****UPDATE**** The developer of JBBuddy.com has extended support even more, branching out from TVs to now also include laptops, phones, iPads and tablets, with audio devices such as speakers, headphones and soundbars coming soon. The app now supports comparing prices across ten retailers that are compatible with price matching.
It is now also possible to search using a JB Hi-Fi SKU, making it faster to use in-store. Those who donate to the app will also gain the ability to use a barcode scanner for “instant and frictionless comparisons.”
Buying a new TV can be challenging, but as a customer, you have considerable power, especially with retailers that offer price matching. All you need is for one retailer to provide a sale price and the others *should* match the price.
There are always little bits of fine print when it comes to a store and its price-matching policies but as a general rule, if the stock in the other store is Australian stock and available in-store that day stores will price match – sometimes even with online prices.
Some stores that price match include JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, and Officeworks. The problem with this is that it can often be difficult to find the same product on other websites, and it can take a while to surf to all the various options to find the best price.
Luckily, there is now a website to help you – JBBUDDY.com. Developed by Reddit user KC, who goes by the Reddit handle INFEKTEK, the new tool is a web app to “find the cheapest price from Aussie retailers to help this (price matching) as easy as possible and save people money.”
Currently, the website is in testing and only supports TVs. Our testing has shown it to be exceptionally accurate and helpful.
The story behind it is incredibly Australian – the developer previously worked on a similar app that compared beer prices to help users find the cheapest case in their area. Then one day, while shopping at JB Hi-Fi he remembered their price match policy and Googled the model of TV he was after to find the cheapest price.
He was lucky that day, as he managed to find the same model for a cheaper price elsewhere, in stock, and in Australia, saving himself a significant amount. In the process, though, he realised that it was a lot of running around and difficult to find the cheapest price, so he decided to do something about it to help others save as much money as possible, just as he had done.
Jbbuddy was born. At this early stage, only TVs are supported, but INFEKTEK is looking to add laptops, phones and audio to the site, along with a lot more retailers.
Using the web app is incredibly simple – but even then, there are instructions for users.
The web app is free to use with no affiliation with any store so you can be sure that you will always receive the best price without any weighting to any particular store. If you like it and find it useful, why not buy the developer a coffee as a token of appreciation for their time and effort?
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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