Reader Notices Target Math, Gets $4.99 Off Price Of Lamp

Target is a discount store, but also a strange and mystical place where Doritos are refrigerated, sale items are simultaneously 50% off and free, and customers are notified when something isn’t on sale. As a Consumerist reader, Erin knew to look out for Target’s strange version of reality, and was able to get an item for the lower shelf tag price rather than the higher “sale” price.

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This is the most important reason to snap a picture of weird pricing discrepancies when you see them: in case your purchase scans at the wrong price, and you need to quickly illustrate the problem. (Also, then you can send the photo to us, but that’s secondary.) While your camera phone picture isn’t the definitive word on an item’s price, it helps your case and proves that you were paying attention and aren’t just making up different prices to be difficult.

In this case, Erin saw the two different prices and brought her picture to the checkout. “I asked the CSR very politely if I could have it at the $14 price, and showed him the photo, and he said, ‘Hrm, yep. Our bad.'”

The interesting question would be whether anyone has fixed this pricing discrepancy. Maybe they just slid the sale sign back over the original shelf tag instead of removing it.

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