These are the best days of the year to shop for holiday deals on electronics
Some types of consumer electronics are already discounted more than a month before Christmas Day, but retailers are expected to roll out the sweetest deals of the year during the traditional price-slashing window between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Through November 16, shoppers can find 10% to 20% discounts on televisions, video game consoles, computers and other tech gear, according to Adobe Digital Insights. That lets consumers get a jump on their holiday shopping while still saving money.
"Now is a good period for consumers," Adobe Digital Insights manager Vivek Pandya told CBS MoneyWatch.
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But consumers will have to weigh what is most important — getting the best deal or ensuring they getting the exact tech product they want.
"What they are negotiating is waiting for best discounts between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, or trying to get some of these items before they sell out," Pandya said.
When to find peak discounts
For shoppers who want to hold out for the greatest savings, it could pay to wait for the "Cyber Five" period, the five-day span between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, to buys products like TVs and sound systems. Other electronics will be discounted by as much as 30% on Cyber Monday, according to Adobe.
For TVs, look for discounts on Black Friday, which this year falls on November 24. The best day to shop for deals on computers will be Saturday, November 25, according to Pandya.
But retailers are nimble, and if they don't clear enough inventory during that period, they can introduce surprise discounts on other dates too.
"There are going to be competitive moments to get discounts throughout the season," he noted.
After Cyber Monday on November 27, discounts are likely to weaken but will remain as high as 16% off, Adobe projects.
Melissa Tatoris, vice president of retail at Zeta Global, also expects the best electronics deals to land on Cyber Monday, although shoppers could still find deep discounts later in the season.
"Retailers will be flexible if they have to go a couple basis points deeper toward the holidays because they didn't clear their inventory," she told CBS MoneyWatch.
After Christmas, retailers typically mark down any remaining seasonal inventory.
In years past, the best day of the year to score deals on electronics typically fell after Christmas on Dec. 27. But retailers are not expected to have a lot of excess inventory on hand this year.
"The risk with waiting until after Christmas is that typically that is when retailers mark down their extra seasonal inventory. However, retailers this year are signaling that they are doing a better job with forecasting and that their supply chains are in better shape," Deloitte retail strategy principal Brian McCarthy told CBS MoneyWatch.
"As a consumer, I could take my chances in getting a post-Christmas deal, but would risk the chance of not having a lot of selection," he said.
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Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace issues, the business of health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News streaming to discuss her reporting.
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