What Is a Price Adjustment and How Do You Request One?
Get the exact timing, receipts, and proof needed to reclaim the difference after a price drop.
A price adjustment is a partial refund of the difference when the same retailer lowers its price on an identical item you already purchased. To request one, contact the original retailer within its adjustment window with your receipt or order number, purchase date, and proof of the current lower price. It is also called price protection or a post-purchase price match.
Coverage applies only to the same retailer and the same item, and each store sets its own time limit and proof rules.
Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on November 03, 2026.
How does it work?
You buy at full price, then the same retailer drops the price. You ask for the difference back to the original payment method. The match must be identical.
For Target, that means the same brand, size, weight, color, quantity, and model number.
How do you ask for the difference?
Gather three things before you contact the store: receipt or order number, purchase date, and evidence of the current lower price. Then use the retailer's stated channel for that type of order.
- For a store purchase, ask at checkout or Guest Services with receipt and current price evidence.
- For a Target.com or app order, use online chat with order number and item information ready.
- Ask for the refund to the original payment method.
What do Target and Apple allow?
Target covers its own lower prices when requested at purchase or within 14 days after, according to Target's Price Match Guarantee page. The same source notes extended holiday coverage for Nov. 1-Dec.
24, 2026 purchases. Apple refunds or credits the difference if it reduces the price on an Apple-branded product within 14 calendar days of receipt, according to Apple's U.S. retail sales policy.
The buyer must visit an Apple Store or contact 1-800-MY-APPLE within 14 days of the price change.
What limits should you expect?
Adjustments generally exclude clearance, closeout, liquidation, refurbished items, pricing errors, and gift-card promotions. For Target, a lower price at a different Target store is also excluded. Ask before you buy whether a regular-price item later put on sale qualifies for a credit, as the FTC's holiday shopping tips advise.
Act the day you spot the drop so you stay inside the 14-day window.