I love shopping at Target. But over the years I’ve been a bit confused on how best to take advantage of the Target price match policy. Does it cover online shopping? Does it work on Black Friday? What stores will they actually match the price? All questions that deserve straight-forward answers. With this in mind, here’s exactly how their policy currently works.

What Exactly is the Their Price Match Policy?

Glad you asked because their policy has changed as recent as Summer 2024.

Here are the current details of their price match policy:

– For in-store purchases, Target will now ONLY price match Amazon, Walmart, and Target.com prices.

– Item must be in-stock and identical. Down to the size, color, model number, and brand.

– You have up to 14 days after your purchase to request a price match.

– Item must be in-stock and identical. Down to the size, color, model number, and brand.

See Also: 7 Target Clearance Tips: Learn How to Save BIG at Tarzhay

The Best (and Quickest) Way To Score a Price Match

As a dude who ain’t ashamed to admit I’ve gotten a price match at Target on several occasions, here’s EXACTLY how I made it happen.

When you’re shopping in-store, the best way to get your price match is to head to the Guest Services desk with your smartphone in-hand.

Show them the lower price on your phone and a Target employee will independently verify the lower price from the competitor.

You can show evidence of the lower price on your smartphone or via a print ad of the local competitor.

If you use your smartphone, be sure to have the product page of the competing website up on the screen.

Hack for Success: I would NOT recommend going up to a random Target employee and asking them for a price match.

In many cases, they are not versed in their own policy and will usually redirect you to the customer service desk in the front of the store.

You can also get a price match in the checkout lane, but it will take a little more time and you risk nasty looks from the shoppers behind you.

Any Products Excluded from a Target Price Match?

Yes, there are some important exclusions…

• Clearance, closeout, liquidation sales, damaged, used, open package, refurbished, store-wide or unspecific offers, non-branded items, and prices that only display on a website after you login to it.
• Pricing or typographical errors, limited time or quantity offers, daily deals, and coupon offers.
• Contract mobile phone devices and the associated plans.
• “Marketplace” prices and prices from 3rd party sellers will not be honored.

If you find a pricing error, you can let them know about it, and maybe they’ll give you a discount anyways.

This actually happened to a friend of my wife’s when she tried to get a price match on a baby stroller and it was priced wrong at Walmart.

The Target price was $299, and Walmart had it for the WRONG price of $144.

The folks at Target ended up giving her the stroller for $269 after they called Walmart to get the actual price.

Can You Get an Online Target Price Match?

Yes.

Target used to price match 27 online retailers, but those days are gone.

Now they will only match the online price found on the Amazon and Walmart website.

They will also price match the Target in-store price if you find a scenario where the Target.com price is higher than their own in-store price.

To make it happen, they ask you start a Live Chat or call them at 1-800-591-3869 and they’ll help you out with the price match.

Will a Picture of a Lower Price Work?

No.

Target tells me that they will NOT accept a picture of a lower price tag or a screenshot of a competing store when asking for a price match.

But…it’s been my experience that you CAN use a picture of a price tag as a starting point and then Target can call the store in question or visit their website for further verification.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve had a similar experience and successfully used a picture on your smartphone as visible evidence.

Will Target Match Amazon 3rd Party Pricing?

No.

Target will price match ANY Amazon.com price as long as the item is sold directly by Amazon and NOT a 3rd party seller.

Update: Thanks to reader Jen for letting me know that Target will not price match Amazon “add-on” items. She even spoke with a manager and they stood firm.

For those who don’t know, add-on items are typically lower priced items that Amazon often considers accessories or complimentary products.

See Also: Target Shopping Hacks: 5 Guaranteed Ways to Save Money

What About a Costco Price Match?

Not gonna happen.

There was a time when Target would price match both Costco and Costco.com.

Not a big loss as it’s often VERY hard to find identical items at both Costco and Target.

Can You Use a Coupon with a Price Match?

Yes, but only manufacturer coupons.

