When Does Patio Furniture Go on Clearance? 2026 Timing Tips

Patio furniture goes on clearance in two main windows: late summer into early fall (think late July through October) and, to a lesser extent, right after Memorial Day when spring stock starts moving slower. If you're shopping right now in early June, you're actually in a decent spot, because some retailers are already starting to discount slower-moving spring inventory while simultaneously pushing fresh summer arrivals. The deepest cuts, though, typically come in August and September when stores need floor space for fall and holiday merchandise.

The seasonal clearance timeline, month by month

Retailers follow the same general logic: buy in spring, sell through summer, clear out fall. But the exact timing varies more than most people expect. Here's how the calendar tends to play out across most major retailers.

January might surprise you, but it's real. Some stores, Walmart in particular, run a second outdoor and garden markdown wave in January as they prep for incoming spring inventory. You won't find much selection, but what's left is genuinely cheap and often in great shape since it's been sitting in a back room, not on a showroom floor all summer.

How clearance timing differs by retailer

Not every store operates on the same clock. A big-box store like Home Depot runs clearance very differently than Costco or a specialty patio shop. Knowing who you're dealing with saves a lot of wasted trips.

Big-box stores: Home Depot, Walmart, and Target

Walmart is the most clearance-friendly of the group. It runs a dedicated online clearance path under 'Clearance Patio & Garden' that's worth bookmarking. Their in-store markdowns follow a weekly cadence, with department managers typically scanning and applying new markdown prices overnight Tuesday into Wednesday. So if you're hunting in-store, Wednesday morning is when you'll see freshly reduced tags. Their biggest patio clearance windows hit after Memorial Day, again in late July, and then the heaviest cuts show up from late August through early October. To make sure the deals are real, also confirm whether the retailer has patio furniture in stock in your local area or on the site you plan to buy from.

Home Depot doesn't wait for fall to discount. They run a 'Spring Black Friday' promotional event (seen again in April 2026) that includes real markdowns on patio furniture, not just sale-price theater. This is worth watching because it means you can sometimes find 20 to 30 percent off full sets in spring, before the peak summer rush. Their fall clearance follows a similar big-box pattern, kicking in around late August. One thing to note: Home Depot's 'Spring Starts' event is more about staging new inventory than clearing old, so spring discounts are shallower than what you'll see in August or September.

Target uses a clearance ladder system that goes 30 percent off, then 50 percent, then 70 percent over several weeks. Outdoor living clearance doesn't have a hard published schedule, but the pattern mirrors their seasonal resets. Once the back-to-school push begins in late July, outdoor inventory starts its markdown ladder. The best Target deals on patio furniture tend to hit the 50 to 70 percent tier in August and September.

If you are specifically wondering when does Target clearance patio furniture, the 50 to 70 percent tier in August and September is usually the best bet. If you're wondering whether Target has patio furniture right now, the fastest way to confirm is to check their Outdoor Living and Garden browse path online for current clearance and in-stock items Target deals on patio furniture.

Target also maintains a separate clearance browse path for 'Outdoor Living and Garden' online, so you don't have to dig through general sale pages.

Warehouse clubs: Costco and Sam's Club

Costco is the trickiest to time. There is no standard Costco markdown schedule, full stop. Clearance pricing is warehouse-specific and inventory-driven. When a location sells through its patio allotment, the remaining pieces get asterisked (the asterisk on the price tag means it won't be reordered) and eventually marked down. The best move with Costco is to check their seasonal patio offers page online to see what's actively promoted versus what might be clearing out in-warehouse. In general, late summer is when you'll catch the best Costco markdowns on patio sets, but you have to physically visit your warehouse or check the app regularly.

Sam's Club follows a cleaner pattern than Costco. They typically discount outdoor furniture after summer ends, making late August through September their main clearance window. Like Costco, their online presence for clearance is less organized than Walmart's, so in-store or app browsing gives you a better real-time picture.

Discount and variety stores: Big Lots

Big Lots clears patio inventory in late summer, typically August and early September, to make room for fall seasonal products. They also run targeted promotional events around holiday windows that can overlap with clearance pricing. The markdowns at Big Lots tend to be less predictable than Walmart's weekly cadence, so checking in-store weekly during August is your best bet. Their prices are already lower than big-box competitors at full price, so clearance at Big Lots can get into genuinely impressive territory.

Specialty patio stores

Local and regional specialty patio retailers often discount later than the big boxes because they're not pivoting to Halloween candy and back-to-school notebooks. A store like Patio World, for example, runs its end-of-season clearance in early October before closing for winter. If you're shopping specialty, you can sometimes find better deals in October and November than you would at Walmart or Target, where clearance is largely done by mid-September.

What actually drives clearance timing (it's not just the calendar)

The calendar is a guide, not a guarantee. Several real-world factors push markdowns earlier or later at any given store.

