I promised you that we would start off easy. Today we are talking about the Wal-Mart Savings Catcher.
So a little quick backstory. Over the summer Wal-Mart decided to create a program that would allow it's users to insert a receipt. That magic behind the scenes would compare prices with other competitors in the area and if it found a price that was lower, you would get the difference back. It was originally limited to three test cities, but was expanded soon thereafter to include all of the United States. At first, and with the US rollout, the catcher was very limited as to the items it would compare (only groceries at first). It's expanded since to include a few more items but it still isn't an all encompassing system.
With that being said, lets take a look at the things you are going to need:
Wal-Mart Savings Catcher
- A valid email address (it could be one you just made up, however)
- A Wal-Mart account (Wal-Mart has to know where to put your money)
- A computer with internet access
- A Wal-Mart receipt
- A smartphone with the Wal-Mart app (optional)
The process is pretty simple. You get your receipt, you log into your walmart.com account via your computer or smartphone and you upload your receipt. You can do this one of two ways. You can either upload the receipt online or you can use your smartphone app for iPhone. Then Wal-Mart gets to comparing items. Here's a pretty quick YouTube Video on the entire process.
So, now that you know what you need, the next question is "how do I make this profitable" and "how can I cash out?"
Let's start with the first question, how do I ensure I am getting money back from Wal-Mart? There's a couple things you need to know regarding this. Wal-Mart, regardless of your personal feelings about the company, does a really good job of price matching. That's their selling point to drive the business. We have the lowest prices, and if we don't, prove it and we'll make it so. In the past the company was willing to price match as long as you had the advert from the competitor and could show them (or you had a sympathetic cashier who already knew of a lower price). This takes some of the work away from the customer and puts it in Wal-Mart's hands. They WANT to be the lowest when it comes to pricing so they've established a system that will actively look for those prices. With that being said, keep in mind that they are looking for prices on items their competitor would carry, not "items similar to what we carry." Any Great Value (or other in store brand) is automatically disqualified from this comparison because no other stores carry Great Value products. Also, Wal-Mart has a way of packaging multiple items together that are Wal-Mart brand specific. (remember that 3 pack of Hamburger Helper you just got?) Typically speaking, none of those are eligible for comparison either, because no other store is carrying the items packaged in this exact way.
To answer the second question, it's fairly easy to cash out and you have a couple options. As Wal-Mart finds more savings, it adds those findings into your walmart.com account (also accessible from your smartphone app). While here, it's just a number with no monetary value whatsoever. When you choose to (or automatically at the end of the year) you can cash this money out via a Wal-Mart e-gift card that can be used for either online or in-store purchased. Also, through 2/28/2015 you can double the Wal-Mart Buck$ (as they call it) by having your savings transferred to a bluebird account. I've looked over it and I do believe that's the route I will take when I plan to cash out.
So in case you were wondering just how much one can save, the upper limit (as noted in the terms) is $599.99 per calendar year. I sincerely doubt I'll personally hit that mark, ever, but $46.65 ($93.30 if it were a bluebird account) is not a bad pay day.
So a little strategy that might help you stretch the dollar just a little. Make sure you get your receipts in as quickly as possible. You are limited to seven receipts per week, and you have ten days from the purchase date to get it entered. Take a look through the FAQ so you can see exactly what kind of items you can expect to be price matched. And keep your eyes open for receipts that someone else may have left behind. You never know when a receipt could earn you a few extra buck$, I know I have.
Oh, and don't throw those receipts away just yet. In the next session we'll see what YOU can do do with those receipts to help feed the pig!
Currently Playing: the hood internet/backseat shake off (kendrick lamar x taylor swift)
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