The coupon will take effect once the price match has been completed.

You cannot use Cartwheel offers, Target Gift Card offers and Target coupons cannot with a price match.

Can You Get a Price Match on Black Friday?

No.

Unfortunately Target does not offer price matches between Thanksgiving Day and the Monday after Thanksgiving, also known as Cyber Monday.

See Also: Target Bullseye’s Corner: Use it to Save Money

BONUS: Price Match Policy “Hacks”…

Like any good price match policy, there are some insider hacks for success.

Prices Vary Between Target and Target.com – Here’s a dark little secret. Prices on Target.com are often cheaper than what you’ll find at your local Target.

Because of this, always check their website’s prices when shopping in-store and ALWAYS ask for the lower Target price.

Grocery Item Price-Match – Another little known Target hack is a price match on grocery items, even produce. As long as the brand is the same, like Chiquita, Dole, or Driscoll, Target will offer a price match.

The cool thing about this is that it’s easy to scroll through your local grocery store ads to find lower prices at Target and save some money in the process.

Hold On To Those Receipts – Keep in mind that Target offers 14-day price protection.

So when making significant purchases (think electronics, appliances, and furniture), always keep your receipt and create an alert on your smartphone to remind yourself to check if the price has dropped before 14 days has expired.

Ask the Reader: Have you ever gotten a price match at your local Target store? Was it an easy process?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to Mike Mozart.

As I’ve talked about in the past, I clearly have my favorite cashback sites and I love to play one against the other in order to always maximize the cash I get back when shopping online. One of my favs is the up-and-comer BeFrugal.com as they have some cool stuff going on that’s gonna help you save a stack a cash.

So I figured it was time to give them their due credit and write a stand-alone article on how BeFrugal works, along with some cool hacks to maximize your cashback even further.

BeFrugal Review:

When you sign-up for free with BeFrugal not only will you score a free $10 bonus, but you’ll also enter the world of cashback shopping.

This means you’ll get paid whenever you start your online shopping via the BeFrugal website, browser extension, or their mobile app.

It works by BeFrugal getting paid a commission whenever they drive shoppers to a store’s website. But instead of keeping the commission for themselves, they actually give 102% of it (on average) to their users (YOU!).

Here are some detailed specs to help you figure out BeFrugal.com:

• Number of Merchants that Offer Cashback: 5,000+
• Top Cashback Merchants: Amazon (up to 10% cashback), Walmart (4% back), Sam’s Club (3% back), Rite-Aid (4% back), Dell (6% back), Shutterfly (7% back), Eddie Bauer (4% back), Under Armour (8% back), American Eagle (5% back), Macy’s (6% back), and Hotels.com (6% back).
• Payout Methods: Check, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, Direct Deposit, or Amazon gift card.
• Mobile App: They have both an iOS and Android app.
• Browser Extension: Yes, they call it the “Couponomatic” and it automatically adds coupon codes to your purchase when shopping online. No more cutting and pasting codes and looking for coupons that may or may not work.
• Sign-Up Bonus: $10 Bonus just for signing-up. $10 bonus is payable when you confirm your BeFrugal account and earn $10 or more in cashback.
• Do They Offer Coupons? Yes, it’s hard to “be frugal” without using a coupon on your purchase. This is a great way to “Double Dip” your savings.

Click Here to Try BeFrugal and Score a $10 Bonus

Why BeFrugal Rocks:

There are a few highly legitimate reasons why they rock plus some hacks to save even more…

1. Find a Coupon That Doesn’t Work? Score $5 – If you find an online coupon on BeFrugal that doesn’t work, tell them about it (within 24 hours) and get $5 added to your account.
2. Get Paid via Amazon Gift Card – Redeem your earnings via an Amazon gift card and score an additional 3% cashback. Might as well.
3. Security Concerns – When using their app, turn on text verification via your mobile phone for additional mobile security. BeFrugal offers unique text verification as an additional method to secure your account against unauthorized use.
4. 125% Cashback Guarantee – Not only does BeFrugal give back 100% of their commissions to their users, they stand behind it with a sweet guarantee. If you find another cashback site that gives more back at any specific retailer, let BeFrugal know about it and they’ll match it, PLUS 25%. To make it happen you need to do the following:
   • Login to your BeFrugal account.
   • Make the purchase like you normally would.
   • Next, submit your receipt and store name, the higher rate offered, and a link to that rate (All done via your BeFrugal account).
   • Once verified, they will automatically award you 125% of the higher cashback rate.

