Most major retail sale events stopped being a single day years ago. What used to be a Friday doorbuster is now a three-week pricing game that starts in October and doesn’t fully resolve until January. Prices spike and drop daily. “Sale” prices appear that aren’t actually lower than the baseline from 30 days prior. And the items with genuine discounts sell out before the official start date while the ones still in stock on the actual sale day are the leftovers nobody wanted. This holiday sale timing guide exists to cut through that noise — giving you the exact windows, the real peak discount days, and the honest assessment of which sale events are worth your attention and which are mostly marketing.

Knowing the calendar is the difference between buying a TV at its lowest price of the year and buying it at a manufactured urgency price that was also available six weeks ago.

How Retailers Sequence a Sale

Before getting into the calendar, it helps to understand the anatomy of how modern retailers structure a sale event — because the marketed date and the best-price date are almost never the same.

Early access tease (3–7 days before): Loyalty members and email subscribers get “exclusive early access” to sale pricing. This is sometimes the actual best pricing of the event — before inventory runs out and before the discounts get diluted by the crowds.

Pre-sale price drops (5–10 days before): Retailers begin quietly reducing prices on select items to build momentum. These drops often match or exceed the official sale pricing. If you’re tracking prices with CamelCamelCamel or Honey, this is when alerts start firing.

Peak sale day (the marketed event): The busiest day, with the widest item selection on “sale” — but not universally the deepest discounts. High-demand items are most likely to sell out. Loss-leader doorbusters create the impression of blanket discounting when in reality only a handful of SKUs are at true lows.

Post-sale clearance (3–10 days after): Everything that didn’t sell gets pushed deeper to clear inventory. This phase consistently delivers 15–30% more off than the peak sale day on items that weren’t doorbuster targets.

Black Friday illustrates this perfectly. The best TV prices of the year often appear in the first two weeks of November, not on Black Friday itself. Post-Thanksgiving clearance then pushes remaining inventory even lower. “Black Friday” is a marketing label attached to a weeks-long pricing sequence.

The Full-Year Sale Calendar

January Clearance / New Year Reset

Typical dates: December 26 – January 31 Who participates: Virtually every retailer, with the biggest moves in apparel, home goods, and electronics Peak discount window: December 26 – January 10 for the deepest clearance; January 15–31 for appliances and electronics as new model years arrive

The post-Christmas clearance period is the most underrated sale window of the year. Clothing and apparel hit 50–75% off as retailers clear current-season inventory. Toys from the holiday season clear at 50–70% off. Home décor, bedding, and seasonal items clear at 60–80% off.

The second wave — January 15 through the end of the month — is when electronics and appliances hit secondary lows. New model year TVs and large appliances arrive, pushing prior-year inventory to floor pricing. A 65-inch TV that was $799 at Black Friday may reach $549 in late January.

Timing tip: Don’t treat January as a post-holiday afterthought. For clothing, home goods, and last-year electronics, it’s the best shopping month of the year.

Presidents’ Day

Typical dates: Weekend of the third Monday in February (Feb 15–18 in 2026) Who participates: Mattress retailers, furniture stores, appliance chains, auto dealerships Peak discount window: The three-day weekend itself; sales often extend a day or two on either side

Presidents’ Day is one of the most consistent sale events in the retail calendar specifically because the participating categories — mattresses, furniture, and appliances — genuinely do mark down for the holiday. Mattress brands like Tempur-Pedic, Purple, and Saatva run their deepest discounts of the first half of the year over Presidents’ Day weekend. Appliance retailers (Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe’s) follow suit.

Timing tip: For mattresses specifically, Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day are the two best buying windows of the year. If you miss one, wait for the other rather than buying in between.

Spring Sales / Easter

Typical dates: March through mid-April Who participates: Outdoor and garden retailers, apparel and fashion, home improvement Peak discount window: Varies — outdoor furniture peaks late March to early April; apparel clearance runs March through April

Spring sales are diffuse — there’s no single event equivalent to Black Friday, just a gradual warming of promotional activity across categories. Outdoor furniture, grills, and garden equipment begin their discount cycle in late March as retailers load up for the season. Apparel sees clearance on winter inventory and introductory pricing on spring lines.

Home Depot and Lowe’s run spring savings events typically in late March and April, covering lawn care, garden tools, and outdoor power equipment. These are genuine promotions, not just label changes.

Timing tip: If you need a grill or outdoor furniture set, buy it in late March or early April — not in June when you actually want to use it. Prices increase as demand rises through the spring.

Memorial Day

Typical dates: Last weekend of May (May 23–27 in 2026) Who participates: Appliance retailers, mattress brands, furniture stores, outdoor and patio categories Peak discount window: The three-day weekend; many retailers extend through the following week

Memorial Day is functionally Presidents’ Day’s summer counterpart for mattresses and appliances, and it often delivers equal or better pricing. The holiday weekend is one of the highest-volume sale periods of the year for major appliances — refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers regularly see 20–35% off at Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowe’s.

