How to get a great TV in the sales

TVs are one of the most popular Black Friday purchases – and with such significant discounts it's easy to see why. But if you didn't bag a deal in the sales, we've got good news for you – December can also be a great time to buy.

But there are ways of separating the good deals from the bad to ensure you're both getting a bargain, and a TV that'll work for your home.

So how do you spot a good deal when there are so many discounts to sift through?

Our guide to the best TV deals reveals our pick of the best from this year's sales.

Narrow your options to shop for the right TV

This might seem obvious, but when you're greeted with hundreds of discounted TVs it's overwhelming if you don't know what you're looking for. That's where our TV reviews can help. 

• Decide what size TV you want and filter. That will drastically reduce the amount of options you have. 
• If you have a budget in mind, add that into the mix, too, so you're only seeing TVs that are in your price range.
• Make sure a TV ticks the boxes where you need it to – you might want good sound to avoid having to buy a soundbar, or if you use video streaming services, a good 4K image.
• Build a shortlist of three or four so you have options when shopping for the best discounts.

You might feel tempted to narrow by brand, too, but we wouldn't do that since there are good TVs from pretty much every one. But if you're passionate about Panasonic or a lover of LG, then you might as well filter by brand as well.

Find out what size TV you should buy for your living room and see top recommendations for your ideal TV size.

Think in percentages not amounts

Once you've narrowed your search, you'll start to see TVs at a range of price points. High-end models, especially bigger ones, will cost well over £1,000, while smaller more basic sets can be less than half that.

When you see pricey TVs with hundreds of pounds knocked off, it's easy to assume that it's a better deal than a £400 TV with a £50 discount. Instead, you want to check how big a percentage discount you're getting. A £2,000 TV with a £400 discount and a £500 TV with £100 off are both 20% cheaper. 

It's a much better way of checking how good a discount is, particularly if you're comparing TVs with very different prices.

Take a look at our guide to the best TVs at different sizes and prices.

Determine if that TV discount is real

This is where it starts to get tricky because retailers can be a bit sneaky when it comes to discounts. There are some things stacked in a buyer's favour however, but even these don't tell the whole story. Firstly, retailers have to show the before price and they need to say how long it was on sale for that price.

There's nothing stopping retailers jacking the price up immediately before a sale and then reducing it sharply to make the discount look better, but there are some tricks you can employ. Firstly, always check our TV deals page. The deals we put there show the average price over the previous six months, so you can check to see if the before price was artificially high to make the sale look better.

Better yet, if you're quick off the mark, pick out some TVs to purchase then monitor the prices yourself in the months before a purchase to see if a sale price is good or not.

Ultimately though, even if the before price was a bit steeper than it had been a few months prior, you're still getting the TV for a cheaper price, so none of these deals are ripping you off. Unless you're buying a bad TV that is. 

Check our TV reviews to find the models worth looking out for.

Choose a TV from the previous year

One sure way of saving some money is to get a TV from the previous year. There won't be that many left at this point since, with a few exceptions, TVs only stay on sale for a maximum 18 to 22 months, but those that are left are likely to be the cheapest.

They are unlikely to have the steepest price drops though, and that's because the price has already fallen for more than a year, so there isn't much left to shave off. However, if you compare them to equivalent models from 2024 they are likely to be cheaper.

So, how do spot a TV from the previous year? Well, hopefully there will be a filter on the retailer to choose models from different years, but if there isn't then you can figure it out from the model name.

There's always a letter or a number in the name that shows what year it was from. In 2024, for example, Samsung TVs have the letter D, while in 2023 they had a C.

Check TV model names explained to see how to tell what year TVs from different brands were released.

Don't feel pressured to buy

Bombshell incoming... Black Friday may not be the best time to buy a TV. It's not the January sales either. The truth is, the absolute best time to buy is as late as possible in its life cycle.

It's sort of like playing chicken with the retailer because if you wait too long, the TV could go off sale and it won't come back because the brands have stopped making them.

Typically a TV will stay on sale for at least 18 months, and TVs release in late spring and early summer, so waiting until at least March will likely see the TV you're after at its cheapest price or close to.

That's not to say the period from Black Friday into the New Year isn't a good time to buy – discounts are significant, but don't feel like you need to bite the bullet and checkout your basket if you're not sure. 

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