Target Price Match Policy Changes

Until earlier this year, Target had a generous price match policy. In-store, Target would price match almost any competitor for almost anything, such as local grocery stores for groceries, specialty retailers for beauty and personal care products, Best Buy for electronics, Home Depot and Lowes for tools, etc. (The policy was significantly more restrictive online.)

In August 2024, Target eliminated almost all price matching. The retailer will now only price match Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon only) and Walmart (sold and shipped by Walmart only). They also price match their own prices from Target stores and Target.com if the price has been lower in the last 14 days.

You can see full price matching details on Target.com at this link. Target stopped price matching entirely in Alaska and Hawaii.

This is a significant change for some people who relied on the previous policy to get the lowest price on everything at Target as a one-stop shop.

Thanks to reader RM for bringing this to our attention.
    Chuck
  • On December 23, 2024, 12:00
Tags: targettarget.com

View Comments (37)

  • I think it's still YMMV. I just read successful PM in-store on Bestbuy list price for Anker power adapter

    • I tried to price match Bestbuy with a Starlink mini at the beginning of this month, and Target wouldn’t let me. So it’s definitely YMMV if they do sometimes still match Best Buy. If they don’t price match something you already purchased, then you can always cancel/return the item.

    • Hawaii has the highest cost of living in the US so they'd probably lose money doing it, not sure why Alaska though

      • Alaska also has an intensely high cost of living because of basically the same reasons, a large distance to the rest of the US.

        Distance/discontinuity over land is likely the real reason, not cost of living. Look at how many promotions are excluded Puerto Rico, which has a significantly lower cost of living compared it other areas of the US. Despite that, it is still often excluded from promotions.

  • Neat! For pickup only, you can still just price match Target.com to another Target location. No customer service involvement needed. Works great if you live in Alaska.

  • I fully support any move they make to stay profitable. We can't end up with a duopoly by Amazon and Walmart.

  • "Id like to return an item I bought yesterday, in its original packaging, unused, with the receipt, that I paid for with cash"

    No one:
    Target: Cool, here's a gift card.

    • Wal-Mart(and Target) will say "when purchased online" for many pantry type items. Earlier this year I needed a 2 pack of specialty batteries, online price for Walmart.com was like $5 less than in store. Took them right over to customer service and they matched it right away, no questions asked. Seems YMMV, but you do need to be aware as many smaller items like this are priced higher in store.

      • Which policy are you referring to? What reason? Walmart's policy, subject to a few restrictions, is to match walmart.com.

        Purchases Made in a Walmart U.S. StoreFor items purchased in a Walmart U.S. store, we will match the price of the identical item advertised on Walmart.com. (Restrictions apply – see below)

        The following conditions and limitations apply:

        • The customer must inform the Walmart associate of the price at the time of checkout.
        • The identical item (i.e., size, model, quantity, brand, or color, etc.) must be currently in-stock and available to purchase on Walmart.com at the time the Price Match is requested.
        • Some price match transactions require a Walmart supervisor approval, which could lead to an extended transaction time to validate the eligibility of the requested price match before the price will be matched. We reserve the right to limit quantities to one-per-customer, per item, per day.
        • Quantities are limited in New Mexico only for the purchase for resale.
        • Price match of items sold on Walmart.com are not available in Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico.

        Sorry, we do not match:

        • Competitor’s online or in-store prices
        • Walmart.com prices that are on special events (including but not limited to clearance, Rollback, Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals, or other limited-time promotions)
        • Prices from Walmart Marketplace Retailers or third-party Sellers
        • Bundle offers, Instant Rebates, Mail-in Offers, Offers that include financing, Advertisements that require a purchase to receive a gift card, Percentage Off, or Buy One Get One Free advertisements without a specified price
        • Prices from other Walmart or Neighborhood Market stores

    • I've had that happen before. Just completed the purchase and went over the service desk and they refunded the difference. But as @guest_1974094 said, if you can get a store manager, it can be done at the register.

    • Walmart employees are usually uneducated and rude people. This is common in large retail stores. Just look for store managers and find some more educated employees.

      • Have you seen the recent WM ads? They're leaning full in on the 'people of walmart' meme, "If you don't live in a trailer park, we don't want you shopping here."

      • I saw some store managers also not honoring the price match from walmart.com. I ended up ordering online and picking up later.

  • they also wont price match beyond a certain percentage. there have been a couple times where they refused to price match amazon because the sale price was too much compared to the regular price. i want to say 50% but i dont remember exactly. it wasnt a lightning deal or anything of the sort, they just legit have a cap on % off which is crazy

    • Stores identify loss leaders to get people in the door, and set things up to maximize that. I'd guess it's not in Target's interest to lose money on someone else's strategy that they haven't prepared to offset.

  • Added note, In store Target uses a dedicated website for Amazon and Walmart price matching. I attempted to price match what looked like an identical product from Amazon vs. in store but apparently the UPC code was different even though the product description and pictures were the same (same size, color, no bonus items, etc.). This was a simple OXO kitchen tool, not a fancy appliance and apparently even they have slightly different models/UPCs for similar products depending on the store.

    • This is true of retailers everywhere though. Manufacturers can issue different UPC for the same product to track older inventory, which often have lower price points than newer inventory.

      Also, the C in UPC stands for code. Saying "UPC code" is redundant, like saying "chai tea" or "naan bread".

    • Super common with Walmart. There was a scandal years ago when the identical box Walmart version of power drills were garbage quality but at a lower price with another UPC.

Leave a Comment