Ready, set, shop! And perhaps haggle for an even better deal

When it came to make-up, prices varied greatly between online US websites and cosmetic counters here.

For Kiwis scouring the shops for bargains today and the rest of sale season, don't rule out haggling your way to a discount.

An informal Herald survey of seven products sold at 14 different stores found that two chains - the Warehouse and JB Hi-Fi - were willing to match the cheaper prices for the same items at different outlets.

The Warehouse also offered a 10 per cent discount if customers could prove the same item was available cheaper at another business.

The Herald exercise chose seven different books, cosmetics, electronics, sporting and toy products selling at different prices in online and bricks-and-mortar stores in New Zealand and overseas. An unidentified reporter approached the stores in person or via email asking staff if prices could be matched or beaten.

When it came to make-up, prices varied greatly between online US websites and cosmetic counters here.

Clinique's High Impact Mascara sells for $21.44 on the American site, but is $47 at the global brand's Westfield St Lukes counter.

Likewise, cult brand Mac lipsticks sell for $20.80 on its US website, but at Westfield St Lukes' Mac store they're $40. The make-up sites don't ship directly to New Zealand and staff at both the Auckland make-up stores said the prices could not be matched. The global brands did not respond to Herald requests for comment.

Also at Westfield St Lukes, men's Nike Free 5.0 running shoes sold for $180 at the Nike store. The same pair retailed for $127.49 at Rebel Sport. Nike wouldn't match that.

Rebel Sport managing director Rod Duke said the price difference was "significant" and if the roles were reversed, the company would beat Nike's price by 10 per cent. "We don't price-match, we price-beat," he said.

The same Seagate 1TB portable hard drive cost $109 at JB Hi-Fi but was $94.99 at Noel Leeming. A sales assistant at Mt Albert JB Hi-Fi said the price would be matched, not beaten.

At The Warehouse, an Olaf Tickle Time toy - from the hit Disney movie Frozen - was $49.99. At Toyco on Mt Eden Rd it went for $47.99. The Warehouse would match Toyco's price and beat it by 10 per cent, making it $43.20.

A spokeswoman said the firm had been making the offer since 2011, but would not say how often it was used.

Buying Hope to Die by James Patterson from Fishpond would not save money - despite the company's price-matching and -beating policy. At Paper Plus the book was $29.99, compared to $32.31 on Fishpond.

When asked by email if Fishpond would match the price, an employee said the company had a price-matching and - beating policy, but not on sale books, which the Paper Plus copy was. Whitcoulls also replied via email that it would not match Amazon's price of $11.70 for Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Whitcoulls' price was $27.99.