Electronics retailers have varied return and price-matching policies

Expect some up-close and personal attention from sales employees when you walk in the door of an hhgregg appliance and electronics store.

They're paid 100 percent on commission. If you don't buy something, they aren't earning.

"Hey, one of people's biggest complaints is that it's impossible to get any service on the floor in stores," said Ben Popken, managing editor of the consumer advocacy Web site Consumerist.com. "Maybe this will make the employees actually pay attention to the customers for once."

Wholesale club retailer Costco, by contrast, pays its employees an hourly wage. They're paid the same whether they help you buy a $1,000 high-definition TV or tell you to come back tomorrow when the price will be $200 lower.

Best Buy got rid of paying a commission to its sales staff in the late 1980s. Circuit City, the former Henrico County-based retailer, did away with the practice in early 2003.

Big electronics stores may look similar, with rows of gadgets and walls of HDTVs, but below the surface lurk differences in how stores treat customers.

"Low-price guarantee" and "price matching" mean different things from one store to the next.

Customers should know that some stores take back products with no questions asked, but others charge at least 20 percent.

As consumers make some of their largest purchases and expect deep discounts, the landscape is full of shopping hazards.

If these policies seem suddenly more draconian, you're not hallucinating. They're new.

"Over time, retailers are getting more restrictive in price matching, restocking fees, all those kinds of things," said Jim Stock, a marketing professor at the University of South Florida.

"That's because their margins are shrinking and they're threatened by online stores. So they're more careful with what they're offering."

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Retailer hhgregg has some of the most distinctive policies.

The store pledges to beat a rival's prices by 10 percent, but there are caveats.

The store matches only "brick-and-mortar" rivals, spokesman Jeff Pearson said.

The chain won't match prices at online stores such as Amazon.com or sites such as Walmart.com and BestBuy.com. Also, it won't match stores outside its own "trade area," so if you find a great price in another city, you'd better take it.

Another distinction: Customers must return products within 14 days of purchase, so don't buy something this weekend and expect to return it after Christmas. If you do, there could be a minimum restocking fee of 20 percent of the purchase price, company policy says.

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Consumer electronics giant Best Buy will match rivals' prices, but not for seven days that started on Thanksgiving -- meaning no match on a rival's door-buster deals this weekend.

Best Buy does not match pricing for a rival's Web site, bundled deals, "pricing errors," limited-quantity, out-of-stock, open-box, clearance, outlet center or refurbished products.

Store employees are paid a salary, rather than sales commission, though they receive bonuses based on store performance. There's also a restocking fee of 15 percent on some big-ticket items, such as notebook computers and camcorders.

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Warehouse clubs have their own universe of store policies.

Costco has no official price-matching policy, in part because "we are typically the lowest price," Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said.

Store staff members aren't paid on commission, rather the average wage is about $19 an hour, plus medical benefits, he said. There's no formal restocking fee, he said.

Sam's Club has emerged as a major electronics retailer, for instance selling a 55-inch Vizio LED HDTV for $1,876, about $400 less than Amazon.com and Vizio's own Web site (but similar to the price at Dell.com).

There's no restocking fee at Sam's Club, but the store matches prices only at other club stores, such as BJ's or Costco, not online outlets.

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Established stores have their own perks and pitfalls.

Wal-Mart, for instance, has a reputation for low prices. But the world's largest retailer can make price-matching a fruitless game for shoppers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will work with manufacturers to develop a slightly different product just for them. That means your Wal-Mart may have almost the identical Samsung 42-inch HDTV as Best Buy, but with different model numbers, so customers have no chance to play one retailer off another.

"Wal-Mart is known for this in particular," Popken said. One perk though: Wal-Mart's official policy is to forgo a restocking fee.

Rival store Target adopted price matching this year.

The chain will reimburse customers who buy one of their products, then find a lower price elsewhere, but only within seven days, and not counting "early bird, door busters or limited quantity items," the company says. There's also a potential 15 percent restocking fee on camcorders, digital cameras, portable DVD players and portable electronics.

Retail legend Sears will beat rival prices by 10 percent, according to company policy, but with a long list of exclusions.

Richard Mullins is a staff reporter at The Tampa Tribune