The Shopping Hack.

With plenty of offers, cash-backs, discounts etc offered by e-comm sites, retail giants, your local shops, electrical/electronic goods dealers, on vehicles and many things, there is a chance that one may miss the "best-deal" and end up paying a little more, which could have been avoided. 

The only thing that we miss to see is the pattern and timing of such deals around us. Its a well known fact that India is a land of festivals, and the festivals are indeed the higher order bits that dictate the discounts and deals. 

I may be wrong, but in my humblest of all opinions, I have come across the below time-table for deals and stuff based on some "observations" and random Big Data (mis)adventures that I did owing to lot of free time. The months and the corresponding goods that generally are available at discount prices. 

January : 

• Clothing and suits and your summer clothing.
• Carpets.
• Gaming consoles (online) (January sales 2015: all the best deals listed)
• Phones and tablets from your local shops. In Visakhapatnam, one can get a free 8 gigs memory card at least, even in worst case scenario.
• Furniture, especially imported. (Check the dollar rates though)
• Motorbikes and Cars. (New Car - Best Time to Buy a New Car in India)
• Gym deals. New Year Resolutions, you know. :P :P ;) :D :D

February

• Televisions and home theaters
• Cellphones, online.

March

• Luggage and bags.
• Cellphones, again.
• TVs, Laptops and PCs, but depending on the Union Budget. Generally there is a huge price swing (may go up or may go down) on these goods depending on our Government's policies towards the electronic imports for the following fiscal. This is more of a guessing-game.

April

• Cameras, cam-lenses and their accessories. (The latest ones are announced mostly on the start of the year and hit the stores by Feb-March. April is the month when you can get deals on the older versions of cams and camcorders.)
• Mid-Season Clothing Sales. Rainy day clothes.

May

• Refrigerators. New arrivals all around the globe come in April, so you can see the clearance sale for previous year stock and models. But keep in mind the availability and reliability of the after sale-service of the brand that you go for. (Point No. 3 in the following link Tips for choosing and buying a refrigerator in India )
• Mattresses. But run a pre-market research before going for one as price dip may vary year to year. You may also consider buying it in January, along with your furniture, you can get discounts for sure.
• Gym memberships. Again. Because summer may help you melt your fat, you know. (Duh! a lame jack logic but sadly, that's a driving force for gym membership purchases in May. Also, people perhaps realise their forgotten New Year Resolution)
• Travel deals
• Winter wear from Puma and Rbk go upto 50% off during this time.

June (You need holidays here, just saying)

• More travel deals, hotel discounts etc. 
• International vacations (avoid Disney Land if your place of visit has one)
• Good online deals on

        1. gardening tools
        2. camping tools
        3. fishing rods
        4. bicycles

July

• Home Decor, as prices tend to go down in the Third Quarter
• Furniture, again for the Third Quarter rate slashes because in US, new range of furniture launches in August every year and older items will be disposed off at discounted rates.
• Avoid buying sunglasses, Apple products and TVs

August

• Office furniture. I have noticed, office furniture is mostly purchased or disposed during this season. Although I didn't have exact figures, to relate it to Indian trends or generalize it, but I guess we can get hold of these things in this month depending on your place of stay.

Buying used Office Furniture is also a good form of recycling. For my     room, I could get hold of a decent table, two chairs, and a Godrej Vertical Filling Cabinet from such sale and I could save a lot because of that.

PS. June, July or August is the time when the Hindu Shraavan month will fall. One can find good deals on gold and silver during these months. This is the best time for purchase of gold. Most women make it a point to purchase gold during the auspicious Sravana month because of the belief that "the goddess of wealth would shower boons". And second, come September, the International gold rates go up.

September and October till November

I will never dare to talk about this because everyone of you reading this will surely say me "Achchaaa? Hum ko sikhai raha hai? " in one of the four PK's style of saying "acacha". Or may be I'll get the "YOU DONT SAY" rage face of Mr Cage from you guys. 

So, I'm not elaborating this. Buy whatever you want, its your money and their discounts that will rain cats and dogs from Dussehra to Diwali. 

Lol, and on a serious note, this is the most suited time to buy

• Appliances
• Televisions
• Electronic goods, except Apple products.
• Kitchen accesories
• Traditionally and keeping up with the sentiments towards Goddess Durga, people tend to buy bikes, cars and even bigger vehicles etc during this season. So there are chances of NOT getting any offers on them.
• You can keep adding to this list

December

• Christmas shopping anyone? This is the only season when they can buy Christmas related stuff. No price relief I can say, just included this because you get them during December only.
• Toys are cheaper during this time. Funskool and other international brands offer various price-cuts and there is a good chance that they can be reflected in Indian e-commerce sites.