# Staples/Business Depot Price Match Experience



## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

Had an interesting experience with Staples yesterday and the following email that I sent to them was the result.


Hello,

I was in the Staples location at Yonge and King yesterday evening looking at laser printers. I noticed that the store had the HP Laserjet 2300 on sale for $927. This was a bit surprising to me because I was sure that HP themselves sells it for $849 or so and that their authorized resellers sells it for even less than that as I can find it for as low as $799.

I asked a sale associate what the Price Match policy was and he showed it to me. Personally, I don’t understand the part where Staples limits itself to price-matching certain big-box stores but Staples’ price here is even higher than its supplier’s? The sales associate then took me to his manager who checked the price on HP’s website to make sure and all he could say was that it was against the contract and should not be allowed and so on.

He then took me to the technology manager who said that HP was not recognized as a competitor. This floored me because there’s simply no logic behind that explanation. As I explained to him, if I had $50 in my pocket and I wanted to buy the printer, who wants my money? Staples or HP? How could these two NOT compete for that $50?

He said that it’s because HP does not have store locations but that Staples does. I pointed out to him that if we took that logic further then why does Staples even bother having a website? HP can sell on the web with their prices and Staples can sell through only their retail locations. That way, there is no competition.

What’s amazing is not only the lack of logic behind the explanations given to me but also the fact that there was no offer to even Price Match against HP. This is Staples’ OWN supplier! How can Staples have higher prices than its own supplier?

Either Staples has a lousy buying department or its customers are being gouged. Those “We Will Not Be Undersold!” signs should come down even if the prices don’t.


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## MACSPECTRUM (Oct 31, 2002)

caveat emptor - buyer beware
so sad that a major retailer is selling above manufacturer list price and unapologetic about it

arrogance, sheer arrogance


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

It's not that odd, actually, to find a retailer that doesn't recognize a website as a competitor, the same way that most retailers don't recognize OEM distributors as competitors.

Technically speaking, the HP website is a direct-sales business. Most retailers don't recognize other direct-sales businesses (ie: CDW/MacWarehouse or TigerDirect) as competitors either.

There's two main reasons: 1st they are technically a different market and 2nd, honestly, most of them don't want to price match as they are going to lose that 50$ on an item that already has a razor thin profit margin.

Another reason is that a lot of price match policies have a requirement that most people are unaware of: the product has to be in stock at the place to be matched. Direct-sales places don't always keep stuff in stock, they order it when you order it.

This is the same reason that a lot of smaller places aren't recognized as competition. They order the product in when you order it, so while staples may sell the item for 900$ every day, the smaller place will sell it for 799$ just to make the sale.

From a customers point of view, though, this is all just an annoyance. If nothing else, though, in a place like Staples all you should have to do is ask for a machine with 'net access and look the item up on the FutureShop or BestBuy or OfficeDepot or London Drugs website. Most places will patch these prices because they are the same prices as you would find in store (unless it is a website specific deal) and they clearly display whether the item is in stock or not.


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

It gets interesting now. I actually love shopping at BD/Staples and have ever since they started up over ten years ago. (Before they were bought by Staples in case anyone wants to nitpick my memory.)

Here's a response from their customer service department. Admirably quick!



> We appreciate your inquiry concerning this issue,
> 
> Our Price Match policy clearly states that it does not apply to Original Equipment Manufacturers pricing. The reason being is that the manufacturers prices can be slightly lower as there is no markup and they generally take quite a while for delivery if ordered through them.
> 
> ...


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## IronMac (Sep 22, 2003)

And here's my reply.  



> I'm sorry but that doesn't make a lot of sense once again. We are not talking about OEM pricing, we're talking about HP's own price. Normally, MSRPs should be higher than their retail channel in order to avoid conflicts such as this. In fact, out of the five authorized HP resellers on HP's website that carries the 2300, four have lower prices than Staples and, out of those four, three have lower prices than HP.
> 
> Are you going to tell me that those resellers are actually selling at a LOSS? That has to be what you're saying if you're going to tell me that HP is selling at a price that doesn't allow for a markup.
> 
> ...


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

PosterBoy:



> Most retailers don't recognize other direct-sales businesses (ie: CDW/MacWarehouse or TigerDirect) as competitors either.


How are CDW/MacWarehouse and TigerDirect direct-sales businesses and Staples is not? They are both retail operations the same way Staples is a retail operation. Is there something I'm missing here?


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Sorry, poor wording on my part.

TigerDirect and CDW are mail order places, Staples and etc are retail stores.

Mail order (and OEM places) can make up lost margins on, among other things, shipping charges, lack of warranty support, lack of customer service, etc.


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