110% Price Match Guarantee*

A few years ago the online store Staples introduced the 110% price match guarantee. The deal sounded great, and many retailers have adopted it themselves. But as they often say with something that looks too good to be true, the devil is in the details. 

In the case of Staples, the deal was that if you found a "currently available" lower price on a new, "identical" item, and show them the lower price when you buy the item at Staples, they would match the lower price plus give you "10% of the difference." So if you were buying a $100 printer, and found one for $90, and followed all the rules, you could get 10% of the difference ($10) which is a whopping $1.

The Devil Is In The Details

Other stores have tried similar gimmicks, and now the trend is becoming popular with online ebike retailers. Of course, there are many ways these offers can be worded to make you think you found the best deal online and can save big when you buy an electric bike. For example, one competitor says that "If you find that our own website or one of our competitors has a lower price for the same item you ordered within 30 days of your purchase date, we will refund 110% of the difference."

That sounds great, but the fact is that all legit ebike retailers are required to adhere to what's known as Manufacturer Advertised Pricing (MAP) - so none of us can really give you a significant price break without breaking the rules and risking being dropped by our suppliers.

Another ebike store offering 110% Price Match Guarantees requires the customer to meet each of the following conditions for the guarantee to be applied:

• You must purchase the item from their website before requesting your Price Match Guarantee. 
• Promotions such as rebates, coupons and buy one, get one free offers are not eligible. 
• The item must be in stock on the competitors website. 
• The competitor must be an online store, they may not have a retail location. 
• The website can not be a discounter or auction website like eBay, Overstock, Wayfair.
• The competitor must be an Authorized Retailer of the product in question (how is this determined?). 
• The competitor must comply with manufacturer MAP (minimum advertised pricing) (how is this determined?).
• The Price Match Guarantee includes the item price and the shipping charges, it excludes sales tax.

Now, this might not matter to some customers, but if you are a smart shopper and know anything about online retail, you can see how the resulting price wars don't really benefit anyone, since each retailer will try to match the competition in a race to the bottom - only a giant like Amazon can win a war like this. Everyone else loses, including the customer. Because a strategy like this requires us to cut back on essentials, like customer service, operator assistance, and free shipping.