Walmart Savings Catcher available in select markets: Save money after purchasing

I have to admit, I love the idea of Walmart Savings Catcher, a new program where you can save money on your Walmart purchases after you've already swiped your card or dug out your wallet to pay.

How Walmart Savings Catcher works:  Sign up for Walmart Savings Catcher and enter your receipts.  You can only enter up to seven (7) receipts per week, so plan accordingly if you're a heavy shopper.  You also must enter it within seven (7) days of purchase or it may come back invalid.  What they do is ad match and give you the difference on items on sale at other stores.  So it's like getting a price match without having to ask for one.

Sounds great, right?  I went through the sign up process only to find in the FAQs that...

Bummer.  I don't live in a test area.    Yeah, that would have been nice to know up front before I went through the whole rigamarole of signing up.  The list of test areas was buried in the Walmart Savings Catcher FAQ.  I assumed it would tell me if it was not available in my area, but it did not.  So unless you live in a test area (listed below), you may want to hang back.  I suppose they could expand (Walmart Savings Catcher is in beta, after all), so it may be worth keeping my eye on for the future.

Test area list for Walmart Savings Catcher (as of 7/21/14, the date of this post):  These lucky ducks live in the test area:  Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Dallas, Texas; Huntsville, AL; Lexington, KY; Minneapolis, MN; San Diego, CA.  The FAQ does state that they do have plans to expand to more cities "later this summer".

Editing to add:  A Walmart rep reached out to me via email after this post went live to assure me that the program will roll out nationwide and to stay tuned for more specific dates.  Also, they do plan to eventually include produce and general merchandise.  Upon launch, it compared prices on 80,000 items, so there is good potential for unexpected savings for all when it goes nationwide.  Here's a link to their press release from June, if you're interested:  LINK 

Editing to add:  This appears to have been launched nationwide.  On 7/27, another blogger reported that it was open to everyone now, and when I checked the FAQ page, it no longer listed test areas.  Let me know how your savings add up!

Weigh in:  What are your thoughts on this program? 

Please comment below and let me know if you plan to sign up.  

Have a friend in a current test market?  Be sure to share this post with them.

Screengrab from FAQ from Walmart

Slight bummer:  Walmart Savings Catcher is only for eligible items.  Excluded are paper products, tobacco, electronics (basically general merchandise items).  Also excluded are bakery, deli, and weighed items like fruit.  Basically, if you can't eat it, you have no chance of getting money back if it's advertised cheaper elsewhere.  Your online purchases from Walmart.com are also not eligible.  Your brick and mortar receipts are the only ones you can enter for this program.

How you get paid back:  You get back the money you earn from them doing the price comparison shopping after the fact via a Walmart e-gift card.  This you print out to take with you on a shopping trip, or you can use it online. 

Use of this program does not mean you can't ad match.  If you're savvy and want to ensure your savings upfront, go for it!  There is no guarantee that mistakes won't be made and you should not rely on Walmart Savings Catcher to catch every price match after the fact.

Weigh in:  Share in a comment below whether you plan to sign up for the Walmart Savings Catcher.  

Have a friend in a current test market?  Share this post with them so they can sign up and test drive the program to see if they save money by shopping at Walmart.

Disclosure:  This is not a paid post.  I am simply sharing a program I heard about with my readers.