Clearance Cycles: How Stores Mark Down, Month by Month

The Great Deal Finder is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Clearance is not random. Stores clear space on a rhythm set by seasons and new-model arrivals, and the same calendar repeats every year. You cannot know the exact day a given item gets marked down — that varies by store and even by location — but you can know which months put which categories on the clearance rack, and how the markdown ladder usually works.

How the markdown ladder works

An item rarely goes straight to its lowest price. The usual pattern:

First cut — a modest reduction when the season turns or a replacement model is announced. Selection is still good; savings are not yet deep.

Deeper cuts — as weeks pass and the space is needed more urgently, prices drop again. This is the sweet spot for common sizes and popular items.

Final clearance — the deepest price, on whatever is left: odd sizes, unpopular colors, display-adjacent stock. Waiting for this stage is a gamble you win on price and lose on choice.

The real decision is never "is this the lowest price?" — it is "will the one I want still be here at the next cut?"

The year in clearance

January — the biggest clearance month of the year. Holiday leftovers, winter clothing, toys, gift sets, and last year's electronics models all get cut at once as stores reset for spring.

February — winter's last stand: coats, boots, heaters, and snow gear at final prices. Mattresses and TVs also ride holiday-weekend sales (Presidents' Day; post–Super Bowl TV model turnover).

March–April — spring cleaning in both senses: winter stock is gone, and stores clear home goods, vacuums, and last year's small appliances around spring promotions. Easter goods go on clearance the day after Easter.

May–June — patio and outdoor stock from spring gets its first cuts as summer peaks; previous-year models of grills and outdoor furniture start moving. Father's Day sales clear tools.

July — the mid-year reset. Summer clothing's first real cuts, back-to-school stocking pushes older electronics and laptops out, and Prime Day competition drags clearance pricing along with it.

August — summer's final clearance: patio furniture, pool and garden, summer clothing at its deepest, plus school-supply leftovers after the first school weeks.

September — back-to-school leftovers, summer's last remnants at final prices, and appliance model-year changeovers begin ahead of the holiday push.

October — stores clear floor space for holiday stock: look for open-box and last-model deals in electronics and appliances, and patio/outdoor at giveaway levels where any remains.

November — clearance takes a back seat to Black Friday promotions, but unadvertised in-store clearance keeps running — the holiday crowd walks past it.

December — seasonal goods (decorations, wrapping, holiday food gifts) start quiet cuts in the final week and plunge after Christmas Day, alongside winter clothing's first markdowns.

Habits that make clearance work for you

Shop the rack in person for the deepest stage. Final-clearance stock is often store-specific and never makes it online.

Buy off-season for next year. A coat bought in February and decorations bought on December 27 cost a fraction of their in-season prices — if you have the storage and the patience.

Check the item, not the sign. Clearance signs advertise the best discount on the rack; confirm the tag on your item itself.

Know the return rule before the gamble. Some final-clearance sales are final. A deep discount on something you cannot return deserves one extra minute of certainty.

The one-sentence rule

Match the category to its clearance month, buy at the second cut if you need choice and the final cut if you only need price — and let January and the week after Christmas do your heaviest lifting.

Markdown timing varies by store and location. We stamp every deal card on our home page with the day we last checked it.