Black Friday 2021 Price Match Guarantee: what is it and who is offering one?

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last updated 10 November 2021

With Black Friday 2021 fast approaching, T3 has been busy compiling all of the best Black Friday deals to save you the headache of trying to find them amongst the gazillion or so deals that flood the internet as we arrive at the annual retail shopping bonanza.

Preparing a battle plan for getting the best tech deals possible is absolutely essential for beating the Black Friday rush, but one thing that can help ensure you're getting the best possible deal is to check which retailers are offering a Black Friday price guarantee and then shop early.

What is a Black Friday Price Match Promise?

Typically, a Black Friday price guarantee means that specific retailers will match the price of a product if you're able to find it cheaper elsewhere – there are a few terms and conditions to make a note of, but that's the general gist of things as Black Friday rolls around year-to-year.

And trust us when we say that these promos can be quite important in those moments when you're making split-second decisions to go with one retailer over another. Price Match Guarantees can help subdue that massive dopamine rush that floods your brain's receptors as deals pour in at breakneck speed. All too often it's easy to get carried away and swept up in an impulse purchase before having done your proper due diligence over other retailers' prices. Such guarantees ensure that the retailer you've chosen will meet the price of a particular product if you find it cheaper elsewhere.

Who is offering a Price Match Promise?

Various retailers are applying a price-matching guarantee to their Black Friday sales this year. However, it usually varies from retailer to retailer in terms of specifics. With that in mind, here's a breakdown of everything we know so far:

1. BEST BUY

Best Buy is hyper-aware of its customers' needs, always going one step beyond to help you have the most successful Black Friday ever. The retailer knows a thing or two about the art of discounting and we've already caught a glimpse of its annual cut-price mastery through the myriad Best Buy Black Friday deals 2021.

To make things even easier, all of the deals in Best Buy's October 19 sale are covered by the retailer's Black Friday Price Guarantee. This means the price won’t go lower before Black Friday. If it does, Best Buy will automatically refund its My Best Buy and Best Buy Totaltech members the difference. What's more: you don't even need to email or show your receipt, with the retailer saying that it's "just money back in your pocket."

If you don't happen to be a member of the My Best Buy and Best Buy Totaltech loyalty schemes, then you're not excluded from the guarantee. Rather, you can still be reimbursed by visiting your local store or contacting the Best Buy customer care team to request a price match under its Price Match Guarantee.

2. JOHN LEWIS

The UK's beloved John Lewis: it's everyone's favorite high street store and, more recently, guardian and protector of the Christmas advert. For many of us, the familiar glow from the John Lewis Christmas advert on the TV signals that we're fast approaching Christmas. Before all that, though, we have Black Friday to take care of! And John Lewis has got the same Price Match Guarantee in place as previous years, where it will be matching its high street competitors' prices.

That's all we currently know at the moment, officially. However, previous years' terms and conditions are fairly clear cut, with John Lewis not expecting customers to be able to find a lower price "at another high street competitor for the same individual product, sold with the same service conditions." These may vary slightly for this year's Black Friday, but the general gist is that the retailer will match the price when you make a purchase, or refund the difference for up to 28 days after you've bought the item from John Lewis when you make a price match.

The company told T3 that it couldn't share details or exact terms beforehand, but it will do as soon as it goes live.

3. CURRYS

Some of the best Currys Black Friday deals need to be seen to be believed, pushing out savings that can be quite simply titanic in comparison with any other time of the year for the retailer. They're certainly not to be missed and we foresee stock running low very quickly on some of the more popular products. In other words: you need to act quickly to make the most of the products on the Currys Black Friday page.

Not only will stock run out quickly because of the crazy savings, but it's also because Currys has bolstered its selection of deals with a watertight Price Match Promise. Currys is ultra-confident that you won't get it cheaper anywhere else. If you keep scrolling down on its Black Friday page, you'll see that Currys' normal price-matching agreement also applies to Black Friday. To make things easier for customers, Currys has a tool that compares prices on its website, making it easier to see how the range of Currys Black Friday smartphone deals stacks up with other websites like, say, Amazon offering its own selection of discounts across its best Amazon Black Friday deals UK.

4. AO.com

AO.com Black Friday price match guarantee

AO.com have a great selection of products that will all be involved in the Black Friday sales this year, including appliances, electronics, smart tech, floorcare and more. AO.com are always looking for the best prices for their customers, which is why they offer a price match guarantee all year round, even on Black Friday.

AO.com price match every product they sell against other retailers to help you find the best prices. They also match discount codes and sales. By calling AO.com with the product number, price and website of the other retailer, they'll compare the prices and refund you the difference. We're predicting big sales from AO.com's Black Friday deals this year!

5. Blacks.co.uk

Blacks.co.uk Black Friday price match guarantee

Blacks.co.uk offer top prices on fitness and outdoors equipment, including hiking, camping, cycling, climbing and more. With their Black Friday sale on the way, Blacks.co.uk offer a price match guarantee which can save you even more money.

Blacks.co.uk have not only promised to match the price of your item, but they'll also beat it by taking an extra 10% off. This can be done in store or online, and as far as we can tell this will be available during Black Friday.

Best of the rest

1. Amazon

Amazon hasn't got a specific Black Friday Price Match Guarantee, but we all know that the retailer is able to provide some of the best discounts across all sectors due to its extensive commercial reach.

The sheer might of the retailer often means it forgoes a Price Match Guarantee entirely because it's so assured of the competitiveness of its prices. And, glancing over how things are looking so far for Amazon this year, we'd be inclined to agree. Amazon annually commits to providing its customers with the lowest prices across the widest selection of products.

Not only that: Amazon customers can shop confidently knowing they are getting low prices on Amazon during the holidays – and every day – no matter when they shop. There's definitely some solace to be found in that sentiment, especially with so many retailers dialing up the grandiose claims around Black Friday. It's best, sometimes, to just sit back and relax knowing that your favorite e-commerce brand has got your back all year round.

2. Target

Target may soon find itself in the list of retailers offering a Price Match Guarantee, but we're still awaiting confirmation from the store. So, for now, it sits in the 'no promotion' bracket, but knowing how Target bases much of its business model around driving pure user value, it would seem strange for the company to not have some form of guarantee in place.

Indeed, Target knows a thing or two about simplifying the shopping experience to provide great deals all year round so, even if it does end up skipping on the price match promo, then you can rest assured that you'll be paying the right price without sacrificing experience, quality or style.

3. eBay

According to online sources, eBay may be offering price match guarantees on their sales. While it might not be appliance on Black Friday, eBay match online prices with select retailers within 48 hours of purchasing.

eBay have top prices on tech, electronics, fashion, cars and more, so you're already getting cheap and premium prices on high quality products. If the item is refurbishes, we doubt that eBay will offer price matches on them as they're already discounted due to being previously used. But keep an eye out during Black Friday as eBay will definitely have big price cuts this year.

This article is being actively updated as more retailers confirm their offers

T3's guides to the Black Friday sales and deals

Luke is a former news writer at T3 who covered all things tech at T3. Disc golf enthusiast, keen jogger, and fond of all things outdoors (when not indoors messing around with gadgets), Luke wrote about a wide-array of subjects for T3.com, including Android Auto, WhatsApp, Sky, Virgin Media, Amazon Kindle, Windows 11, Chromebooks, iPhones and much more, too.