I Forgot to Compare Prices When Shopping. Here's How It Almost Cost Me $70

After one too many fried eggs stuck in my nonstick frying pan recently, I decided it was time to invest in a new set. I headed out to shop around a few local stores and came home with what I thought was a good deal, but a quick online search back home told me I'd made a pricey mistake. Here's how forgetting to comparison shop beforehand almost cost me $70.

When a sale isn't a sale

After perusing the aisles at a few local cookware stores, I wasn't finding the individual pots and pans I was hoping for. I decided to check out a department store location nearby and, lucky me, I found a set of cookware that more than met my needs displayed prominently under a big red "SALE!" sign. Two hundred dollars on my credit card later, I was out the door with a big box under my arm.

But as I drove home, the suspicious part of my mind started to wonder...why did the sign only say "sale" but not list the original price of the item? Most stores eagerly announce just how much you'll save by shopping there. What was this department store trying to hide?

I did a quick online search of the exact pot-and-pan set I purchased, and wouldn't you know it, the cookware brand had the same set priced at $179.95 on its website, $20 less than what I paid. That meant the department store was somehow marking the set up and calling it a sale. But that wasn't even the lowest price I found; Amazon also had the same cookware set available -- for $129.95. Bamboozle!

Do a little homework before buying

Luckily, I was able to head back to the department store the next day and get a full refund for my purchase, then buy the set on Amazon for the actual-sale price, so no real harm done. But if the store had a strict no-return policy, or if I was desperate for another fried egg and hadn't searched prices before using the new cookware, my checking account would have been down $70 for no good reason.

This experience was a great reminder of why it's always a good idea to comparison shop, especially when purchasing big-ticket items. Don't just trust that the price you see first is truly a deal; see if you can find a better price for the same or a similar product elsewhere. 

You can also look into shopping with cash back apps to earn rewards on the items you buy and make your purchases that much less expensive. Every extra dollar in the bank these days is a personal finance win! 

According to research by The Motley Fool Ascent, the median savings account balance in the U.S. is $1,200. By comparison shopping and finding the best price on my cookware purchase, I saved nearly 6% of that amount in one go. Imagine how much you can save by committing a little more time to researching prices before you shop.