Price Match Guarantee 2026: Which Stores Actually Honor It (Best Buy vs Target vs Walmart vs Costco)
Contents at a Glance
- Does Best Buy Still Price Match Outside Retailers?
- Why Did Target Cut Its Price Match Policy?
- Does Walmart Price Match Amazon or Target?
- Is Costco’s No-Price-Match Policy Actually a Problem?
- Price Match Policies Side by Side
- How Do You Actually Get a Price Match Approved?
- The Details That Get a Price Match Rejected on the Spot
- Tips
- Warnings
- FAQ
Does Best Buy Still Price Match Outside Retailers?
Yes — as of August 2026, Best Buy matches the current price of an identical, in-stock item from any of its 19 listed qualified competitors, including Amazon, Costco, and Target, according to Best Buy’s official Price Match Guarantee page.
The match window depends on membership. Regular shoppers get 15 days after purchase. My Best Buy Plus and Total members get 60 days — four times longer, which matters if you buy early and watch for a drop later in a sale cycle.
When I checked Best Buy’s own policy page line by line, the part most shoppers miss wasn’t the retailer list. It was the requirement that the competitor’s price be verifiable through a live ad or listing, not a screenshot from last week.
That verification step trips up more requests than the price itself.
Exclusions matter here too. Marketplace sellers on Amazon don’t count — only items sold and shipped directly by the retailer qualify. Clearance, refurbished, and open-box items are excluded outright, and so is anything priced during the blackout window from the Thursday before Thanksgiving through the following Monday.
Why Did Target Cut Its Price Match Policy?
Target ended external price matching in July 2025, and as of 2026 it only matches its own store, its app, and Target.com — including Target Plus marketplace items — within 14 days of purchase, according to Target’s official Price Match Guarantee page.
So the “we’ll match anyone” era at Target is over. It no longer matches Walmart, Best Buy, Costco, GameStop, or any other outside retailer, full stop.
Target hasn’t publicly explained why it narrowed the policy, so treat any specific reason you read elsewhere as speculation until Target says otherwise. The practical effect is what matters for your wallet: if you’re comparing a Target listing against Amazon in 2026, that comparison no longer gets you anything at checkout.
Inside Target’s own ecosystem, the policy still works the way most people expect. If the same item drops in price on Target.com after you buy it in-store, or vice versa, you can get the difference refunded within that 14-day window.
Does Walmart Price Match Amazon or Target?
No — Walmart in-store will only match a lower price currently listed on Walmart.com, not Amazon, Target, Best Buy, or any other outside retailer, according to Walmart’s official price match policy article.
Walmart.com itself is even more restrictive. The website offers zero price matching — not against competitors, not against its own in-store prices, and not against a price drop on an item you already bought online.
Reading through all four policies back to back, I found that Walmart’s is the most restrictive of the four. It doesn’t even market itself as a “guarantee” — just a “price match policy” — and that lower-key framing lines up with how few price sources it actually recognizes.
You’ll probably notice one more limit if you try this: Walmart caps in-store matching to one item per customer per day, and the match has to be raised before the cashier finishes the transaction. Walk out the door and the option is gone.
Is Costco’s No-Price-Match Policy Actually a Problem?
Not really — Costco doesn’t match competitor prices at all, but it will refund the difference on its own price drops within 30 days of your purchase, according to Costco’s official customer service page.
Costco just plays a different game entirely. Membership pricing is supposed to already beat outside retailers on most items, so the company treats external matching as unnecessary rather than an oversight.
Here’s where it gets stricter than people expect: Costco won’t even match its own warehouse price against its own Costco.com price, citing the added shipping and handling costs baked into online orders. A price adjustment request on an in-warehouse purchase goes through the returns counter at that same location. Online purchases get adjusted through Costco.com, with refunds landing back on your original payment method in five to ten business days.
