Major appliances are a special kind of purchase. You don’t buy a refrigerator or a washing machine on a whim, and you definitely don’t want to overpay for something that’s going to sit in your home for the next decade. The good news is that appliance pricing follows a fairly predictable rhythm. If you can plan ahead and avoid the emergency purchase, you can save hundreds of dollars just by choosing the right weekend to walk into the store or hit the checkout button online. The trick is understanding when retailers and manufacturers are most motivated to move inventory, and then lining up your purchase with those windows.

The single best time to buy major appliances is during holiday weekends that are built around sales events. President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Black Friday are the heavy hitters. These aren’t random dates. Retailers plan months in advance for these weekends, and manufacturers push out rebates and dealer incentives to drive traffic. You’ll often see steep discounts on stainless steel kitchen packages, laundry pairs, and even higher-end brands that rarely go on sale. The competition between big-box stores and local appliance dealers heats up during these windows, which means you have more leverage to ask for a better deal or a free delivery upgrade. If you’re not in a rush, mark those four weekends on your calendar and start researching models a few weeks ahead.

There’s another less obvious but equally powerful window: the end of the year. December is when retailers are trying to clear out floor models and older inventory to make room for new product lines that launch in January and February. You’ll find aggressive markdowns on last year’s models, especially on dishwashers, ranges, and refrigerators. The catch is that selection can be picked over, so you need to be flexible on color or minor features. If you’re okay with a stainless steel finish that’s slightly different from the newest trend, or a model without the latest smart-home gadget, you can score a serious deal. The last two weeks of December are particularly good because salespeople are also chasing end-of-month and end-of-year bonuses, which gives you a little extra room to negotiate.

Don’t overlook the end of a quarter. Appliance sales teams often have quotas that reset every three months, and the last few days of March, June, September, and December can be golden. Walk into a store on the final Saturday of a quarter and ask what kind of deal they can do if you buy today. You might be surprised at how willing they are to shave off a few hundred dollars or throw in an extended warranty to hit their numbers. This strategy works best for mid-range and premium appliances where the profit margins are a bit thicker. Combine a quarter-end push with a holiday weekend, and you’re stacking two discount forces at once.

For online purchases, timing is a little different but still predictable. Prices on major appliances tend to dip during the same holiday weekends, and you’ll also see flash sales around Amazon Prime Day and other retailer-specific events. The key is to set price alerts on the specific models you want and then wait. Don’t buy the first time you see a discount. Track the price for a few weeks so you know what a real deal looks like. Many retailers also offer price matching, so if you buy during a sale and the price drops further within the return window, you can often get the difference refunded. That’s free money for a few minutes of work.

One final tip: avoid buying during the weeks right after a major holiday sale ends. Retailers know that most shoppers have already spent their money, so they pull back on discounts and let prices creep back up. If you miss a holiday weekend, don’t panic-buy. Wait for the next window. The only exception is a true emergency, like a dead refrigerator with a house full of groceries. In that case, buy what you need and negotiate hard, but know that you’re likely paying a convenience premium. For everyone else, a little patience and a calendar reminder can be worth several hundred dollars. That’s not a bad return for simply timing your purchase like a pro.