“Do you guys price-match?”: Man goes to Home Depot for an $89 Ryobi tool. Then he realizes it’s $47 on Amazon
A Home Depot customer's video is calling the home improvement store's price-matching policies into question after he says a worker blocked him from purchasing a Ryobi battery at a lower price.
TikToker @steffen.elbert made his video after finding the battery nearly 50% cheaper on Amazon.
"So I just went to Home Depot with my wife. We had to get a battery for our Ryobi fan for this guy at the beach," he says, showing his baby in a baby carrier, strapped to his chest.
"And I'm sitting there looking at the price, and it's $89.99 for a battery and a charger.
And so I look on Amazon, and it's $47," he adds.
He superimposes both the Amazon and Home Depot listings on his video. Sure enough, the Amazon price is $47.12, while the Home Depot price is $89.99.
Why wasn't this customer able to get a price match?
Upon first glance, it appears Ryobi is the seller, as it is listed as the "brand" on the Amazon listing. In a comment, the TikToker also shared he thought this was the case.
However, the battery is actually being sold through a storefront called 1SOLUTIONS. This is apparent when looking at the "sold by" portion of the listing.
While Home Depot does price match items found on Amazon, there are a few catches. One of those catches is that Home Depot does not price match items being sold by third parties.
Instead of explaining this, a Home Depot worker, according to @steffen.elbert, told him, "'We don't price match Amazon.'"
"I was like, well, that's why everything's getting taken over by Amazon," he ends his video.
@steffen.elbert someone call @The Home Depot #foryou #amazon #dadsoftiktok ♬ original sound - steffen.elbert
Price-matching is a hit or miss for Home Depot customers
The video has 73,000 views so far. Viewers have had mixed experiences when it comes to Home Depot's price-matching policies.
"Depends on the customer service person they will price match Amazon, if its like no ore than a 30% difference," one customer claimed. The said that Home Depot price-matched a DeWalt leaf blower, saving them $30.
"They won’t even price match their own website prices," another argued.
"They wouldn’t price match Ace Hardware down the road!!" a third said.
Another customer had more luck after pulling out the receipts. "Home Depot does price match amazon. I had them check their own price match policy when they refused mine at first," they shared.
How to price-match at Home Depot
Home Depot has a whole guide on its website for how to successfully price-match items both in-store and online.
To price-match in-store, simply show a cashier when you are checking out an "ad, printout, or website link that displays the competitor's lower price."
Here are a few requirements for in-store price-matching:
- The item must be in stock on the competitor site.
- The item must be attainable by the customer, meaning the competitor must operate or deliver in the customer's area.
- The competitor item has to be identical to the Home Depot product. They cannot be different brands, models, or sizes.
As long as the items are fulfilled by the retailer itself and not a third party, here are some common brands Home Depot matches prices for:
- Lowe's
- Menards
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Best Buy
- Target
And here are some brands Home Depot outright excludes from its price-matching policies:
- eBay
- Wayfair
- Costco
- Sam’s Club
One other caveat is that the lower price being offered by the competitor can't be a result of a clearance, closeout, Black Friday, or flash deals.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Home Depot for confirmation of why @steffen.elbert was blocked from receiving a price match.
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The post “Do you guys price-match?”: Man goes to Home Depot for an $89 Ryobi tool. Then he realizes it’s $47 on Amazon appeared first on The Daily Dot.