There has been some talk of Walmart taking competitor coupons as a new policy since last week’s ad came out advertising this policy.
I wanted to hold off on posting until it was really confirmed with Walmart that this was indeed a new policy.
It looks like this is a new policy and it could be pretty cool, but is not as good as it seems from the ad. The ad says”we’ll match the price of any local competitor’s printed ad or coupon for an identical product.”
So it sort of sounds like they will take competitor coupons but that does not seem to be the case. My understanding is that they will not take an actual competitor coupon- like if you print a Target coupon and take that in to redeem. But they will accept in ad coupons with a clearly posted price.
So this is an example of the coupons that they are now willing to accept- a coupon from a competitor’s ad (in this case Walgreens). The key to this is a clearly written price on the coupon. If this coupon said something like “.50 off Reese’s Candy Bars” they would not take the coupon.
So really it seems more like an extension of the price matching policy to now include in ad coupons. I know my primary grocery store, Safeway, has a lot of in ad coupons so this could make shopping at Walmart even better! Remember they do require the entire ad to price match- so be sure you bring the whole thing in with you to shop.
You can see the coupon policy for Walmart here. And you can see the Walmart price match policy here.
Has anyone been in to check this out yet? I’d love to hear your experiences!
Thanks Living Rich with Coupons!
I just got back from Wal-mart and I took in a few in add coupons from Fred Meyer, the yoplait yogurt 10 for 4 dollars and the 2lb cheese for 3.88 and they matched the prices for me. I just used the great value cheese instead of the kroger brand.
Kimberly- I think that might have been lucky on the cheese because I thought it was identical products only? Glad it worked out for you though! Personally I miss shopping at Fred Meyer 🙂
I have been price matching at my Wal-Mart for at least two years now, and I have always been able to price match store brands. I always get my milk, cheese, cottage cheese, and sour cream price match from other stores to the great value brand.
Our Wal-Mart will not let you match store brands. They say it has to be EXACT items. Kind of stinks!
Well, I look forward to trying this out! Walmart is so much more convenient for me than Safeway (although I do enjoy shopping at Safeway more). I’m hoping I don’t run into any issues!
The Wal-Mart in Roseville has regularly denied a price match to a Safeway ad, because of the “club card” pricing. They say they will not match a “club”. Have you had this problem? Honestly I stopped trying and just ran into Safeway since it is practically across the street.
Laurie- I personally do not have good experiences at Walmart so I don’t shop there. It is correct that typically policies do exclude any sort of rewards member type pricing. I think this new clause in the coupon policy might make a difference but really every single person will have a different experience at Walmart so who knows.
I have been lucky, ours has price matched club prices and in ad coupon prices for awhile. And also has no problem price matching store brand for great value! Walmart is great for me!
When I say club prices I mean the shopping card like Kroger 🙂
My walmart has signs everywhere saying it will match any store price or coupon. They have taken my Qs that printed from albertsons. One for 5% off total order and one for $5 off any order. They have also taken my RRs from walgreens. I showed them a Q from RC Willey and they said as long as I buy from the furniture department they would accept it. They have been this way for a few months now.
A few months ago I tried to do a price match for Scotch tape from the Target ad. The cashier and head cashier told me that I could’nt use a manufacture’s coupon with a price match. I called their customer service immediately and got a manager to accept the coupons. Do you know if you can use manufacture’s coupons on top of the price match now?
Susan that is surprising. I have never heard that before. The policy doesn’t specifically state they will but I don’t see why not. The thing with Walmart is that they really give each location a lot of room to interpret any sort of policy they want. So you are sort of stuck fighting it out if you want to price match.
I acutally had a senior cashier give me heads up on this policy change 2 months ago… I have slowly been testing it in my area (Palm bay, FL) They do take my target coupons for the exact items, an will match all ads for exact items and sizes as long as it is not buy one get one or percentages off ads unless it lists their regular price in the ad. They won’t match to competiors that require a card to ge a deal… ie BJ’s, Sams or CVS but they have been allowing me to stack a target or walgreens coupon with a MFC so, I have been really enjoying this new policy… of coarse with any policy change some cashiers are more on top than others and I have been breaking the others in but all has been going well.
can u do this with the IVC coupons from walgreens ?? ( IVC = Instant Value Coupon ) , these coupons clearly state Manufacturer coupon good only at Walgreens so i wonder ?
Dragon- I think if it says in the weekly ad the final price after Walgreens coupon, that is what they are supposed to accept. I don’t think you could take a Walgreens coupon book into the store and try to use that.
Thanks for the info Charlene , also i like to add that the IVC coupons arent only a booklet , you can print them from walgreens.com also , but i looked further and now understand how walmart is accepting competitor coupons , the coupon has to say the reg. price of the item on the coupon for them to accept it, i just say its always better to get info on deals before u try them , esp. with the problems that many cashiers dont know what they can accept and not , you would think all cashiers would know thier store coupon policy .
Ok I guess I was trying to simplify and shouldn’t have. I don’t think you can walk in with any coupon from any competitor. They aren’t taking competitor coupons. They are matching advertised prices with competitor coupons featured. I appreciate the explanation of the Walgreens store coupons but I am familiar with what they are.
I work at Wal-Mart and I was informed that we would take ALL coupons. The thing is that if it is a competitor’s coupon, Wal-Mart will take that amount off that stores price and that is what you will get it for. Therefore, if Walgreens says, “.50 off Reese’s Candy Bars”, Wal-Mart will take .50 off Walgreens price of that candy bar and you will get it for the say price Walgreens is selling it for. Wal-Mart will not take the .50 off Wal-Mart’s price of that candy bar. The same goes with a coupon that says a percentage off a certain item. The item does have to be the exact item though and it is always best if you bring your add in.
Shannon
Thanks for the information Shannon. Walmart tends to make up rules as they go though so I have a feeling every store will be different.
This is all very new and I do not know how many stores are affected by it. There are certain things that come from corporate office and then there are some things that are promoted by each individual store. I THINK this is from corporate office. As far as the buy one get one free, I read from Charlene’s post, our Wal-Mart handles that just like a percentage off. (Burton, MI)
Just to let ALL know, If you have questions about this you can call 1-800-WAL-MART. This is to corporate office and this is where you can get help or complain. I personally hope it is used for help.
How can walmart say they take competitors coupons when actually they are just price matching? This gives me NO incentive to shop at walmart, I will just stay at Target. Most competitors coupons are for cents/dollars off anyways, I rarely see a coupon that says “get this item for this price”. Why would I take it to walmart? When I can just go to walgreens and get that item for that price – and not have to deal with the rude employees…..
And how can they say BJ’s is not a competitor? ( I was told that by a manager). You sell the same items!
I will stick with Price Chopper – they specifically say in their coupon policy that they will accept club store competitors coups.
they do accept competitors coupons and don’t let them tell you otherwise. their own corporate website says so. Also, don’t let them tell you it must say ‘manufacturer’s coupon’. In that case it would be a manufacturer’s coupon, not a competitor’s coupon. Policy states that to be accepted as a competitor’s coupon it must: be for a specified price, BOGO only w/a specified price, have a valid expiration date, are acceptable in black and white