Sale Alert! These Are the 12 Best and Worst Products to Buy in October
Updated: Jul. 02, 2021Splurge on airfare, jeans, and pizza; hold back on cookware.
Buy in October: Domestic airfare
As the height of summer travel passes, domestic airfare tends to drop. Expect prices to bottom out in October, say experts at Hopper, an airfare booking and analytics application. “With domestic round-trip airfare declining to $217 this [August], we’re forecasting that airfare will fall a further 8.2 percent to reach an autumn low of $213 in October,” Patrick Surry, chief data scientist at Hopper, wrote in a post.
Buy in October: Patio furniture and garden equipment
The end of summer weather brings with it extreme sales on patio furniture and garden appliances. Expect patio accessories, gas grills, lawn mowers, and tractors to see deep cuts. “Patio furniture will likely be marked down anywhere from 50 to 80 percent this month,” Howard Schaffer, vice president of merchandising and partner management at Offers.com, told Consumer Reports. (Here’s how to get your backyard ready for winter.)
Buy in October: Halloween costumes and candy
While you’ll obviously want to purchase your Halloween costume and candy for trick-or-treaters at some point in October, merchandising experts say the best time to shop is in the week before Halloween, when stores are anxious to get rid of their seasonal inventory. But beware: This could lead to scarily long lines and limited supplies. Try these non-candy Halloween treats for trick-or-treaters.
Buy in October: Seasonal produce
Seasonal fruits and veggies taste best and are inexpensive (because the stockpiles are plentiful). A few of our favorites include apples, blackberries, broccoli, corn, eggplant, kale, melon, peaches, pears, pumpkins, raspberries, sweet potatoes, watermelon and winter squash.
Buy in October: Pizza
Who knew? October is National Pizza Month. Look for promotional deals and coupons at both hometown pizzerias and national chains. It’s the most economically friendly time of year to indulge! Here are the 27 things your pizza guy won’t tell you.
Bu in October: Flowers
Come the end of the summer season, most nurseries will be itching to get rid of their stock. Pick up a few flowers you can plant now and enjoy come spring: bulbs like lily, hyacinth, and iris, and perennial such as mums, aster, and primrose will all yield colorful results. These are the cut flowers that last the longest.
Buy in October: Summer sporting goods
You won’t get to enjoy these right away, but summer gear like camping supplies, bicycles, and specialty sporting goods go on sale in October. Some camping gear can be discounted as much as 30 to 50 percent, Howard Schaffer told Consumer Reports. Baseball and golf items can go down as much as 50 to 60 percent.
Buy in October: Jeans
After the post-back-to-school season sales end in September, you can expect to see even deeper discounts on denim. “Especially during fall seasons when denim is not expected to be a big part of fashion trends,” writes Time. Beware these common denim mistakes.
Buy in October: Household appliances
“The best time to buy most major household appliances is September and October, when new models hit stores and older models need to be cleared out to make room, Regina Novickis, consumer expert with Slickdeals.net, a Web site that rates deals and coupons, told Kiplinger. Expect discounts of 20 percent on dishwashers, stoves, and washer/dryer sets.
Don’t buy in October: Apple products
With all the hype around the iPhone 7, everyone’s got Apple on their mind. But based off Apple sale trends, experts say the best time to buy these products is Black Friday. If you can hold out until November, expect the iPhone 7 to hover around $549, or $99 down, and 11-inch MacBook Airs to run around $700. And don’t go to the Apple store to snag these discounts; Apple reseller stores like Best Buy, Target, and Walmart offer far better sale prices, say experts at DealNews.
