What's cheap to buy in October by Kim Komando

Black Friday has claimed all of its victims under false pretenses. While the massive and
infamous pre-holiday shopping day is supposed to be the cheapest possible moment to buy all of your tech, the newest research says otherwise.

It might shock you, but October is actually the best month to get your hands on some of the most important gadgets and tech in the world. Why? Well, a large part of it is timing. Shoppers buying big-ticket items usually save their purchasing for a specific time.

Bonus app: Worried about your trick-or-treater's safety? This app gives you GPS tracking and peace of mind.

The full-on holiday shopping period from late November to Santa's big day is when retailers earn the most money. But October is sort of an in-between month stuck between back-to-school shopping and the holidays, so stores who still have to pay rent and employees try to earn your dollars with attractive prices. Not the door-buster prices that you'll find on Black Friday, but still notable prices that you won't have to elbow your way through a crowd to grab.

Here's a quick breakdown on everything that's cheap in October.

HDTVs

While you can find some insane deals when Black Friday comes around, what you might not know is that TV prices are actually at their cheapest this month. At the time of this writing, you can get a 46-inch Samsung smart TV on Amazon for $200 less than any other sale this year.

How do I know that it's the best value that we've seen so far? I use CamelCamelCamel, a site that delivers price histories for anything on Amazon. It's really useful for figuring out when a deal might look too good to be true.

The TV I linked is bleeding-edge tech. If you're willing to buy something a little older, you can get a 46-inch Samsung TV without the "smart" features for only $20 more than Amazon's doorbuster pricing last November.

Toys and games

Video game consoles and toys aren't priced around kids. They're priced around when adults are going to be spending their money. Most adults aren't thinking about toys or video games in October so that's why stores offer deals and discounts on almost everything.

These deals are short-term offers that occasionally come directly from a manufacturer. They're mostly aimed to drum up sales and increase buzz around a video game console or new video game.

Prices crank up the closer you get to the holidays. My son is a big-time gamer. And if he plays his cards right, he might just get a sneak peek at the video game console that I may or may not have already bought him for Christmas.

Or maybe I'll just keep him in suspense until Christmas morning finally rolls around.

Last-gen smartphones

Most of the latest smartphones have now been announced and released. People waited in line for days to get their hands on the new iPhone 6. Of course last-gen iPhones are going to get cheaper, but here's something you might not have considered:

Craigslist, eBay and many other places where you can sell second-hand gadgets are about to be flooded with people trying to pick up some cash after buying the latest iPhone model.

Need a little help figuring out what smartphone to buy? Check out my helpful comparison chart.

I'm sure you remember supply and demand from economics class, but when it comes to selling something used, prices drop even faster as sellers see more and more listings for the very same thing they're trying to unload. When someone is just trying to turn their smartphone into cash, they're much more willing to undercut another seller.

If you see a listing for a phone that you want and other phones priced similarly, feel free to send the seller an email saying something like "this guy will sell me the same phone for less."

Chances are good that most buyers would rather have a done-deal now than hold out for a few more bucks that might never come.

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