5 items you should definitely buy on Memorial Day 2021

Memorial Day
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Memorial Day is the unofficial start to the summer season. It's also a great time to purchase big-ticket items. Mattresses, 4K TVs, and kitchen appliances are just a few items that tend to see dramatic price cuts during the holiday. Currently, we're seeing Memorial Day sales that run the gamut from $100 to $1,000 off. 

However, not all Memorial Day deals are worth your time. And with Prime Day deals expected to happen in June, you might be wondering what items you should buy on Memorial Day and which items are worth skipping. After all, the summer months are filled with other sales, like 4th of July. So we’ve created a list of must-shop items for Memorial Day. These are items that will not be significantly cheaper on Prime Day or 4th of July. 

Mattresses

While it’s true that mattress manufacturers offer deals throughout the year, today's Memorial Day mattress sales are the best of the year. In fact, many are on par — if not better than — the deals we saw during Black Friday. Memorial Day is the perfect time to upgrade to a new mattress. Currently, every mattress retailer is offering its official Memorial Day discounts. Nectar, Saatva, and Tempur-Pedic are among the best sales to take advantage of now as these sales will last though June, which means the chances of them offering a new discount on Memorial Day are pretty slim. 

TVs

Vizio OLED TV

(Image credit: Vizio)

TV deals are easy to find any time of the year. However, Memorial Day TV sales are roughly $200 to $500 cheaper than your typical TV sale. Retailers are using the holiday to offer deep discounts on premium TVs, such as OLED TVs and QLED TVs. Keep in mind that Prime Day TV deals also offer record-low prices, but Prime Day sales focus on Amazon’s own Fire TVs. If you have your heart set on a Fire TV, by all means wait for Prime Day. However, if you want a premium TV — Memorial Day will likely offer better discounts. 

Kitchen appliances

From Instant Pots to air fryers, Memorial Day is a great time for home chefs to expand their arsenal of kitchen appliances. Retailers like Home Depot, Amazon, and Best Buy will offer epic price lows on a wide variety of kitchen appliances. In previous years, we’ve seen KitchenAid mixers up to 50% off, whereas many Instant Pots and Ninja Foodi pressure cookers have seen discounts that slash from $30 to $50 off. 

Outdoor furniture

Memorial Day is an excellent opportunity to refurnish your home or backyard. Multiple retailers are expected to offer furniture and home decor deals. Overstock, Wayfair, and Home Depot are just a handful of stores that are offering deep discounts on everything from patio furniture to outdoor lighting.

The reason you’ll want to buy these items on Memorial Day versus later in the season is simply because Memorial Day offers the lowest prices of the season. For instance, outside of Memorial Day, the next best time for patio furniture deals is Labor Day. However, by then it’s the end of the season, so you may not get the most from your purchase. In terms of the deals themselves, look for sitewide discounts from Overstock, Wayfair, and Amazon. 

Camping and outdoor gear

As the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day is a prime opportunity to score deals on outdoor gear. We predict this year’s deals will be especially noteworthy as the nation slowly emerges from lockdown and weekend/outdoor getaways become the norm.

We're seeing discounts on athletic apparel, camping gear, hiking gear, bikes, and outdoor fitness gear. Retailers to keep an eye out for include REI, Backcountry, EMS, and Amazon. To be fair, many of these items will be on sale again during Prime Day. However, it’s unlikely prices will be significantly cheaper than on Memorial Day. 

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Louis Ramirez

As deals editor at Tom’s Guide, Louis is constantly looking for ways to avoid paying full price for the latest gadgets. With over 10 years of deals-hunting experience, Louis price checks against multiple retailers and searches high and low for the best deals to bring readers. A born-and-bred New Yorker, Louis is also an avid swimmer and marathoner. His work has appeared on Gizmodo, CNET, and Time Out New York.