What to buy or not buy in March

With March comes the end of winter and beginning of spring. While it doesn’t rank high on the list of shopping months for consumers, if you don’t check out March, you might miss out on some great deals.

DealNews.com suggests looking for these bargains:

St. Patrick’s Day sales

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t a huge time for sales, but some retailers will be offering themed discounts. Watch for deals on items such as jewelry, t-shirts, and socks.

Luggage

You can replace your worn-out luggage for less this month. Check for items such as duffel bags, zippered totes, hard-sided spinner suitcases, designer attaché bags, and two-piece luggage sets.

Winter sports gear

With winter fully winding down, be sure to check for rock-bottom discounts on winter sports gear.

Winter clothing

March is just about the last time you’ll see winter clothing being offered up for the year in most places, so check out clearance racks.

Vacuum cleaners

Spring cleaning may bring an interest in getting a new vacuum cleaner. March could be a good time to upgrade. Check Consumer Reports for the best models and compare prices. If you aren’t opposed to refurbished models, you could save even more.

TVs

March might not be the best time to buy a new TV, but if you don’t want to wait until November, you could get lucky in March. Compare prices.

Don’t buy these three things in March:

Spring apparel

Spring apparel is just hitting the racks in March, so you won't find any real discounts yet. Instead, hold off until the end of the season in May and June, and stock up then.

Garden items

March borders on winter and spring, so there aren’t a lot of deals on garden items yet. But April should bring plenty of discounts, as it’ll be prime planting season.

Android phones

New Android phones are usually announced during the first quarter of the year, so it’s too early to expect discounts. The first round on the latest models should be on sale in July, but Black Friday in November is still the best time to shop for these phones.

Comments

[azure]

The last vacuum cleaner I bought had a good rating from Consumers, and it's been a horrible vacuum cleaner. That was the 3rd time producted that was rated well by Consumers had been a poor choice for me, in part because Consumers new ratings system and its articles provides so much less information about the products. I no longer pay much attention to Consumer Reports. I did respect/appreciate the report Consumers did on arsenic in US grown rice.

[Rita]

I've had a problem that it's hard to find the products tested in Consumer Reports sometimes because they're no longer on the market due to a lag between its tests and what's being sold. However, a couple of years ago, I did buy a new washing machine. I used a Consumer Reports recommendation and the washing machine is great. I also like the report on arsenic in rice because I drink rice milk. The research was helpful as is the chart on how much rice and rice products to eat in a week.