Outdoor furniture and patio goods hit their seasonal peak discount in the week before Memorial Day, as retailers compete for the summer setup dollar. After Memorial Day, outdoor furniture prices stabilize and don’t drop meaningfully again until late-season clearance in August.

Timing tip: For outdoor furniture, Memorial Day weekend is the buying window. For appliances, the pre-sale week often matches the weekend pricing — shop the Wednesday before to avoid stock depletion.

Amazon Prime Day

Typical dates: Two-day event in mid-July (exact dates vary annually; announced 2–3 weeks ahead) Who participates: Amazon-first and Amazon-native brands; major retailers run competing sales simultaneously (Target, Walmart, Best Buy) Peak discount window: The 48-hour event window itself; watch for lightning deals in the first 6 hours

Prime Day is best understood as a promotional event for the Amazon ecosystem — Alexa devices, Fire tablets, Kindle readers, Ring cameras, and Amazon’s own brands see their deepest annual discounts. Third-party product discounts are more variable: some are genuine, many are marginal.

The 48-hour window creates real urgency because lightning deals expire in hours and inventory limits are real. But the pressure also creates opportunistic “discounts” — items marked up briefly to create a larger percentage-off figure. Price history tools are essential here.

Timing tip: Track your target items on CamelCamelCamel starting in late June. Set a price alert. On Prime Day itself, you’ll immediately know whether a “deal” is a genuine low or a manufactured one.

Back to School

Typical dates: Late July through late August Who participates: Electronics retailers, apparel chains, office supply stores, mass market retailers Peak discount window: Late July through early August for electronics; August for apparel and supplies

Back to school is one of the most prolonged sale periods of the year — it starts in late July and runs through August across most retailers. Electronics (laptops, tablets, monitors, wireless earbuds) see consistent discounts of 15–25% as retailers compete for the college and K-12 market. Apparel has both end-of-summer clearance and new fall inventory arriving simultaneously, which creates genuine pricing pressure.

Office supply stores (Staples, Office Depot) run loss-leader promotions on school supplies — $0.01 composition notebooks, free after rebate paper — that are worth adding to any existing shopping trip.

Timing tip: For laptops and tablets, back-to-school pricing in late July often matches or beats Black Friday pricing on the same models. If you need a laptop, this is the window — don’t wait for November.

Labor Day

Typical dates: First Monday in September (September 7, 2026) Who participates: Appliance retailers, mattress brands, outdoor/summer clearance Peak discount window: The three-day weekend; summer outdoor clearance peaks in the two weeks prior

Labor Day is the third major appliance and mattress sale event of the year after Presidents’ Day and Memorial Day. The pattern is reliable: retailers run appliance promotions over the weekend, and the discounts are broadly comparable to what was available at Memorial Day.

Summer outdoor clearance — patio furniture, grills, pool equipment — begins in earnest in mid-August and peaks around Labor Day. Items that were full price in May are typically 40–60% off by early September as retailers clear floor space for fall and holiday merchandise.

Timing tip: If you missed outdoor furniture at Memorial Day, Labor Day clearance will offer deeper discounts but lower inventory. Wait for Labor Day only if your preferred items are still in stock.

October / Pre-Holiday Early Access

Typical dates: October 1 – November 10 Who participates: Amazon (Prime Early Access), Target, Best Buy, and a growing list of major retailers Peak discount window: Variable — Prime Early Access typically runs a two-day event in October; other retailer events are scattered

The October early access trend has grown significantly. Amazon runs a Prime-member-exclusive fall sale event (often called Prime Early Access or Prime Big Deal Days) that mirrors July’s Prime Day format. Target and Best Buy have followed with their own October promotional periods.

These events are the equivalent of Black Friday’s pre-sale phase — prices on electronics and household items reach levels that frequently match or exceed what you’ll see in November. Inventory is full, competition among shoppers is low, and the deals are genuine.

Timing tip: If you’re planning to buy electronics or Amazon-ecosystem products for holiday gifts, October is often the best window of the fall. Don’t assume you need to wait for Black Friday.

Black Friday and Cyber Week

Typical dates: The week of Thanksgiving through the following Monday (Cyber Monday); many retailers extend through the week Who participates: Every major retailer Peak discount window: By category — TVs peak Black Friday week; clothing peaks Cyber Monday; toys peak the full window but sell out fast

The most important thing to understand about Black Friday is that it’s a sequence, not a day:

  • Pre-Black Friday (Nov 1–20): Many retailers’ best prices of the season appear here, especially on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Buy if you see a verified historical low.
  • Black Friday week (Nov 20–28): Genuine peak for TVs, small appliances, and toys. Doorbusters are real discounts but limited quantity — buy early or expect them to sell out by 9am on Black Friday.
  • Cyber Monday: The strongest day for clothing, apparel, digital goods, and tech accessories. Apparel retailers run their most aggressive online-only discounts.
  • Cyber Week (Nov 30 – Dec 6): Remaining inventory gets pushed deeper. Not everything is still available, but items that didn’t sell through on Black Friday often see an additional 10–15% discount.

