The prices of certain products fluctuate by 10% to 75% over
the course of a year. Some even vary predictably within a single
day or week. Knowing how to correctly time purchases can save you
hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
APPLIANCES & ELECTRONICS
Best time to buy small appliances and
electronics: April. Many electronics products
are made by Japanese companies, which typically introduce new
products and discount older ones soon after March 31, the end
of their fiscal year.
Best time to buy a
refrigerator: May. Merchants often slash fridge
prices in May to clear space in showrooms and warehouses for
new models, which arrive each summer.
Best time to buy a
computer: August, during back-to-school sales.
Prices often drop by $50 or more. Printers and other computer
peripherals sometimes are thrown in as well.
Exceptions...
Buy televisions in January, when
discounts are common on units that were not sold at the
holidays and on products replaced by newer models unveiled at
early January’s Consumer Electronics Show. (TVs often are
attractively priced during December’s holiday sales as
well.)
Buy cameras in February. Most new
models come out in January and February. Get a good deal on a
year-old model at a Presidents’ Day sale.
Buy portable music players in August or
September. These often are marked down in
anticipation of the new models, which tend to arrive in
September and October.
Best time to buy a lawn mower, snowblower or
barbecue grill: Near the end of its season of
use. Discounts can reach 30% to 40% on grills and lawn mowers
between Labor Day and November... with similar savings on
snowblowers in March. Merchants don’t want to store these
bulky, expensive items until their next season.
HOUSE
Best time to make an offer on a
house: January. Home buyers face minimal
competition during this month because house hunting is no fun
when the weather is at its worst. Less competition means
greater odds that a seller will accept a low-ball bid. The
weather is no better in February, but by then sellers are more
likely to hold out until temperatures and the housing market
begin to heat up in March.
The first Tuesday of January can be the perfect day to make an
offer. Home owners will have recently made a month-end mortgage
payment, a reminder of the high cost of holding onto an unneeded
home. Tuesday also is a great day to make offers in slow housing
markets because by then, home owners realize it’s unlikely that
other house hunters from the weekend’s showings intend to make
offers.
Alternate strategy: Make an offer on
Christmas Day. Sellers are happy to receive an offer -- even on a
holiday -- and people are in a good mood on Christmas, leaving them
psychologically predisposed to be flexible and generous in their
negotiations. Add a message to your offer explaining that the home
would be the perfect place to raise your family -- we tend to
become very family-oriented on Christmas. You will need a real
estate agent who is willing to work on Christmas to do this.
CLOTHING
Best time to buy thrift shop
clothing: Soon after area dry cleaners make
donations. Some of the best clothing available at many thrift
shops is donated by dry cleaners. These are mostly high-end
clothes that the dry cleaners’ customers failed to pick
up.
Ask a thrift shop employee if the store receives donations from any
dry cleaners and, if so, when those donations tend to arrive. Stop
by soon after a donation is expected.
Best time to buy new
clothing: About a month after you first see it.
If clothing hasn’t sold six weeks after it appears in stores,
the markdowns begin. Ask an employee how long an item has been
in stock if you are not sure.
CAR
Best time to buy a new car if low price is your
priority: October through December. Dealers
often discount the current year’s models by as much as 20%
late in the year to make room for new models. October and
November are the best bets if you’re at all picky about what
you drive -- prices can be even lower in December, but by then
very few desirable vehicles from the current model year are
likely to be available.
Whatever month you buy your new car, shop on one of that month’s
final days. Salespeople and dealerships become more willing to
offer attractive deals late in the month because they often need to
sell cars to meet monthly sales quotas or earn bonuses.
Best time to bring a car to a mechanic for
repairs: Thursday. This is the slowest day of
the week at many repair shops. Some shops are willing to give
discounts of 10% to 20% to customers who are willing to wait
until Thursday -- if those customers know to ask. But don’t
expect a Thursday discount at a shop that always is busy.
Thursday discounts most likely are given to customers who
bring multiple jobs to a shop, so consider holding off on
having a minor repair done until additional work is
required.
MARKETS
Best time to shop at a farmers’
market: Just before closing time. Farmers’
market merchants hate loading unsold goods back onto their
trucks. If fruits and vegetables are already ripe and are
unlikely to be sellable in another day or two, point this out.
Discounts can be 50%, sometimes more.
Best time to buy at an outdoor flea
market: On the last weekend of the season.
Outdoor flea markets shut down for the winter in most parts of
the country. Sellers often are willing to accept low-ball
offers rather than put merchandise in storage for
months.