Most big-ticket items, like TVs and mattresses, follow the same sale calendar every year. If your purchase can wait a few months, write down the exact model and today’s price now, then buy in its category’s sale window instead of the week you start wanting it.
That wait can be worth hundreds of dollars on a single purchase. Consumer Reports’ TV buying guide uses the example of a 65-inch set that sells for $1,100 at launch, falls to $880 within a few months, and can go for as little as $650 the next year.
Those drops aren’t random. In each of the categories below, holiday promotions and new models replacing old ones bring prices to a low at about the same time every year. Here’s when each one usually drops:
- TVs get their deepest discounts around Black Friday, that guide says. The next-best often come in promotions about two weeks before the Super Bowl, and prices drop again in spring, when new models arrive and stores clear out older sets.
- Mattresses drop for Memorial Day in May, and Consumer Reports finds the biggest discounts toward the end of the month.
- Large appliances go on sale over holiday weekends, but a Consumer Reports price study found ranges and refrigerators cheapest in November.
- Treadmills, ellipticals, and other fitness equipment tend to go on sale in January, right after the holidays, Consumer Reports says.
Labor Day sales are real for some categories and not others, so know what’s actually worth buying that weekend before you shop.
Once you’ve written down the model and price, put a price tracker on it. When its window arrives, buy if the price has dropped below your number. If it hasn’t, keep the alert on for the next window. Buy outside a sale window only if the one you’re replacing gives out first.
New cars have a sale season too. Edmunds says December has usually brought the biggest discounts off the sticker price, but discounts have held steady so far in 2026. Its advice is to buy a new car when you need one, after you’ve done your research. Used cars still follow the calendar, and Edmunds puts their best discounts in October and November.
Pick the next big purchase on your list and put its window on your calendar today.
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