This Holiday Season Offers New Opportunities to Save by Comparing
As the 2012 holiday shopping season heats up, many retailers already are offering great deals like matching online prices and attractive layaway plans. Before you head out the door in search of the best deal, Connecticut Better Business Bureau offers the following tips to help you save time and money.
According to Connecticut BBB President, Paulette Scarpetti, technology has made it easier to find good deals.
“Retailers are aware that consumers go online to make their purchasing decisions even while they are in a store, so many sellers are working hard to keep themselves competitive.”
For this holiday season, some major retailers have announced deals pledging to offer the same pricing in stores as major online competitors. This presents great savings opportunities for consumers who take the time to look for the best deals.
Connecticut BBB recommends you make sure you fully understand a retailer’s online price matching policy, including:
- What kind of proof is required by the retailer for the price to be matched?
- Know which online competitors apply to the price-matching program. The retailers offering online price matching may only take into account the pricing of specific online competitors.
- What are the dates that the price-matching program is in effect? For example, one retailer ends its program December 16th, while another excluded sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- What happens if you already purchased an item, but subsequently find the same item at a lower price? Some retailers will honor the price if informed within a certain amount of time following the sale.Can you use coupons in conjunction with price matching?
- In addition to online price matching, this year several retailers rolled-out their layaway plans for the holidays a month earlier than last year.
Some are even offering additional incentives to use the layaway option, such as cutting fees and increasing the number of items eligible for layaway.
Make an informed decision by checking the business out at www.bbb.org, where you will also find advice on holiday shopping, lists of BBB Accredited Businesses by industry and BBB Business Reviews you can trust.
-Submitted by Howard Schwartz Executive Communications Director, Connecticut Better Business Bureau
