Holiday deal calendar: when each category actually goes on sale

The best time to buy holiday deals depends on the category, not the calendar page. Coats and cashmere hit their real discounts in late December and January, after the gifting rush. Electronics drop hardest around Black Friday and again in January, when last year's models make room for new ones. Beauty sets are the exception: they sell at their best prices in October and November, then vanish. Here's the short version of the whole year: buy what's out of season, skip what's in it. Retailers mark down the category nobody needs this month. Swimsuits in October. Grills in September. Wrapping paper on December 26. The rest of this guide turns that pattern into a working calendar, with the caveats each category carries. Why do holiday sales follow a pattern at all? Retail calendars exist to move inventory before it becomes dead stock. A store wants winter coats gone by February, because a coat that sits until next fall ties up cash and shelf space.

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