Timing tip: The phrase “Black Friday price” is meaningless without price history. Run any Black Friday deal through CamelCamelCamel before buying. Roughly 30% of advertised Black Friday “deals” are not genuine historical lows.

December Last-Minute Holiday

Typical dates: December 15–24 Who participates: Retailers with guaranteed delivery dates, digital gift card sellers, in-store retailers Peak discount window: Not a discount window — this is a convenience window

December 15–24 is not a deal period. Retailers know you’re time-constrained and price accordingly. Physical items are full price or near it; the savings are in digital delivery (gift cards, streaming subscriptions, digital game codes) which carry no shipping constraint. If you haven’t bought by December 15, budget for convenience rather than trying to find deals.

Timing tip: Digital gift cards from secondary marketplaces like Raise can be purchased and delivered instantly at a 5–10% discount even on December 24. They’re the best last-minute option for most recipients.

Post-Christmas Clearance

Typical dates: December 26 – January 10 Who participates: Every major retailer Peak discount window: December 26–31 for the widest selection; January 1–10 for additional markdowns on remaining stock

Post-Christmas is the most underrated sale window of the entire year, and it’s covered in more depth in the January Clearance section above — because it feeds directly into it. The key insight: this window is only useful if your gift recipients are flexible about when they receive something, or if you’re buying for yourself. For household goods, clothing, and seasonal items you’ll use next year, December 26 through January 10 is the single best buying window of the year.

Timing tip: Go in with a list. Post-Christmas clearance is chaotic, inventories are random, and the best items move within 48 hours of December 26.

The Most Overhyped Sale Days

Black Friday doorbusters are the most manipulated promotional format in retail. A 65-inch TV at $199 sounds extraordinary — because it is. There are twelve of them, they’re available only in-store at 5am, and they’re a specific model built for that sale with lower specs than the regular line. The doorbuster exists to drive foot traffic, not to represent the actual discount landscape. The real Black Friday deals are the non-doorbuster items marked down 20–30% that stay in stock through the weekend.

Amazon Prime Day for non-Amazon products. Prime Day genuinely delivers for Amazon-brand and ecosystem items. For third-party products — clothing, kitchen tools, fitness equipment — the discounts are frequently 10–15% at best, and many items have higher price histories available throughout the year. Use price tracking. Don’t assume the Prime Day badge equals the best available price.

Valentine’s Day has almost no retail discounting outside of jewelry and chocolates. Apparel, electronics, home goods — none of these categories see meaningful Valentine’s promotions. If you’re waiting for Valentine’s Day to buy something in any other category, stop waiting and check current prices instead.

How to Track Prices Before a Sale

The single skill that separates shoppers who consistently win on sale timing from those who don’t is price history awareness. The tools are free and take seconds to use:

  • CamelCamelCamel: Enter any Amazon URL and see a full price history chart going back years. Set a price alert and get notified when a product hits your target price.
  • Honey / Capital One Shopping: Both browser extensions track price history and can alert you when a tracked item drops. Less detailed than CamelCamelCamel but works across more retailers.
  • Google Shopping price history: On many product searches, Google displays a price history graph directly in search results — no extension required.
  • Your own 30-day baseline: Before any sale event, check the item’s current price 30 days ahead. Screenshot it. On sale day, compare. This manual check catches inflated “sale” prices immediately.

The goal is to remove manufactured urgency from the equation. A “72-hour sale” is only urgent if the price is genuinely lower than it’s been. Price history tells you immediately whether it is. For earning cashback on top of any of these sale purchases, see the How Cashback Portals Work guide — portals activate on sale prices the same way they do on regular prices.

When to Stop Waiting and Just Buy

Analysis paralysis is its own kind of loss. Every week you delay a purchase you need, you’re paying opportunity cost — in time, in inconvenience, and sometimes in actual money when the price rises rather than falls.

Here’s a simple decision rule: if the current price is within 10% of the verified historical low and you need the item within the next 30 days, buy now.

Waiting for a price that might be 5% lower in six weeks while paying for the problem the item was going to solve is a losing trade. The framework isn’t “buy at the absolute lowest price ever recorded” — it’s “buy at a genuinely good price when the timing is right for you.” Historical price data tells you whether the current price is good. Your calendar tells you whether the timing is right. When both are true, stop waiting.

The Calendar Is Your Competitive Advantage

Retailers count on shoppers being reactive — responding to sale events as they’re announced, feeling urgency that the marketing creates, and buying without a baseline price to compare against. The shoppers who consistently get the lowest prices are the ones who planned the purchase, tracked the price in advance, and knew before the sale started whether the discount was real.

CouponCommando’s merchant pages include month-by-month promo calendars for major retailers — giving you a preview of what sale events are coming before they’re announced publicly. Before any major purchase, check the retailer’s page to see when their next promotional window is likely to land. And if you want the complete category-by-category breakdown of which products hit their lowest prices at which events, the Holiday Shopping Calendar covers exactly that — alongside the Price Match Playbook, which ensures you can claim the lowest price even when you’ve already bought.