The best time of year to buy a mattress is the stretch from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, when the widest range of brands discount at once and stock is still deep. Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends land close behind, and January clearance is the quiet pick if you want last year’s flagship at a markdown. If your current bed is already hurting your back, skip the waiting game and buy now — the sleep you lose costs more than the discount you’d gain.
Why mattress prices bounce around so much
Mattresses almost never sell at list price. Consumer Reports’ deal coverage points out that most models are advertised as “on sale” year-round, so the real question isn’t whether there’s a promotion running — it’s whether this one beats the last one.
Three things drive the swings:
- Model refreshes. Brands update lineups every year or two. When a new version lands, the outgoing model gets cut hard. It’s usually the same build with a different cover or a tweaked foam layer.
- Holiday weekends. Furniture and mattress retailers have trained shoppers to expect three-day-weekend sales. Discount budgets are planned around those dates months in advance.
- Reference pricing. That slashed “original” number is a marketing tool. The FTC’s Guides Against Deceptive Pricing say a former price used in a comparison should be one the seller actually offered openly and in good faith for a reasonably substantial period — not a number invented to make the markdown look bigger.
Which means the best time of year to buy a mattress tracks the retail calendar, not anything about sleep. Judge a deal by the final dollar amount for the size you need, not the percentage on the banner.
Best time of year to buy a mattress: the month-by-month calendar
| Month |
What’s happening |
Worth shopping? |
| January |
New Year clearance, discontinued models, floor-model sell-offs |
Yes — best for premium beds |
| February |
Presidents Day weekend (Feb 15, 2027) |
Yes — strongest spring event |
| March–April |
New collections arrive; few real cuts |
Only if you need one |
| May |
Memorial Day weekend (May 31, 2027) |
Yes |
| June |
Quiet stretch between events |
Skip unless urgent |
| July |
Fourth of July sales; mid-year clearance |
Decent |
| August |
Labor Day promos start mid-to-late month |
Yes, late August |
| September |
Labor Day weekend and the week after |
Yes |
| October |
Pre-holiday lull; early Black Friday teasers |
Wait if you can |
| November |
Black Friday (Nov 27, 2026) and Cyber Monday (Nov 30) |
Best of the year |
| December |
Leftover stock, year-end clearance, slow delivery |
Yes, with caveats |
November: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
If you only want to shop once, this is the best time of year to buy a mattress. Nearly every brand discounts at the same time, which is what makes the week useful. You can compare a foam bed, a hybrid and an innerspring on the same afternoon and know all three are near their yearly floor. Bundles also get fatter here — pillows, protectors, sometimes an adjustable base thrown in.
Two warnings. Popular sizes sell out, and queen goes first. Delivery slots also stretch out in December, so a Cyber Monday order can mean a weeks-long wait.
January: clearance on last year’s beds
January is when retailers dump what didn’t sell and make room for spring arrivals. Selection is patchy — you’re shopping what’s left, not what’s featured — but this is the month a $2,000-class bed can drop into reach. Ask about discontinued models and floor samples, and check whether a floor sample still carries the full warranty and trial.
February, May and September: the three-day-weekend sales
Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the reliable middle tier. Discounts are usually a notch below Black Friday, but stock is full, showrooms are calmer, and salespeople have room to negotiate on delivery and accessories. Consumer Reports’ tracking of holiday mattress deals notes that Labor Day tends to bring better prices than the smaller mid-summer events, so waiting a few weeks in August often pays.
These events run longer than the name suggests. Promotions usually start a week or two ahead and linger a few days after, which takes the panic out of shopping.
December: good prices, slow trucks
Year-end clearance can match January pricing, and stores want inventory off the books. The catch is logistics: delivery crews are swamped, weather delays pile up, and a boxed bed may sit on a cold porch. Confirm the delivery date in writing before you pay.
When the calendar doesn’t matter
Honestly, the best time of year to buy a mattress is the week your old one stops holding you up. Waiting four months to save a couple hundred dollars is a bad trade if you’re waking up sore. Buy now, sale or no sale, when:
- You can see or feel a dip in the surface, or you sleep better in hotel beds than at home.
- The mattress is past its useful life. Most beds need replacing somewhere in the 6–10 year range, which we break down in how often you should replace a mattress.
- You’re moving and the old bed won’t survive the truck.
- Allergies or asthma flare at night and the mattress is old and unprotected.
Middle path: buy on any holiday weekend. There are five or six a year, so you’re never far from one.
