“Remember, remember, John Lewis in November.”

This is my new favourite saying thanks to this month being big for family birthdays – mine, my daughter’s father’s and my mother in law’s – then it finishes off with a bombardment of Black Friday deals, which falls on November 27, 2020.

It seems that every year, we buy each other birthday pressies, only to find them so much cheaper just two weeks later in the sales.

But, lucky for me, it seems that Black Friday bargains don’t only apply to new products you bought on the biggest shopping weekend of the year, some retailers will price match after you made your purchase.

John Lewis, for instance, will refund you the difference up to 28 days after you made your purchase. But bear in mind that The Never Knowingly Undersold policy does not apply to items sold by stores that are online-only  asos.com, amazon.co.uk,and eBay.co.uk, for instance.

So, I have made the habit of keeping this price match promise in mind while I’ve been browsing for birthdays as well as in the lead up to Christmas as you might be able to save money retrospectively.

Trust me, its worth doing – the amount you can save might surprise you.

Last year, it was only two weeks after I bought this Kate Spade handbag at John Lewis that I saw that the price dropped by a whopping 30 percent: luckily, I knew about the retailer’s retrospective price match policy and applied for a refund of the difference

HOW MUCH HAVE I SAVED?

Last year (2019), for instance, I bought a lovely Kate Spade handbag – specifically this Polly large convertible crossbody in black leather – which I had had my eye on for ages.

When I started looking, I found it was listed as £279 on the brand’s own website in the first weekend of November.

A quick look on John Lewis revealed it was a bit less at £250 and bought it.

Roll forward two weeks and a message popped up on my online calendar, reminding me to double check the current price of the handbag on the retailer’s website. Sure enough, the price had dropped to £175.

Naturally, I sent off the online request for a backdated price match and within two hours, the £75 refund had been processed. It couldn’t have been easier.

But this isn’t the first time that I did this: I managed to get £30 back on a Barbour waxed leather holdall recently, and when I bought a snazzy camera in 2018 and the price dropped in the Black Friday sale, I managed to get £50 back.

That’s £155 back from just three claims: not bad going if you ask me.

I managed to claim £50 back with the John Lewis price match after the price of the camera I had bought dropped in it’s Black Friday sale just weeks later

I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING

I appreciate that the above purchases weren’t exactly cheap, but all were for one-off special occasions and gifts.

But as a moneysaving blogger, my aim has never been to tell you to “not spend it” (so long as you can afford it) but rather, “spend it smarter”.

In other words, I like to help you get more bang for your buck, no matter what your budget.

WANT TO GET A PIECE OF THE BACKDATED PRICE MATCH ACTION?

Of course you do! You wouldn’t have read this far down if not.

So, here are my top tips for making the most of the “never knowingly undersold” price match policy at John Lewis.

DON’T BUY FROM JOHN LEWIS JUST FOR THE SAKE OF IT

When you are comparing prices online, don’t buy from John Lewis simply on the off chance that you will be able to get a price match down the road.

Only hand over your cash if the deal is the same – or better – that you can get elsewhere. There is no point taking a gamble on a sale that may never appear.

Before you splash your cash on a big ticket item, consider the chance it will go into the sale.

MAKE A NOTE IN YOUR DIARY TO CHECK THE LATEST PRICES

Don’t assume that the price match will be automatic when the sales launch. Instead you have to buy it as normal and then claim the difference back to your payment card, but you have 28 days in which to do this, so make sure that you make a note in your diary to check during the following four weeks.

BUY ONLINE AND HANG ONTO YOUR RECEIPTS

For me, I find it easier to shop online because the receipts will be emailed to me, meaning it’s even easier to find the information required when I make a claim.

Here is where you can do it online.

Don’t forget about watching the prices of smaller purchases as you can often find significant sales on some of your favourite beauty products (before you ask, this is an old pic – hence the wedding rings!)

DON’T GIVE UP

Most of the time the applications have been successful, but there has been a time or two times when I was rejected. But from what I hear from money savvy friends, I should have persevered – especially as there was a a few hundred pounds up for grabs.

You see, like most things with money, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, so it is worth making a repeat application if you have been denied.

You never know, you might find different customer services person agrees to the price match. It’s worth a try!

KNOW THE RULES

Bear in mind that there are various rules for making a price match – retrospective or not –  such as the retailer has to have a physical shop, the item must be exactly the same and the website says that the product must be in stock in order to qualify for a refund.

However, this has not been my experience in the past – I got money back on the Kate Spade bag even when the item was showing as sold out online.

But, it’s always worth checking the terms and conditions on the John Lewis website first so you don’t end up wasting your time.