It’s one of the more expensive purchases for a home, so knowing the best time to buy a sofa will help you get the most from your funds. Planning ahead rather than acting on the spur of the moment is crucial if you want to optimize your budget.
There are certain times of the year when you can get a deal on the best sofa — including seasonal sales — but there are other opportunities you might want to grab that can still enable you to save or to get a design that may have previously seemed out of reach.
Here, we’ve put together all the best chances you'll find to get the best prices, along with what you need to consider when your aim is to buy a sofa for less.
When is the best time to buy a sofa?
There are events that you can count on for deals across different sofa types, including seasonal sales and retailer-specific events. We’ve asked interiors experts for their take on timing your buy whatever your ideal sofa looks like. This is what you need to watch out for.
Seasonal Sales
If you want to snap up a deal, you might want to plan to buy a sofa in January/February or July/August. That’s because collections are marked down at these times of the year.
“Leading up to the introduction of new styles, retailers are eager to clear out older inventory to make room for the latest trends,” explains Edward Gerard, COO of Dania Furniture and Scandinavian Designs. “This creates a perfect storm for savvy shoppers: prices on last season’s pieces drop like crazy, making it the ideal time to snatch up some seriously good deals,” he says.
“The best time to shop for the best price on older styles would be at the end of summer or end of winter,” he adds. “And, remember, older style does not mean outdated.”
Holiday Sales
Holiday sales are another opportunity for sofa bargain-hunters. Presidents’ Day falls when retailers are making space for new stock in February (see above), so can be a great time to target. Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Fourth of July sales are also good times for sofa shopping.
Then there’s the Black Friday home deals post Thanksgiving, a peak sales period with retailers vying for attention with sometimes highly discounted sofas.
End of Year Sales
As well as the beginning of the new year, if you can take your mind off the holidays in December and focus on a new sofa instead, you might also save some serious money, as there are often discounts on furniture including sofas then.
Retailer Sales
If you’re shopping for a sofa online, Amazon Prime Day in July can offer deals for Prime members that mean the sofa design that stretched your budget too far is now affordable. Amazon now also hosts another annual sale event called Prime Big Deal Days, which will take place in October.
There’s also Wayfair’s Way Day to browse for sofa discounts. This sale event also happens twice a year, in May and October and includes serious discounts.
And while these events are specific to the two companies, they promote competition so other sofa retailers will often put their designs on sale online, too, but also in store, making it worth looking more widely during these event periods.
Tax-Free Periods
In some states sales tax holidays might enable you to save on a sofa. These are limited periods from a day to a few days when selected items are exempted from sales taxes.
Typically it’s items such as school supplies, clothing, and disaster-preparedness items on which you can save, but it’s worth checking in your state to see if you could spend less on a sofa during this period. If that’s the case, be sure to check for any price limit on the purchase that would apply to the reduction.
FAQs
What are the benefits and disadvantages of buying a sofa in a sale?
The benefit of buying a sofa in a sale is easy to see. “You can save a ton of money,” says interior designer Tracy Metro, host of interior design show House Doctor on Netflix. “During the time while you’re waiting for the sale to happen, you get to plan other elements in the room.”
On the downside? “You don’t always get the sofa when you want it,” says Tracy. “So, the question is, what’s more important? Saving a few Benjamins or having it when you want it. Only you can answer that question.”
Of course waiting for a sale isn’t always convenient, especially with holidays approaching, and buying trends reveal this. “Dania Furniture and Scandinavian Designs experience a seasonal surge, with 33 per cent of their sales occurring in the fall, as customers prepare for the gathering and hosting season,” says Edward Gerard.
Don’t forget lead times if you’re trying to time your buy for a sale, but also so it’s with you in time for a particular event — and if you don’t want to be more limited in the choice of sofa color.
“Lead times vary widely between vendors, for various reasons,” explains Tracy. “When a vendor semi-customizes sofas by utilizing one of their pre-determined fabrics, it can add to the lead time as they need to specifically upholster the piece for you with your specs; whereas, if the company only offers the piece in one or two materials, they will stock those pieces which often are ready to ship.
“The latter vendors tend to stockpile those sofas in anticipation of their sales in order to immediately ship versus waiting 16 to 20 weeks for a semi-custom upholstered sofa. If you’ve got a deadline, it’s best to purchase sofas that have fewer material options as supply chains can be tricky with semi-custom pieces.”
What time of year are couches cheapest?
Holidays and retailer events bring discounts, but couches are often cheapest before the start of a new design season.
“I believe the best time to purchase a sofa in the retail market is when showrooms/stores are transitioning between seasons,” says interior designer Tracy Metro. “Therefore, purchasing your sofa at the end of February before they swap out to the spring collection in March and April is a great time. The same holds true for the end of July before the fall collection comes out in September and October. The retailers want to make space on their showroom floors and thus often will sell the floor model at a great discount.”