Best sale months by mattress type
The best time of year to buy a mattress shifts a little depending on what’s inside it.
Memory foam and boxed beds
Online-only brands discount constantly, so the calendar matters less. Their real lows still cluster around Black Friday and the January restart. Because they ship compressed, they’re also the easiest type to buy in a slow delivery month — just give a new foam bed a couple of weeks to break in before you judge the feel.
Hybrids
Hybrids dominate showroom floors, so they get the loudest holiday promotions: Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Black Friday. They’re also the type most often bundled with a free adjustable base, which is where the real money hides — a base is a big-ticket add-on.
Innerspring and budget models
Entry-level coil beds are thin-margin products, so the discounts are smaller in dollar terms. Your best shots are Black Friday and year-end clearance, or a floor model in January. If you’re shopping this tier, a solid boxed bed under $1,000 is a better target than chasing a big percentage off a weak model.
Latex and organic beds
These rarely get deep cuts; the materials cost too much. Expect modest sitewide promos on holiday weekends and free-shipping offers instead.
How to tell a real deal from a fake one
Run this list before you hand over a card:
- Screenshot the price two to three weeks early. If the “sale” price matches what it was in October, it isn’t a sale.
- Compare by size, not by name. Some promos discount queen deeply and barely touch king. Price the exact size you’re buying.
- Value the freebies separately. Look up what the “free” pillows and protector sell for on their own. Often it’s $100–$200 of stuff attached to a bed that’s $400 above its Black Friday price.
- Read the financing APR. Zero percent for 12 to 24 months is real money saved — but deferred-interest plans can back-charge everything if you miss the payoff date.
- Check the trial terms. Many trials require you to keep the bed 21 to 30 nights before a return is allowed, and some charge a return or pickup fee. Get both numbers in writing.
- Read the warranty’s sag clause. Coverage usually kicks in only past a stated indentation depth, often around an inch to an inch and a half, measured with nothing on the bed. Removing the law tag or using the wrong base can void it.
- Add up delivery, setup and haul-away. Old-mattress removal is sometimes free during sales and $50–$150 otherwise, and some states add a recycling fee at checkout.
Do this once and you’ll notice the same mattress often costs about the same in February, May and November. The “deepest discount of the year” line is mostly theater.
Timing the frame, furniture and bedding too
Bed frames and bedroom sets follow the furniture calendar, not the mattress one. New collections hit in spring and fall, so the markdowns come in January–February and July–August as stores clear the outgoing lines. If you want the set to match, shop frames first — they’re harder to find in the size and finish you want. Our guide to choosing a bed frame covers support requirements that also protect your warranty.
Sheets and duvets are on a different clock again, with white sales in January and linen deals late in summer. We mapped those months out in the best time to buy sheets and bedding.
Your plan for the rest of 2026
Labor Day is behind us, so the best time of year to buy a mattress between now and spring is Black Friday week. Here’s the sensible sequence:
- Now through October: narrow to two or three models. Decide firmness and type first — our mattress buying guide walks through sleeping position, weight and support.
- Mid-October: record current prices for your size at three sellers. That’s your baseline.
- Early November: watch for early-access sales. Many brands open Black Friday pricing a week or two ahead.
- Nov 27–30: buy if the number beats your baseline by a margin you’d notice. If it doesn’t, wait for January clearance.
- Before checkout: confirm the delivery date, trial length, return fee and haul-away.
Common questions
Do mattress prices drop after Black Friday?
Sometimes, but only on leftovers. Cyber Monday occasionally beats Friday online, and late-December clearance can match it — on whatever sizes are left in the warehouse.
Is it cheaper to buy in a store or online?
Online is usually cheaper on the sticker for comparable specs, since there’s no showroom overhead. Stores win on two things: you get to lie on the bed for ten minutes, and you can negotiate extras like a free base or free removal. Try in store, then price-check the exact model number online — our guide to local and online mattress deals covers how the two channels differ.
How long should I wait for a better price?
If your bed is fine and you’re just upgrading, the best time of year to buy a mattress is simply the next big weekend — waiting up to about eight weeks is reasonable. Longer than that and you’re waiting for the same sale to come around again.
Should I buy during a new-model launch?
That’s the sneaky-good window. When a brand announces an updated lineup, the previous generation gets cut to clear — and the changes between versions are often cosmetic. Ask a salesperson which models are being phased out.
Updated September 2026.
