March Deals and Sales Predictions: Discounted Outdoor Gear, Tablets, and More

March tends to usher in the first solid camping, hiking, and outdoor-apparel sales of the year. Though it isn’t the best pricing we see on these categories during the year—Memorial Day and Labor Day discounts tend to be a bit steeper—this is still a good chance to pick up any gear you might need to get outside and explore. In years past, we’ve seen good deals on hiking backpacks and daypacks from Osprey and REI for both kids and adults, as well as solid drops on La Sportiva hiking boots. We also expect to see discounts on Wirecutter’s recommended rain gear, as well as activity-specific discounts for cyclers and rock climbers.

Lawn and garden tools, another type of outdoor gear, will also be marked down this month. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a novice with a green thumb, now is a good time to save on what you might need to bring your garden and lawn to life come spring. The Home Depot normally hosts sale events in late March; last year’s early-spring sales, however, were cancelled because of pandemic-related concerns. Though no deal events have been announced yet, we suspect The Home Depot will be back with impressive discounts this year. Most lawn and garden sales will continue into April, though, so if what you need isn’t marked down yet, we suggest holding out until it is.

March is a great time to buy any pricey cold-weather apparel you’ve had your eye on. Historically, retailers that sell cozy cold-weather gear tend to drop their prices at the end of the season—and as a result, though there may not be that many cold days immediately ahead, you’ll be more than ready to weather next year’s winter storms. We’ve seen nice discounts in the past from some of our favorite Wirecutter-recommended brands (such as Stio, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and SmartWool) on everything from winter coats to base layers, and we expect to see similar sales this year, too.

If you’re perfectly happy riding out the end of winter inside, new kitchen gear might help you pass the time in fun and delicious ways. We expect to see discounts on small appliances this month, including nice drops on toasters, juicers, and OXO coffee makers and grinders, but pandemic-related demand will still make deals on highly coveted kitchen gear (like stand mixers and food processors) hard to come by. Other kitchen essentials, such as Dutch ovens, paring knives, and electric knife sharpeners, may have discounts, as well.

Last year, the Deals team found great discounts that brought Amazon’s line of Fire tablets down to prices approaching Black Friday levels. This March, we expect to see more of the same. We may even see some price drops on the Kindle Paperwhite—rumors suggest that Amazon may be planning to release a new version of the Paperwhite in 2021, though, so you might consider waiting a few months if you’d prefer the latest and greatest. We also suspect that the Apple Spring Event coming this month might bring announcements of a new iPad Pro, which means we’re likely to see price drops on the older iPad models we recommend.

Whether you plan to spend the remainder of the season inside your home or out of it, some added security couldn’t hurt. The Deals team expects to see deals on smart home security systems and cameras, including our picks from Ring, as well as price drops on outdoor security cameras from Google’s Nest line and Eufy. We’ll likely spot a few deals on standalone indoor cameras, too, including ongoing sales on our newest top pick from Eufy. In the past, we’ve also seen nice discounts on doorbell cameras and baby-monitor cameras, too.