Is Memorial Day becoming the “real” start of big sale season in the U.S.?
I used to think Black Friday was the only major shopping event worth waiting for, but honestly Memorial Day sales have been getting kind of insane lately.
Over the last few years I’ve noticed Memorial Day weekend is when stores start aggressively pushing:
- appliances
- mattresses
- patio furniture
- grills
- outdoor gear
- home improvement stuff
- spring/summer clearance
And unlike some random “FLASH SALE!!!” emails during the year, Memorial Day actually seems to have meaningful price drops on bigger-ticket items.
That said, I’ve also noticed a lot of fake discounts lately.
Some stores raise prices in April/early May just to “slash” them for Memorial Day weekend. A few retailers even recycle the exact same promo every month with different branding.
The only things that have consistently worked for me:
• checking price history before buying
• comparing Costco/Sam’s Club bundles vs department stores
• waiting until the LAST 1–2 days of the sale weekend
• stacking cashback + coupon codes
• ignoring countdown timers unless the price is historically low
This year especially feels like every retailer is trying to turn Memorial Day into a mini Black Friday.
Curious what everyone else thinks:
What’s actually worth buying during Memorial Day sales now — and what categories are mostly fake markdowns?