PERSON
Some of the associates at the customer service desk aren’t versed on the policy either. A couple of months ago when the All Small and Mighty was on sale at Big Lots I brought the ad in to price match and was originally told that they couldn’t price match unless it was also on sale at Target. She ended up calling corporate and found out that wasn’t true. I was able to get a bunch of All for $0.50 each bottle, but not after questioning what the rep thought the policy was.
Hey Stephanie- not sure where you saw two weeks- but I just want to clarify that it’s 7 days you have to price match- not 2 weeks.
oh thanks for clarifying the customer service people have been doing it for two weeks i will inform them it is 7 days not 2 weeks. thank you
I was told that they have a list of stores on their computer that they will only price match. They told me Big Lots was not on that list. Although I had no problems price matching the Big Lots ad at the different Target across town.
I just wanted to point out to some people that have had problems stacking a Target Q with a manufacturer Q that in addition to the signs around the store that point out price matching, they also have sign around the registers that say in big letters “We accept manufacturer coupons” and in small print at the bottom it also states they TQ and one MQ on each item.
This actually saved me a few hours ago. I normally bring in my binder which has the coupon policy in it, but since I was just running in for a few things I only brought the Qs I needed. When I handed over my Qs she tried to tell me I couldn’t stack so I politely pointed to the sign hanging by her register!
By the way, I just want to say thanks for all the great deals. This site has saved me tons of money! I just got back from Target a few hours ago and got over $70 worth of stuff for $13, paid for $10 in GCs I had earned from other deals, paid $3 out of pocket and got back a $5 GC… Thanks to you, my husband actually encourages me to go to Target!
I had no problems price matching Albertson’s ad for Rice Krispies AND getting a GC in my store earlier this week. The price match was even done at the register.
I have also been able to price match non-branded produce (bananas), but they will not price match another store’s own brand to an Archer Farms or Market Pantry item, which is what I think that paragraph means. For example, I tried to price match Albertson’s chicken breast price but because their equivalent item is packaged as a Market Pantry item they wouldn’t do it.
Ahhhhh that makes sense now Steph- will add that in to the post- TYVM- see its all how an individual reads it and interprets it. But if all Target Stores would just realize that the policy is meant toward their competitors and not themselves- life would be so much easier.
So if I am reading this all right
I should be able to price match a cereal price from another store and still get the Target Gift Card offer. (I am thinking about the Kellogg’s cereal $5 GC for week 3/3/12- and use Meijer’s $2.50 ad price on Frosted Flakes)
Thanks for the detailed post!
So, I tried price matching on a Target GC offer today. Wouldn’t let me do it. So I asked to talk to a manager. He said can’t do it, can only apply “single item price point” discount. I had my policy in hand and asked where it said that….He couldnt find it. So he said ok just this one time. I called CS when I got home. They backed him saying the same “single item price point” language. She also said that in the policy, in the last section “other exclusions”- the 6th one down says giftcard offers (so she says that means Target GC offers, not competitors). I explained that if all stores do not apply the policy consistently, it is frustrating to the consumer. Her response “not everything is fair”. Ok thanks. ;( So I think GC offers may be a YMMV deal. Unless maybe Kerry you have a contact that can refute what I was told!
Thanks again for all your help/tips.
In this weeks circulars i saw that the Oscar Mayer Bologna is on sale for a $1 at Smith’s. I was wanting to price match that price at my local Target and also use the $1/1 target store coupon to get that item free. In reading the section ‘USING COUPONS WHEN PRICE MATCHING’, it doesnt seem that my deal will work… Does anyone know if this will cause an issue at the register?
@Ann- you cannot PM & use a target coupon. you can use MQs, but TQs are to be before a PM is made. so if for exaample oscar mayer bolgna is $1.89 in your store and you bring in the Smiths ad- according to policy they apply a Target coupon to their own price first, making it .89- because it is lower than smith’s ad they will not PM. hth
If there is a store coupon for something for a specific price (ex. snickers 11 oz. for $1.99) in a competitors add, will Target take it?
Went to one of my local Target’s a few days ago to price match the sale that HT was running on Capri Sun, plus I had a Target Q for the item as well (which still would have made it more expensive than the HT sale price.) Anyway, CS at this particular store said they weren’t allowed to price match an item from a store that you had to use a “rewards” card to get that sale price. I didn’t know any better, so thanked her and went on my way. Went I got home, I looked up their policy, and it actually refers to rewards cards/clubs that you pay for (like BJs, Sams, etc.) – we don’t pay for our rewards card at HT, FL, Kroger, etc. There was no mention of that being a restriction.
I printed out their policy and went to a different Target to see what would happen, policy in hand, but this time CS honored it (plus their Target Q) no problem. Their policy exclusions for price matching specifically refer to “Paid membership club or paid loyalty programs (e.g. prices that require a club or loyalty card that is associated with a membership fee.)”
Kerry – have you run into this yet?
I think TARGET must have updated the loyalty card exclusion on their website…it now reads:
“Price exclusions:
•“Marketplace” prices: Price matched items must be sold by Walmart.com, Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, ToysRUs.com, or BabiesRUs.com; prices from third party sellers on these websites will not be honored.
• Prices that only display on a website after guests log in.
• Clearance, closeout, damaged product, used, refurbished, open packages or liquidation sales.
• Prices advertised only as a percent off or dollar off.
• Paid membership club or paid loyalty programs (e.g. prices that require a club or loyalty card that is associated with a membership fee).
• Buy one, get one if the retail price is not shown in the advertisement.
• Competitor coupon-required.
• Competitor price matches on items where Target or the competitor is offering a free gift card.
• Mail-in offers or instant rebates.
• Offers that include financing.”
NOT SURE when that went into effect, but as I found out NONE of my store new…they were saying ANY PRICE with a LOYALTY card would be denied. Even Target Customer Service (Corporate) was still saying no loyalty cards!!
**Truthfully it must be so annoying for employees to have corporate change something and not be made aware of the policy change!!!