Everything That Home Depot Won't Price Match
Home Depot is a juggernaut regarding the home improvement needs of consumers. It is one of the largest hardware retailers in the world, via Home Depot, and offers excellent bargains to consumers regularly. The chain even price matches competitors, with an additional 10% taken off the price to sweeten the pot just that little extra bit!
Consumers have bagged some incredible savings and an immense value addition when it comes to convenience by utilizing the price match guaranteed by Home Depot. But there are some things that the outlet won't match prices on. Knowing what you can expect to get a discount for and what won't be honored by the sales associates at the checkout counter can help you get the most out of your shopping experience. Fortunately, the store offers a comprehensive listing of its regulations, rules, and exceptions when browsing for products that might come under the matched price offer.
Professional services and items sold by third-party retailers
While Home Depot offers price matching services on a wide range of products in the store and online, there are some caveats and limitations to be aware of, via Home Depot. For starters, the retailer won't match prices offered by non-competitors. The list of companies with which Home Depot will match prices is exhaustive, but items sold by third-party retailers or discount membership outlets, such as Costco, aren't included in its price match policy. As well, these discount outlets offer wholesale pricing as a standard.
Wholesale, clearance pricing and discount rates that come with this kind of purchasing won't be matched by Home Depot, even if offered by retailers that compete directly with the brand. Home Depot also won't price match for professional services. This is to be expected. However, the cost of materials and labor can vary drastically depending on your local marketplace conditions and many other factors. Therefore, it wouldn't be feasible to price-match quotes for professional service add-ins.
The store also won't offer price-matching discounts to cover the cost reduction associated with promotions. This is most commonly seen in bundle sales. Labor Day sales, Black Friday events, and other seasonal discount offers may add in free extras when purchasing power tools, building materials, and many other items in the store. But these freebies and the related pricing won't be matched under Home Depot's current price match policy.
From clearance products to refurbished tools
In addition to these common finds, Home Depot won't match any other seasonal pricing discounts, clearance items, discontinued products, and more, via Home Depot. These prices come and go in the blink of an eye, so your best bet is to seek out the most suitable price when shopping seasonal sales and clearance items that are either marked for discontinuation or stock refreshment.
Similarly, Home Depot doesn't offer a price match on open-box items. Goods in open boxes or broken packaging are an exception, regardless of what's contained. Stores mark goods to clear them when faced with damaged packaging or returns that come back in boxes with broken seals. You may also find an open box on a shelf, resulting from an unscrupulous shopper opening up the package to investigate the product inside (or perhaps even stealing one or more of the items in the packaging). These finds are also outside of the norm when shopping more generally. Therefore, Home Depot won't price match them either.
Lastly, Home Depot won't price match refurbished items that are being sold as is. Refurbished tools are a great way to take advantage of discounts on objects that are still incredibly useful around the house, on job sites, or in DIY toolboxes. However, they come with their own steep discount over the cost of a new unit.
A note regarding additional caveats
It's also worth noting that Home Depot won't offer price matching on financed purchases of any sort. The outlet also won't match auction site pricing, and the additional sales tax that comes along with any purchase from a retailer isn't included in the price match program, via Price Match Guarantee. Home Depot price matches based on print and online advertising, as well as photographs of in-store offers (excluding those special deals noted above, of course).
However, Home Depot won't offer a match based on misprints or typographical errors in a competitor's advertised price. For instance, if a $100 tool has been discounted by 10% in an advertisement, but the price listed next to this discount shows $0.90 instead of $90, you won't benefit from this false advertisement at Home Depot. Nonetheless, if you press hard enough, you may have some luck at the initial retailer.