Price Match Policies Side by Side
| Store | Matches Outside Competitors? | Own-Price Adjustment Window | Timing Requirement | Biggest Exclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Buy | Yes — 19 qualified competitors | 15 days (60 with My Best Buy Plus/Total) | At purchase or within window | Marketplace sellers, Thanksgiving week |
| Target | No — ended July 2025 | 14 days, Target ecosystem only | At purchase or within window | Any outside retailer |
| Walmart | No — only vs. Walmart.com, in-store | None after purchase | Must be raised before checkout completes | Walmart.com has zero price match |
| Costco | No | 30 days, Costco’s own price only | Within 30 days | Warehouse price never matches Costco.com |
How Do You Actually Get a Price Match Approved?
Pull up the competitor’s page before you go to the register. A dated screenshot works for Best Buy’s review process. Confirm the item number matches exactly — brand, model, color, and bundle contents all have to line up.
Ask for the match before the transaction finalizes, not after. At Walmart, that’s a hard rule, not a suggestion. At Best Buy, you get more room, since the request can happen up to 60 days later depending on membership tier.
Keep the receipt if a store denies a match you believe qualifies. According to Best Buy’s policy, requests must come at the time of purchase or within the applicable return window, so having proof of the original purchase date is what makes a later request possible at all.
If you’re the type who screenshots every price before a sale starts, you’re already doing the hard part right.
The Details That Get a Price Match Rejected on the Spot
Marketplace sellers are the number one denial reason across every retailer that offers external matching. A third-party seller’s price on Amazon doesn’t count at Best Buy — only listings sold and shipped by Amazon itself qualify.
Stock status matters more than people expect. Best Buy’s own exclusion list rules out any “limited quantity” advertised price the moment the competitor’s stock hits zero, per its August 2026 policy terms. If the competitor sells out before you complete your match request, the price disappears with it.
Honestly, that’s usually the part clerks catch first.
Coupon-adjusted prices are another common trap. A price that only exists after a competitor applies a promo code at their own checkout generally isn’t eligible — the policy compares list prices, not post-coupon totals. Membership-gated pricing works the same way: a price only visible to a competitor’s paid members doesn’t transfer over as a valid match either.
📌 Related reading: if you’re trying to catch a price drop after you’ve already bought something, see How to Track Price History Before You Buy Online.
Tips
- ✅ Screenshot the competitor’s price the same day you plan to buy — pages update fast during sale weeks.
- ✅ Ask specifically for a “price match,” not a “discount,” at checkout — the two get processed through different systems at most stores.
- ✅ If a store denies a match you believe qualifies, ask for a supervisor before you leave — first-line staff sometimes misread their own store’s policy.
- ✅ Nothing in these four policies bans stacking a price match with your own store credit-card cashback, so use both when you can.
Warnings
- ⚠️ None of these four retailers match prices during blackout periods like Thanksgiving week — check the exclusion dates before you count on this working during a big sale.
- ⚠️ A price match approved verbally at the register isn’t guaranteed once you’ve left — get the adjusted total printed on your receipt before you walk away.
FAQ
Do you need a store membership to get a price match?
No for Best Buy, Target, and Walmart — a membership only changes the match window at Best Buy, extending it from 15 to 60 days for My Best Buy Plus and Total members. Costco requires membership just to shop there, but that membership doesn’t unlock competitor matching, since Costco doesn’t offer that at all.
Can you price match after you’ve already paid?
Sometimes, within a set window. Best Buy allows a match 15 to 60 days after purchase depending on membership. Target allows 14 days, but only against its own prices. Walmart requires the match at checkout, before payment completes, with no after-the-fact option at all.
Does price matching work on clearance or open-box items?
Generally no. Best Buy’s policy excludes clearance, refurbished, and open-box items outright. Target and Walmart both require the item to be identical in condition, which rules out comparing a new listing to a clearance tag. Costco’s own price adjustment only applies to identical, full-price items too.
Sources
- Best Buy: Price Match Guarantee
- Target: Price Match Guarantee
- Walmart: Price Match Policy
- Costco: Does Costco Price Match With Other Retailers?
Fact-checked based on public sources as of August 30, 2026.
