A lot of people go mad for Black Friday, or the January sales. But are they the best times of year to buy things or is it all just hype?
With money tight for many people at the moment, a comparison website has delved deeper into the best months in which to buy certain products. And it turns out that the best deals can be found at different times - although there's one month that is best avoided all together.
PriceSpy has been looking into the deals and found, for example, that January was the cheapest month for buying dishwashers, barbecues and tumble dryers. For games consoles and wine coolers, April was the best month, while October was found to be the cheapest time to purchase a slow cooker.
There is one caveat - the research is based on when prices were cheapest in 2021, so there is no guarantee the same pattern will follow next year, reports the Mirror. In any event, you should always compare prices online first to make sure you’re getting the best deal.
It comes as the cost of living remains close to a 40-year high with prices rising at an alarming rate over the last year. The consumer price index (CPI) level of inflation, which is used to measure how the price of goods and services has changed, currently sits at 10.7%. This is down from a 41-year high of 11.1% as families continue to feel the squeeze of higher energy and food bills.
Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, UK country manager at PriceSpy, said: “Kitting out a home is an expensive undertaking, whether it’s out of necessity or simply wanting to upgrade certain items. Spreading the cost by staggering purchases over a number of months is always sensible, but knowing the best time to buy certain items will make your money go even further. Not to mention giving you the satisfaction of knowing that you snapped up a product at the best price at the best time.”
She continued: “If you know what you want or need to buy, set up price alerts on a service like PriceSpy to be notified when they drop in price. That way, you can hit ‘buy’ as soon as the price works for you.”
PriceSpy found the following items were cheapest on these months, with the average price shown below.
January: Dishwashers (£514), BBQs (£342), Tumble dryers (£415)
February: Cookers (£997), Pizza ovens (£236)
March: Portable speakers (£185), Microwaves (£167), Smart home transmitters and receivers (£23)
April: Games consoles (£308), Dehumidifiers (£156), Wine coolers & wine storage cabinets (£590)
June: Lawn mowers (£279), Pressure washers (£188), Projectors (£1,832)
July: Espresso machines (£381), Fridge-freezers (£754), Fans (£91)
August: Toasters (£64), Drills (£115)
September: Blenders (£94), Air fryers & fryers (£90), Air purifiers (£227)
October: Slow cookers (£38)
November: TVs (£1,088), Breadmakers (£123)
December: Stand mixers & kitchen machines (£305), Doorbells (£111), Home security cameras (£141)
May isn't included in the above data as PriceSpy found it wasn't the cheapest month for any household items.
