Several months ago, in the dead of summer, I was at a clothing store purchasing……what else, but winter clothes. It was off-season, and it’s the best time to buy winter apparel. The clearance aisles are overflowing with amazing deals to be had.
So, I went up to the checkout line and spotted my favorite chapstick on sale. Usually I pay $3/tube at its absolute LOWEST price. Here it was, sitting there, advertised for $2/tube. Best deal I’d ever seen. Since it’s the only brand I use, I knew I would want to stock up. To be highly conservative, I only purchased 10 sticks. Got to check out and saw they were ringing up at $4/tube – what a difference! I politely told her they were $2/tube and showed her the shelf. She gave some excuse about the pricing error, oh they must have been pushed over by mistake, but that wasn’t the case because if so, the shelf was missing a tag.
What to Do When You Have a Price Discrepancy
Immediately because I saw she was resistant to my request and reluctant, I simply asked her if she could get a manager. If you ask for a manager, usually it shows them you are serious about your request. Sometimes they will get the manager, sometimes they don’t want to bother and they just override the system.
Now, I know what your thinking. Is this really worth all the hassle? The manager’s going to say no, we can’t honor that price……
Well I’ll tell you what….the manager waived it! It took me less than 5 mins total of my time and I saved myself $10 over the lowest price of my chapstick I’d ever seen.
5 minutes = $10. I know a lot of people who work a whole hour at a job to make $10 and that’s taxed. I made $10 in 5 minutes!
Now, think about this. What if you do that for EVERYTHING you see that’s priced incorrectly that you want to buy? I would say that 8 out of 10 times they will honor the price. There is a rule amongst stores that unless they have a sign stating that the price is incorrect, they must honor it. Now, I’m not saying the idea is to go out and take advantage of that. Surely not. But, if you’re already purchasing something and the tag happens to be displayed wrong, stand up and say something.
Go to the nearest cashier to the item so that you can show them the price or take a picture with your phone. DO NOT let the employee go by themselves to verify the price, I’ve had them bald-face lie in such situations. Go with them and show them. Be prepared to walk fast because sometimes they will want to go by themselves. Then, you cannot prove it.
By stocking up on my favorite chapstick, I now have a whole year’s supply at the cheapest price possible. In the meantime, this year, I’ll look for a similar deal or the lowest I can get and replenish my years’ supply. This way, I know I am NEVER over-paying. I don’t purchase items when I NEED them, but rather, when I find them at their lowest cost available. This will ensure I’m always getting the best prices on my staple items. Over time, because you are UNDERpaying for your items, you will build up money in your bank account. Keep that aside to keep following this principle for everything you regularly purchase. Then, when you see it on sale, you’ll have the funds to purchase in bulk.
