As expected, during the Christmas time pretty much every retailer throws out discounts in an effort to draw in the holiday shoppers. What’s good for many people too is that a lot more businesses nowadays have a price matching policy where they not only match competitor prices but they also beat the difference by say 10%.

Whenever I look at a flyer my first reaction is always “What other store can I bring this advertisement in to get an even better deal?” Like this week I see many opportunities to save about $100 on certain items. Simply bringing that advertisement to a store with a good price matching policy can easily save me another $10. Do that with even bigger items and you’ll definitely do it more often as the savings can be substantial.

Today my brother phoned me as he wanted to get this computer monitor that was on sale at a particular store and asked me if it was a good price. I suggested that he go to a larger chain and simply get a price match guarantee to save more money.

He did do as I recommended and the thing was the first sales associate he spoke to told him that the company doesn’t price match that particular competitor. Basically, it was some kind of conjured up excuse such as the competitor had a restocking fee. He phoned me about this and I simply just said to ask another person as the guy was just being lazy and didn’t want to go through the effort in checking to do a price match.

Sure enough, he asks another person and gets the price match without any real fuss. That can actually happen a lot where employees of various businesses are just so lazy that they won’t go out of their way to help you save money and instead would rather give you any excuse to not help you.

That’s one reason why whenever I shop at places too I usually try to go through the same person as once you establish that trust you know that at they will do more in helping you to save as much money as possible within their company guidelines. It’s a double benefit as they get repeat business from you too.

One thing that a lot of people do, especially during this time of the year, is taking advantage of price matching guarantees that companies offer. While many simply agree to match the prices of its competitor’s prices if you find it cheaper, others are willing to give you an extra discount such as an extra 10% off the difference to the competing price.

Essentially, if someone sees one store selling this product for $199.99 and a different store selling it for $250, they will actually go to the $250 store and attempt to get a price match plus the bonus guarantee. Hence, they save even more money. Now usually a big stipulation is that these guarantees only apply as long as the item isn’t being sold in a clearance or limited quantity way.

At the same time, for a lot of stores the extra savings only apply if you have already bought the item and are now bringing back the receipt to get a price adjustment. However, from my experience most stores that offer a bonus simply give it to you anyways. It’s definitely a great way to save even more for the shopping season.