9 Ways Anyone Can Save Even More at Walmart

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Walmart website
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No matter where you shop or what discounts you take advantage of, there’s just about always a way to boost your savings. This is even true of the nation’s largest retailer.

The following tips are among the best examples of how anyone can squeeze more savings out of their in-store or online Walmart purchases.

In other words, you don’t need to join the Walmart+ membership program to take advantage of these savings methods (although a membership does come with added opportunities to save).

1. Pay with free Walmart gift cards

Yes, there are numerous legitimate ways to get free Walmart gift cards. We break them down in”5 Ways to Get Walmart Gift Cards for Free.” And whatever you buy with a free gift card is basically free.

2. Pay with a cash-back credit card

If you don’t have the time or desire to chase down free gift cards, pay for your Walmart purchases with a cash-back credit card — assuming you pay your bill in full each month to avoid interest charges. Those purchases won’t be free, but at least you will get some free money back on them.

In 2019, Walmart debuted a co-branded credit card that offers up to 5% cash back on Walmart purchases, but it’s hardly the only credit card out there that enables you to earn cash back at Walmart stores or Walmart.com. You can check out the latest options using Money Talks News’ credit card comparison tool.

3. Earn cash rebates in stores

The free cash-back app Ibotta enables you to earn cash rebates on purchases from Walmart stores — and many other places.

4. Find hidden online discounts

Honey is a browser extension that scours the internet for coupon codes for items you’re buying. Basically, you shop a site like Walmart.com as usual, and Honey automatically searches for discounts for items that you have put in your shopping cart. Then, you can apply the best discount that Honey finds to your purchase before checkout.

5. Earn cash back at Walmart.com

It’s even easier to earn cash back when shopping online than in stores. Just go through a free cash-back portal like Rakuten or Swagbucks that offers money back on Walmart.com purchases.

Ibotta also enables you to earn cash rebates on purchases from Walmart’s site.

6. Ask for a price match

Per Walmart’s price match policy, stores still match the prices found at Walmart.com. You just have to ask for the price match.

So, before you buy anything in a Walmart store, use your phone to find out what it’s selling for on Walmart.com. If you find an item for less on the site, inform the store associate at checkout.

Just note the requirements and exceptions in Walmart’s price match policy.

7. Pick up online orders at a store

Walmart offers store pickup for online purchases. So, if you shop online but your order is less than $35 — the minimum order required to qualify for free shipping (unless you are a Walmart+ member) — you can opt to pick up your order at your local store.

This saves you from having to pay for shipping, and it sometimes means you can lay hands on your order sooner than if it were shipped to you.

Store pickup also might land you an extra discount: Walmart offers what it calls a pickup discount on certain items that you purchase online if you opt to pick them up at a store. Items that qualify for this discount are marked “Pickup discount eligible.”

8. Opt for slower shipping

Some items available on Walmart’s website qualify for what the retailer calls a shipping discount. Basically, you get this discount if you choose slower shipping for eligible items when checking out — such as three to five business days instead of two business days. Walmart explains:

“Slower shipping methods help cut costs so we can pass those savings on to you. Discounts are displayed at checkout as Shipping Discount.”

9. Don’t fall for bogus reviews

Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether a glowing product review is the honest opinion of a genuine consumer or the not-so-honest work of someone with a vested interest in boosting the product’s ratings.

But Fakespot can help you avoid unwittingly buying a product that doesn’t live up to its reviews. This free tool analyzes reviews on Walmart.com — and several other retailers’ websites — and grades them on an A-to-F scale based on how reliable Fakespot considers the reviews.

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