Walmart closes $90 PlayStation 4 price-matching loophole

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Friday, November 21, 2014
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It was a deal too good to be true for long. Walmart says it has now closed a loophole that was letting some people buy $400 PlayStation 4 consoles for just $90.

The customers were taking advantage of Walmart's new price matching policy, Yahoo News reports. The retailer recently announced it would match prices on items found at Amazon.com.

"We're committed to providing low prices every day, on everything. So if you find a current lower online price from an online retailer on an identical, in-stock product, tell us and we'll match it," Walmart's policy states.

But here was the problem: Anyone with a registered selling account can create authentic-looking pages and list items "for sale" online.

Several customers followed those instructions and posted unverified pictures of receipts showing Walmart price-matching those fake Amazon listings.

It did not take long for Walmart to take notice and closed the loophole. The retailer released a statement to CNBC saying stores will no longer honor prices from "marketplace vendors, third-party seller, auction sites or sites requiring memberships."

"We can't tolerate fraud or attempts to trick our cashiers," Walmart said in the statement. "This kind of activity is unfair to the millions of customers who count on us every day for honest value."