Did you miss out on some great sales during Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Well, don’t worry too much about these “deals.” In fact, some of the best product deals don’t happen at all during these times.
The majority of retailers play up the Black Friday and Cyber Monday hype because it’s good for their businesses to participate in, and benefit from, the early holiday shopping craze. However, many items being offered over the Thanksgiving weekend are not at their absolute lowest prices of the year.
For example, toys may appear to be on sale; however, if you wait until two weeks before Christmas, you’ll find many of those same items being priced even lower.
HDTVs and LED TVs are routinely touted as being deeply discounted during Black Friday and even Gray Thursday; however, many of those TVs are from third-tier manufacturers and have cheap builds, washed-out colors, or lack certain features. High-end brand name TVs are not fully discounted until the end of the year, when retailers want to clear out the current year’s stock.
This year’s DSLR cameras won’t actually go on clearance until after the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, which occurs in early January.
A better plan of action is for you to purchase items in the actual month that they are the most heavily discounted. This occurs as merchants attempt to clear out old or seasonal inventory.
Here is a synopsis of items that you’ll find to be the best deals month-by-month…
January
Christmas decorations and cards, calendars, bedding and linens, fall suits and exercise equipment. Toys in January are priced even lower than in late December. Also, unwanted gifts cards from the month prior are being sold en masse through online sites like Cardpool and Ebay.
February
Consumer electronics, including TVs and DSLR cameras, and video games. Winter coats and indoor furniture are heavily discounted. Also, because of slippery roads and low demand, motorcycles.
March
Consumer electronics including TVs, digital cameras and Blu-ray, MP3 and DVD players. Also, chocolate and winter sports gear.
April
Computers, laptops and office furniture. Post-Easter baskets and decorations. Also, lawnmowers, used cars and spring clothing.
May
Mattresses, camping and outdoor gear, and athletic apparel and shoes.
June
Camcorders, dishes, cookware, summer sports gear and swimwear. Also, computers, small consumer electronics and gym memberships.
July
Camcorders, indoor and outdoor furniture, swimwear and spring suits.
August
Snow blowers, patio furniture, backpacks and a variety of back-to-school supplies. Humidifiers and air conditioners.
September
Bicycles, gas grills, snow blowers, and lawn mowers. Shrubs, perennials and trees.
October
Winter coats, air conditioners, computers, wine, gas grills and bicycles. Also, and especially towards the end of the month, new cars.
November
Halloween costumes, decorations and candy. Baby products, GPS navigators, camcorders, cookware and tools. Also, hotel rooms that are located through sites like Expedia and Priceline.
December
Large and small home appliances. Gift cards are one of the best deals in December, with many retailers offering monetary bonuses or other freebies. Also for 2014, because of the recent release of the iPad Mini 3, the iPad Mini 2 is heavily discounted.
Of course, this is just a general rule of thumb and items can go on sale at any time. The important thing to keep track of is price history. Make sure you compare your big ticket items across multiple sites. If your purchase isn’t time sensitive, track price history over a few weeks and see how it fluctuates. This will give you a better idea of when the product goes on sale.