Ask the Reader: Do you use a different cashback site that you use? If so, which one and why?

Happy savings.

By Kyle James

Disclaimer: While BeFrugal didn’t pay my a penny to write this, and all opinions are my own, BeFrugal is giving me a referral fee for anyone who signs up and gives them a try.

Many shoppers are still confused how Costco coupons and promotional codes work. Do you need to cut them out? Do you need the coupon booklet to get the actual discount? Are there other coupons or rebates you can use to save even more at Costco? Let’s dive right into this meaty topic and set the record straight once and for all when it comes to coupons at Costco.

Where Can I Find Costco Coupons?

If you’ve been a Costco member for a while, you probably get the monthly coupon booklet in the mail already.

Back in 2013, they came out with the coupon booklet and it was designed to make the process of finding and clipping coupons easier every month.

If you’re not receiving their coupon booklet, which has about 115 separate product coupons per month, ask for one the next time you visit the warehouse.

Better yet, visit the customer service desk and make sure you’re mailing address is set-up to receive the coupons.

You can also go online to the Costco site and visit this page to get access to all of their current coupon offers.

See Also: How to Essentially Get a $55 Costco Membership for Free

How Do I Redeem Their Coupons and Promotional Codes?

When Costco first came out with the monthly coupon booklet, they required you to have the actual coupon in-hand when you checked out.

Then a couple years later, Costco made their coupon policy even easier to use. The monthly Costco coupons were automatically added to your membership card every month and your discount was automatically given to you when you purchased the discounted item.

The coolest thing about this change was that you’d get the coupon discount on a product even if you didn’t know a coupon was available.

This is the policy they still currently use, and it’s pretty darn awesome.

What’s the Best Way to Organize Costco Coupons?

Here are a couple practical ways to organize your coupons to Costco:

• Clip the Old-Fashioned Way – You can simply cut out the coupons you want to use and stick them in your wallet or purse. Then when you’re shopping, you can pull them out and make sure to take advantage of the savings opportunities.
• Use the Costco App – Free on iOS and Android, the Costco app is a must use as it allows shoppers to peruse their monthly coupons and “clip” the ones that interest them. A “clipped” coupon automatically gets added to your shopping list within the app so you don’t forget about it when you’re in the warehouse.

Now on to some bonus hacks to help you save even more.

BONUS: Costco Coupon “Hacks”

Like any smart couponing strategy, there are always a couple hacks to help you save even more.

• Can Costco Coupons Be Used Online? – Absolutely. It’s a smart technique to shop via the Costco website as you’ll not only get the coupon discount, but in many cases, free shipping too.
• Does Costco Take Manufacturer Coupons? – No, they don’t accept them. But if they did, you probably couldn’t use them anyways because Costco sizing is typically different than at grocery stores, which would make the coupons unusable.
• Use the Ibotta App to Stack Your Savings – A cool workaround to manufacturer coupons is the free Ibotta app. The app is super cool and instead of coupons, has a bunch of instant rebates at dozens of stores, including Costco. For example, right now they have a $5 rebate on Shock Top beer, $1 back on any Dunkin’ Donuts coffee product, and even $0.25 back on milk. You can easily use the Ibotta app at Costco and make it pay for your annual membership.

See Also: Ibotta Review: Insider Tips on Using the App to Save Money

Ask the Reader: What’s your Costco coupon strategy for maximizing your savings?

By Kyle James

Photo credit to m01229.