• Inventory levels: A store that sold 80 percent of its patio sets by July Fourth has less urgency to mark down than one sitting on a full warehouse. Low sell-through in your region means earlier and deeper discounts.
• Weather: A rainy spring or an unusually hot summer that kept people indoors can leave stores overstocked and more aggressive about clearing out.
• Product type: Full patio sets tend to clear out on a slower schedule than accessories. Cushions, umbrellas, and outdoor rugs often go on clearance earlier because they're smaller items with faster turnover. Don't assume a set is on clearance just because its umbrella is marked down.
• Floor space needs: Once fall décor, Halloween, and holiday merchandise needs space, outdoor furniture clearance accelerates. The bigger the store, the harder the floor-space pressure.
• New inventory arrivals: Some stores begin staging next year's spring patio lines as early as January, which can trigger late-fall and winter markdowns on current inventory.

How to find clearance deals fast, without wasting time

The shoppers who score the best patio furniture deals aren't lucky, they're systematic. Here's what actually works.

Online moves

1. Bookmark Walmart's Clearance Patio and Garden page and check it every Wednesday morning after new markdowns are applied overnight Tuesday.
2. Use Target's dedicated Outdoor Living and Garden clearance browse path rather than digging through general sale sections. Filter by highest discount percentage.
3. Check Costco's seasonal patio offers page weekly and look for items with an asterisk on the price tag in-warehouse, which signals the item is being discontinued and will eventually be marked down.
4. Set up Google Shopping price alerts on specific items or sets you're watching. When the price drops, you'll get an email.
5. Search '[retailer name] patio furniture clearance' on Google and filter to results from the past week to catch newly posted deals and price drops.

In-store moves

1. At Walmart, check the seasonal aisle endcaps and back-of-store areas. Clearance patio pieces are often staged in non-obvious spots with 'Reduced to Clear' tags, not on the main patio floor.
2. At Target, look for red clearance stickers on the price label, not the shelf tag. The sticker is your signal the item has entered the markdown ladder.
3. At Costco, look for the asterisk on the price sign and any handwritten 'While Supplies Last' signage, both indicate clearance territory.
4. Visit stores on Wednesday mornings at Walmart, and early in the week generally at other retailers, when new markdowns are freshest.
5. Don't skip outdoor garden centers at the back of Home Depot or Walmart in late August. Floor model sets with minor assembly scratches often get additional reductions beyond the standard clearance price.

Real clearance vs. a short-lived promo: how to tell the difference

Retailers are good at making a 15 percent 'sale' feel like a clearance event. Here's how to separate actual markdowns from marketing noise.

• True clearance items show a crossed-out original price with a new 'clearance' or 'reduced to clear' label. Promotional pricing uses words like 'sale,' 'special buy,' or 'rollback' without a permanent reduction tag.
• At Walmart, 'Rollback' pricing is temporary and will revert. 'Clearance' tags mean the item is being sold through and won't be restocked.
• At Target, the red clearance sticker on the item itself (not the shelf) is the real signal. A shelf tag that says 'sale' is a promotional price, not a markdown.
• At Costco, asterisk on the price tag equals clearance. No asterisk, even at a discounted price, means it's a promo or member value item that will return.
• As a deal threshold: discounts under 20 percent are almost always promotional. For patio furniture, 30 percent off is when it starts getting interesting. Forty percent or more is when you should seriously consider pulling the trigger, especially on quality full sets.
• Check the item's price history on tools like CamelCamelCamel (for Amazon) or Google Shopping's price history graph before buying. A 'clearance' price that's been the standard price for months isn't a deal.

When to actually buy: the best weeks to pull the trigger

If you're shopping right now in early June, you're in a reasonable window for early markdowns on lingering spring inventory, especially single chairs, accent tables, cushions, and umbrellas. Full sets are less likely to be heavily discounted yet. My honest advice for June: monitor weekly and wait for late July if you can. That's when the first real clearance wave hits most big-box stores. If you want to know who has patio furniture on clearance right now, focus on retailers that start markdowns in late July and keep reducing through August and September.

If you need to buy now and don't want to wait, look for Home Depot's spring promotional events (which have run into June in recent years) or Walmart's online clearance page, which updates constantly. If you also want to know does menards have patio furniture, check Menards' own clearance and online listings around the same time periods Walmart's online clearance page. You can genuinely find 20 to 30 percent off sets during this period if the item has been slow-moving since spring. That's a fair deal, just not the floor price.

The absolute best weeks to buy, if you can be patient, are the two weeks after Labor Day (early-to-mid September). By then, stores are actively clearing floor space, discounts have reached 40 to 60 percent on most categories, and you're not competing with summer shoppers. Selection is thinner, but what's left is genuinely cheap. If you're flexible on style and color, this is your moment.

For shoppers who want maximum discount and don't mind limited selection, late October and November at specialty patio retailers, or January at Walmart and big-box stores, can yield 60 to 70 percent off. The trade-off is obvious: you're buying for next year. Store it in a garage or basement and you've essentially pre-purchased next summer's patio setup at a fraction of the cost.

Quick timing guide by goal

One last practical note: clearance timing and inventory vary significantly by location. A Walmart in the Sun Belt may not mark down patio furniture as aggressively in September because outdoor living there runs longer than in the Midwest or Northeast. Always check your local store's inventory and clearance tags alongside the online listings, because your nearest store's clearance may be running on a different clock than national patterns suggest.

If you want the fastest answer, use this guide to find where to buy clearance patio furniture near you, including online clearance sections that update often online listings. If you're also comparing retailers like Target or Menards specifically, their clearance cycles follow similar seasonal patterns but with their own quirks worth digging into separately.