Ever since we bought a new tv back in February, M. has been itching to get a Blu-Ray player.
I fought him on it for a while, because I thought it was totally unnecessary and maybe even a waste of money. After all, I have a box of DVDs in the basement that hasn’t been touched in years, and I probably spent a few hundred dollars on those movies. Just look at how much technology has changed since DVD players became really accessible to the average consumer; today you can find most movies for about $5!
We also subscribe to Netflix, so we almost always watch shows and movies on there. Could we justify buying a Blu-Ray player?
I finally gave in and agreed to the purchase, so M. did a little research on various models and prices. He found one at Best Buy that he liked, and it was also on sale. We headed out to the store to drop some cash.
Interestingly, the exact same Blu-Ray player was priced $10 higher in the store than it was online. M. got out his phone and double checked the online price, and sure enough, it was cheaper.
Get a Deal with Price Matching
We certainly were not going to pay the full price in the store when we could order online for cheaper. But then, we remembered- price matching!
M. showed the salesman the online ad, and of course, he went ahead and matched the price. It was as easy as that! Just by having our phone handy and pulling up the online ad, we were able to get the cheaper price.
We were now the proud owners of a Blu-Ray player. One small problem, though- we didn’t own any movies.
We headed over the Target, where Frozen was on sale for $19.99, according to their website. Once again, the in-store sticker price was higher- $27.99 for the Deluxe Blu-Ray plus DVD. No way was I going to spend that kind of money on a movie! We looked for Tangled and found that it was priced the same, so we once again pulled out our trusty smartphones and checked the online price- $19.99 for Tangled, too.
We grabbed both movies and headed to customer service. We explained the online price was advertised at almost $8 cheaper for each, and the cashier gladly gave us the lower price. Without our handy smartphones, we would have ended up spending almost $30 more that day!
Having a smartphone offers a lot of advantages for consumers. You would be crazy not to do a quick online price comparison before making a spendy purchase, as most stores have a policy of matching prices.
Always be a Savvy Shopper
A smartphone can make you a savvy consumer. You don’t have to worry about overpaying for a product or missing out on a lower price or a better deal. The next time you’re shopping for something specific, just get out your phone, pull up retailer’s websites, and see who is offering the best price. Stores are usually happy to make their customers happy, even if that means losing out on a few bucks.
Has your smartphone ever saved you money? Do you check around for better prices when shopping?
Yes! We do this at Costco all the time–we get all of our household goods from either Amazon or Costco and every time we see a new/different item at Costco, we whip out the smartphone and price check. It’s such a great tool!
Hmmm I’m not amused to hear that there are cheaper prices online than in-store for Target, but I can’t blame them. I imagine they would much prefer to have people use their website so that they can have their customers shop on their website instead of shopping on Amazon. I definitely have done this price comparison exercise and it’s saved me money in the past.
I use my phone to save me money ALL the time. Whenever I am going to the store or about to buy a piece of clothing, I look online for coupons first and find something half the time.
I always double check prices online before buying in store. I usually just go home and order, I didn’t think to ask for a price comparison in store. Good tip!
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Great advice, Lauren!
I do this all the time and have saved a small fortune by now. Sometimes it also works if you show a store the price a competitor charges online, which is even better: you get the great customer service from the company you like best, but at the lowest price.
Have fun with the BR player!
Cheers,
NMW
Yep, I’ve done this before! I don’t know what’s up with in-store prices being more, it’s kind of frustrating that we have to jump through hoops to get the sale price. In any case, I always check to make sure something isn’t cheaper elsewhere, and if it is, I ask for a price match.
I guess they’re hoping that a lot of people don’t bother to check the online deals, or maybe they think that you’ll forget it was priced lower online.
I always double check prices with my phone. I usually check Amazon to see if they have it for cheaper and free shipping, and if they do I try to get the store to match the price. It works a lot of the time.
Now on the Blu-Ray player – you should’ve went with a Playstation. It’s a blu-ray player and a full entertainment system. It has netflix, hulu plus, HBO go, Amazon Prime, Youtube, it also has a browser where you can go online and you can play video games. The hard drive is also exchangeable and you can save songs in it. I use mine for games, movies, streaming, and music.
Well we do have a smart tv, so that takes care of the streaming and going online. I don’t want to get sucked into video games, too, hah.
Yep, I comparison shop checking the price on amazon. Plus I have mobile coupons for Target. I’ve also served for coupons for various stores and they often will scan the coupon from the phone.
Definitely! I’m always double checking info, prices, etc. on my phone. More recently I bought a dresser in store when the online price was lower. They were happy to honor the web price, too.
That’s good, they should always honor the lower price!
I had something similar happen at Macys and it was with luggage. The online price was much cheaper than the store price and because we were able to pull up the online price for the salesperson, we got the online deal in the store and saving money on shipping. Yay!
Very cool Lauren! We do stuff like this all the time when we’re shopping for something. What I hate are the businesses that won’t match their own online price. In that case, we just take our business elsewhere. If they can’t match their own price, then it’s not worth it to us to give them our business.
I have a cheap Republic Wireless smartphone, but it definitely helps! I use it to price shop all the time and had a price matched at Best Buy once just by flashing the ad online.