Price Matching Policies for Australian Store Chains that stock Toys

[Skyfire]

I tried to price match something at Toymate, given the current 20% off various toy brands at Target. They don't price match blanket discounts or toyline discounts. So generally this would mean they only price match competitors' regular prices, unless you can show a competitor's toy is specifically reduced. They still apply the gold membership 5% discount to the matched price.

[Lucretia]

just in case anyone didn't know ebay does price matching as well, with 5% extra.
https://pages.ebay.com.au/buy/Best_Price_Guarantee/

[Skyfire]

So I went to Toymate to see if they would price match the Wave 1 Legacy Deluxes or Voyagers that were on the Target website. And they said they wouldn't because, when they checked on their computer (not sure what they were looking at), they said there was no stock at Target (I guess they look at the nearby store).

I also went to JB Hi-Fi and took an SS86 Perceptor, normally $39.98, to the counter and showed Myer's current sale price for Studio Series Deluxes ($28) on my phone, and the salesperson sold it to me without doing any more checks. So I'd recommend attempting price matching at JB Hi-Fi.

[Sinnertwin]

So I went to Toymate to see if they would price match the Wave 1 Legacy Deluxes or Voyagers that were on the Target website. And they said they wouldn't because, when they checked on their computer (not sure what they were looking at), they said there was no stock at Target (I guess they look at the nearby store).

I also went to JB Hi-Fi and took an SS86 Perceptor, normally $39.98, to the counter and showed Myer's current sale price for Studio Series Deluxes ($28) on my phone, and the salesperson sold it to me without doing any more checks. So I'd recommend attempting price matching at JB Hi-Fi.

It really depends which team member you get
Some are just enforcing policies that nobody GAFA
Others, like your JB team member know how to get your business.

[Skyfire]

Pre order from Zing they had him for $128 ?????? but the guy price matched Myers SS leaders for $59 haha even though they don't have him!

Interesting that Zing price matches, especially since they can get good stuff but at bad prices, and also matched sale price.

Underwood / Kuraby Big W didn't have Motormaster but had the Studio Series Deluxe wave with 3x Ironhide, 2x Arcee and 1x Perceptor at the normal Transformers section (not the cardboard stand), $28, but they are willing to pricematch against Myers' $23.99.

Big W is a bit annoying here - I emailed them before Toy Mania to see if they would price match Myer during Toy Mania. And the reply I got was they don't price match (the way it was worded sounded like "at all", so obviously wrong on that count). Then I took the Toy Mania catalogue to a store service desk, pointed to the Price Match blurb and asked if they price match sale prices elsewhere. "No" was the reply. And just to clarify, I said, "Only regular prices are matched, then?". The next reply was, "Yes."

[christalcase]

Big W is a bit annoying here - I emailed them before Toy Mania to see if they would price match Myer during Toy Mania. And the reply I got was they don't price match (the way it was worded sounded like "at all", so obviously wrong on that count). Then I took the Toy Mania catalogue to a store service desk, pointed to the Price Match blurb and asked if they price match sale prices elsewhere. "No" was the reply. And just to clarify, I said, "Only regular prices are matched, then?". The next reply was, "Yes."

It was actually a bit annoying this time as I had wait a while. I was hoping for a quick yes or no like usual. They had to ask another staff member, then call a manager, then confirm it was Myer, asked if it was on sale, confirmed the price, confirmed it had stock (using the stock location on the website) and then finally gave the go head for the pricematch. I wasn't in a rush so it was okay, and toys are expensive enough so $4 saved is $4 towards another figure.

[Tranceblade]

Following the above posts for context, Big W no longer price match at all.

https://www.bigw.com.au/help/faqs
"We don't do price matching at BIG W. Retailers often have differing prices and discounts on the same or similar items for reasons including the quantity of a product remaining in stock, and the length they've had a product in stock."

[griffin]

That's disappointing.
I think JB is now the best one for price-matching, for me at least.... but I don't know if that is policy, or just because I buy so much stuff from them.

[Skyfire]

I think JB is now the best one for price-matching

Yeah me too. JB has the latest figures and they can be price-matched in-store or online. I have ~70% success ratio but their policy is clear that only identical items can be matched, so actually all the "assorted" figures on competitors' websites don't qualify. I should be getting 0% success. Everywhere, actually, has the same caveat - I've been turned down on "assorted" matching at Toymate and Zing. I've had success at Kmart, who don't care about "assorted", but they are so behind JB in toy waves that I've not price-matched there for a long while.

I've also read on other forums people getting ridiculous prices at JB by using clearance prices, like Target's under-$20 Legacy Deluxes for Evolution Deluxes (currently $9.60 - can you imagine?!?) Clearance prices are certainly disqualified but I believe many JB staff members don't actually know their price-matching policy.

[griffin]

I agree, as some people are going to ruin it for the rest of us by deceiving JB staff into price-matching something that isn't equivalent (like the G2 redecos being price-matched to regular Legacy toys), or matching to clearance pricing at another retailer.

It shouldn't be about, "what can we get away with", because JB is only recently taking a chance on these toys and collectables, so if their records show a lot of sales losing them money, the last thing we want to see is them no longer wanting to stock the Brand... or them stopping price-matching (like BigW), or making it a lot harder to legitimately price-match (by saying that the exact product has to be shown online, or be physically in the other store when they call up).