What’s on Sale in Spring

Spring cleaning isn’t just for homeowners, manufactures and retailers also use the season to unload their older products and inventories, which can mean significant savings for consumes.

Retailers need to make space for new inventory when the weather starts to warm up, and if consumers pay attention and shop around they can snag big savings on a wide assortment of products including mattresses and kitchen gadgets.

Consumer Electronics

Consumers in the market for a TV or a digital camera could come into significant savings because many retailers slash prices on these items in the spring.

“Right around now a lot of retailers are offering steep discounts on 2012 models as 2013 models are starting to make it to stores,” says Lindsay Sakraida, features director at Dealnews.com.

As a result, consumers can save as much as 60% off the original retail price for TVs, she says, smartphones are also discounted (or free with contract) during the springtime as well.

Digital cameras also drop in price around this time of the year, according to Andrew Mahon, vice president of marketing for ShopAdvisor www.shopadvisor.com. He says consumers will save the most if they purchase their digital camera during March, the later in the month the more savings.

While it’s hard to get any deals on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) products, consumers can save on refurbished iPads if they do their shopping in the spring. Sakraida says typically six months after a new iPad debuts, refurbished ones make their way into the tech giant’s retail stores. “It’s the best way to get a deal on an Apple product,” she says.

Refrigerators and Vacuums

While most appliance deals occur on Black Friday, refrigerators and vacuums are the exception—their prices drop in spring.

“For whatever reasons vacuums from May 1 through May 16 of 2012 saw a huge spike in sales,” says Mahon. “The best day was May 10 when 27% of the vacuums had a discount of greater than 10%.”

Refrigerator discounts weren’t as steep, but consumers can still get a deal later in spring—in May or later. However, Mahon warns  the worst time to buy refrigerators is March 24 through April 17.

Consumers can also get big reductions on mattresses during spring.  According to Sakraida, consumers can see discounts of up to 60% off in May.

Apparel

As soon as the weather starts to improve, people get the itch to start shopping for spring clothes. But if they buy now, it means they will pay top dollar because all the spring clothing lines have just been released.

To update your wardrobe on a budget, wait until the end of April or early May and the same clothes will already be discounted. In fact, Sakraida says by waiting until the end of April but especially in May discounts of up to 50% abound. Shop in the summer and you’ll save even more once the spring clothes go to the clearance racks.