These Labor Day Shopping Hacks Will Instantly Save You Big Money
Labor Day sales are the beginning of a shopping lull, albeit a brief one.
The Labor Day holiday weekend basically signals is the unofficial end of back-to-school shopping, but it's when the first Christmas items start showing up Costco (COST) - Get Report , Home Depot (HD) - Get Report , Macy's (M) - Get Report and other large outlets. That said, even the earliest holiday shopping surge typically doesn't arrive until at least October. The September lull has been the one retail constant since the recession hit in 2008 and was, with few exceptions (2016, 2006, 2004, 2003 and 1995), the rule since roughly 1992.
Labor Day is basically the last way to squeeze some extra spending out of you until the pre-holiday lull hits. That squeeze isn't always easy, as parents fatigued by back-to-school shopping want no part of these kinds of sales and even the earliest holiday shoppers know that most retailers won't honor returns on items purchased this far in advance. If you just got comfy on the couch on Saturdays and Sundays in early fall, even if they aren't watching the first games of the college and pro football seasons, retailers wouldn't be the least bit surprised.
However, if you're actually going to brave Labor Day and need a strategy, the folks at DealNews have a handful of suggestions. Best of luck out there:
Early and late shopping
Last year, Hotels.com launched the first Labor Day sale of the season on August 9 — 27 days before the holiday. On the other end of the equation, retailers including Home Depot, Walmart
(WMT) - Get Report
, and Lenovo, sales going until the weekend after Labor Day. Check with your favorite retailers first, but when shopping around this holiday weekend, close counts.
Summer clothes
With Labor Day marking the unofficial end of summer, you'll see major discounts on clothing as stores try to clear out their stockrooms before. Last year, 31% of all Labor Day sales listed on DealNews were for clothing and accessories.
Among the best clothing sales was the steep discount from Gap's (GPS) - Get Report Old Navy, which knocked an extra 50% off jeans, tees, and dresses (including sale items). It's still tied for the best extra discount DealNews seen on these items outside of Black Friday sales. BCBG went one better and cut 50% off site-wide, coupled with free shipping. DealNews only seen that discount offered again once since then.
Uniqlo has had impressive sales on Labor Day for two straight years. Last year, sale items started at $6 and shipping was frees. Wilsons Leather and Jos. A. Bank also tend to get in on the action around this time of year.
Check out Ralph Lauren (RL) - Get Report deals on Amazon (AMZN) - Get Reporthere
Shoes
Impressive site-wide discounts at Rocket Dog, Crocs, and Clarks resulted in all-time price lows on a wide selection of men's, women's, and kids' footwear last year. Rocket Dog knocked 50% off already-reduced women's and girls' shoes, while Crocs and Clarks matched each other by cutting 25% off sitewide. Clarks' offer was particularly impressive, as they aren't big on coupon discounts in general
Check out Wolvering Worldwide WWW owned Sperry Topsiders deals on Amazon here
Travel
Remember what we said about Hotels.com getting an early jump on Labor Day discounts last year? Well, if you wanted to get a deal on Labor Day travel, that was a tough deal to beat. If you wanted to get a deal after Labor Day, however, DealNews says the best travel deals its saw for all of last year were offered on Labor Day weekend. There are dead weeks of travel in late October, early November and even early December that tend to push down prices. BookIt cut up to $200 off all-inclusive hotel bookings last Labor Day, while Travelocity's Labor Day coupon knocked $100 off all flight and hotel packages totaling $500 or more.
Rent this stuff, don't buy it.
Mattresses
We're never really clear when the best time to buy a mattress is, but DealNews notes that just about any holiday sale will do. Last year, US-Mattress dropped prices 60% site-wide while combining that with a host of dollar-off coupons. Just for kicks, it threw in free shipping.
Sears (SHLD) and Walmart also hosted huge over Labor Day. Walmart offered free shipping on orders over $50 (as opposed to Sears's $599 minimum spend requirement). DealNews saw mattresses as low as $79 shipped from Walmart as a result.
Check out mattress deals on Amazon here
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