I’ve been covering Labor Day sales for more than five years, and surprisingly, it’s one of the biggest shopping events of the year. Labor Day weekend may not be as popular as Black Friday or Prime Day in terms of the total volume of discounts, but it’s still one of the best times to buy things at lower prices than normal. While not every single retailer will have a Labor Day sale, most major ones will offer these discounts and are starting to do so now.
Although Labor Day weekend is a great time for online shopping, it is not necessarily a good time to buy everything. I’ve found that there are certain products that see the biggest discounts at retail each year. To help you save money in 2024, I’ve compiled below the nine product categories that are typically worth spending money on over Labor Day weekend.
1. Furniture
Labor Day is home to some of the best furniture deals of the entire year. Major online retailers like Wayfair and other stores like Walmart and Home Depot will be trying to clear out their outdoor furniture inventory and offering incredibly low prices to mark the end of the summer season.
Since Labor Day coincides closely with back-to-school sales, it’s also generally a good time to find discounts on popular desks and office chair brands. These sales usually appear directly on manufacturers’ websites and are price-matched on Amazon. For gamers, this is also generally a good time to pick up a quality gaming chair or one of the best gaming desks at lower prices than we’ve seen all year.
FlexiSpot FlexiSpot E7 Pro
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With a high maximum load, a sturdy steel frame and easy height adjustment at a mid-range price, the E7 Pro is unbeatable.
2. Laptops and PCs
Labor Day marks the transition between summer vacation and the start of school for many people. Because of this, almost every major computer brand offers some sort of Labor Day sale to capitalize on the increased demand. The period between August and early September is arguably the best time to buy a laptop every year, aside from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo and HP have already offered back-to-school sales discounts and will continue these price cuts through Labor Day.
The biggest discounts tend to be on the more expensive gaming laptop brands, but you can also find some really good deals on laptops for work. And if you’re looking for a pre-built gaming PC, many of the same coupons can be applied to the desktops on sale as well.
Dell Back to School Sale
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Save up to $700 on popular Dell laptops.
3. Monitors and TVs
Almost every major holiday weekend presents an opportunity to sell off TVs, so it’s no surprise that Labor Day is a great time to buy a new TV. Since most major TV and PC manufacturers also make monitors, this is an excellent time to buy them, too. If you’ve had your eye on the more expensive gaming displays from LG, Samsung, or Dell, you’ll be happy to hear that now is an excellent time to buy a new monitor.
The best deals on TVs and monitors are generally found at major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy, but you can sometimes find them directly from the manufacturer at lower prices. LG, for example, is already running a Labor Day sale on TVs and monitors.
LG Labor Day Offer
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Save big on LG laptops, gaming monitors and home appliances during LG’s big sale.
4. Large household appliances
There is never really a Good There’s no time left to spend money on an expensive appliance, but if you’re planning on replacing your dishwasher, washing machine, or refrigerator, now is the best time to do it. Labor Day is one of the best times of the year, along with Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, to find major home appliances on sale. These discounts have already started at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Samsung, and Best Buy, and you have plenty of time to browse the discounts. This is one of the few categories where it’s actually often better to shop on Labor Day rather than Black Friday.
Best Buy – Labor Day Sale
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Get up to 50% off major appliances from top brands during Best Buy’s Labor Day Sale.
5. iPads and tablets
As with laptops and PCs, Labor Day weekend is usually one of the best times to buy an iPad or new tablet each year, largely due to the back-to-school effect – iPads are great for students with or without a keyboard attached. In fact, even before Labor Day, we’re already seeing the price of the 9th-generation iPad drop to its lowest ever, so you don’t even have to wait to get one if you’re looking for a cheap Apple tablet. You should also be able to find great discounts on Android tablets this weekend.
However, we don’t expect there to be any major Kindle deals during this time, so if you’re looking to buy an e-reader, you might want to wait. We have I’ve found some tablets that are great for reading if you don’t mind walking that route.
6. Mattresses
Mattresses are another popular holiday weekend and go on sale virtually every three-day weekend. Labor Day is no different. Expect many Labor Day mattress sales to be exactly the same as Memorial Day or the Fourth of July, just with slightly different promotional messaging. That said, Labor Day is still one of the best times to buy a new mattress if you need one. All of the online mattress brands offer discounts of 30% or more on everything in their stores.
DreamCloud Mattress Sale
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Save up to 50% on mattresses during the DreamCloud Labor Day sale.
7. Clothes and shoes
Holiday weekends during the season change are a great time to find discounted clothing and shoes. Most major outlets have clothing sales on Labor Day, both online and in-store, with the biggest discounts on summer fashions. It’s also a great time to take advantage of price cuts at outdoor brands like Columbia or REI, which are more attuned to the changing weather than, say, Macy’s or Old Navy.
8. Grilling
Many people, myself included, continue to grill well into the winter. Still, demand for new grills drops pretty sharply as the weather gets colder. For this reason, Labor Day weekend is probably the best time of year to buy a new grill. Home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowes offer big discounts on popular brands well before the holiday weekend as they try to clear out their inventory before fall.
If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your grill or are buying one for the first time, now is a good time to do so, although you’ll need to find a place to store it over the winter fairly quickly.
Amazon Grill Sale
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Low prices on popular brands.
9. Books
If you love reading real physical books, Labor Day is one of the best times of the year to find discounts on them. Although Amazon has book deals almost all year round, Barnes & Noble hosts its big Book Haul sale around this time every year, with plans already in place for 2024. These discounts are mostly on hardcovers, children’s books, and special editions that would normally be much more expensive.
Book sale at Barnes & Noble
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Should you wait until Black Friday to shop?
With only a few major sales events left until Black Friday, you may be wondering if it’s worth waiting until November to make any big purchases. Unfortunately, there is no right answer when it comes to discounts. Most of the product categories I’ve featured have their lowest prices of the year, and while those prices May There’s no guarantee that prices will continue to drop on Black Friday, so if you find something at a really low price, go ahead and grab it.
If you’re not sure if you’re getting a good deal or not, you can usually check past Amazon prices on CamelCamelCamel. This only works if the product is available on Amazon, but that means you can use it for most things. Amazon doesn’t always have a Labor Day sale, but on those sale days they usually match prices from other retailers and manufacturers.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has called the Northwest home his entire life. With a bachelor’s degree in communications and over seven years of professional writing experience, his expertise spans a variety of different topics—from TV series to indie games to popular book series.
