Best Months To Buy Goods
By Mike
For the past 2 years, most people (including me!) have been having second thoughts before buying any goods. We didn’t want to make an unnecessary purchases and potentially run into money problems down the road. Each time I stand in front of a store and am about to buy something, I ask myself: “Do I really need it or can it just wait?”
In fact, I should also ask another question: “If I really need it, is it the right time to buy?”. Whether you are frugal or not, we all need to buy appliances if they break or look for a new computer when our children start college. In those situations, you might be surprised how great a deal can be found depending on your timing and the month of the year.
In fact, if you take the time to think about it, most stores offer rebates from time to time. But, they come out at pretty much the same time year after year. They have what we call “rebate seasons” and they are fixed in their business models. I did a few researches over the net and here’s what I found as the best months to buy specific goods:
When I look at the table, I am not really surprised about the timing of some rebates. For example, January and February are good months to buy clothes. This is quite logical as one of their biggest seasons just past (Christmas) and they are stuck with clothes that will have to disappear from the store in March to make more room for the spring and summer stuff.
Another note is travel to Europe in February. I’ve done it once and it’s not only pretty cheap but it’s easier to visit those countries as it’s not tourist season. People are less stressed and you have more time/space to visit.
Overall, I think this small list is not perfect but will help you figure when is the best time to buy a specific type of good. When you plan your purchase in advance, you will not only make a better choice, you will also save a lot of money by looking for deals!
I don’t know if you have noticed any other market trends like that?
Author: Mike.
| January | February | March | April | May | June |
| Household stuff | Electronics | Recreational stuff | Appliance | Antique | Clothing |
| Electronics | Clothing | Toys | Appliance | Tools | |
| Toys | Travel in Europe | Trips | Camera | ||
| Clothing | Toys | ||||
| Trips | Cars | ||||
| Trips | |||||
| July | August | September | October | November | December |
| Household stuff | Electronics | Household stuff | Electronics | Camera | Camera |
| Recreational Stuff | Recreational Stuff | Recreational Stuff | Trips | Electronics | Electronics |
| Clothing | Electronics | Household stuff | Household stuff | ||
| Trips | Toys | Toys | |||
| Trips | Trips |
March 18th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Household stuff is kind of vague, don’t you think?
Here’s what I’ve noted:
Memorial Day/President’s Day are the best times to buy furniture for some reason. Sometimes also Labor Day, but not as much as the other two.
Late Oct/early Nov are the best times to buy things like table linens, blow-up beds, place settings, TV trays, etc. That’s because they know you’re getting ready for out of town guests. It is also a good time to get bakeware and accessories on sale. Mixers are often shown as discounted, as I recall. Again, it’s all about entertaining guests.
Obviously, for clothes, the best time to buy is directly AFTER the season they’re made for. Similarly, most summer stuff is most affordable right at the end of the season. So water bottles, lawn chairs, yard activities, etc are all incredibly cheap. Sunblock is one of the exceptions. It’s on sale most of the summer, in at least one store. And here in AZ it seems to go on sale extra early. Which is good because technically I should be using it all year. (Very pale skin.)
Video games don’t really go on that great of sales, but sometimes you can get bundles more cheaply. Same with gaming systems. Sometimes stores will offer GCs or extra games to go with the systems. But peripherals go on sale a lot — gaming chairs, for example. Those are on sale a LOT during the winter months.
As for electronics, that’s probably a no-brainer but I find the best bargains usually between Black Friday and New Years Day. Although I have a theory that in Jan/Feb you might be able to find good electronics deals, since retailers are desperate to get us to spend again. (Because all the consumers are freaked out by post-holiday bills.) But this year that wasn’t born out, as far as I could see.
Oh and, much to my ire, vacuums, baking accessories/gadgets, mixers and other stuff like that all go on sale around Mother’s Day. Which is the LAST time of year that you should be wanting to get her something like that.
Similarly, lots of unnecessary gadgets and plenty of ties and wallets usually go on sale around Father’s Day.
March 18th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Interesting post. To help add to it, it’s pretty safe to say that the best time to buy a wedding dress is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most stores are fully stocked (with few customers) between these two holidays anticipating a huge rush AFTER Christmas (most people get engaged during that holiday).
Nice blog by the way!
July 26th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I’ve seen the prices for big screen TVs fall since May so I agree that your advice to purchase electronics starting in August is recommended. I assume it’s because the closer it gets to Christmas, the lower the prices go? Is that correct?
August 19th, 2010 at 3:01 am
I agree too with the advice that the best months you have suggested here to buy goods. Its simply a great job i must say as you prepared this table by creating some logical ideas and that will surely save some money if you follow this months to buy goods.
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