5 Frequently-Discounted Electronics You Should Never Pay Full Price For

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If this is the year you need to upgrade an electronic device, you probably couldn't have picked a worse time. We're currently four knuckles deep in the RAM crisis without any hint that it will abate. RAM is in almost everything, and even when it isn't it likely affects the pricing anyway. Any discount is welcome right now. Fortunately for you, there are some products that are basically always on sale, so often that there's really no point whatsoever in buying them full-priced — just wait for the next sale and be happy.

There are tons of products that fall into this category of eternally being on sale, but we wanted to highlight a few that can be higher priced. We're looking specifically at Amazon sales for consistency's sake, and because helpful sites like camelcamelcamel.com meticulously track historical prices so you can see exactly how low a product will go and how often — though it goes without saying that you can find great sales on a lot of online retailers. We think these five products (among many) are the ones you should never, ever pay full MSRP for.

Apple's AirPods may be great earbuds and headphones, but they command premium Apple tax prices. The good news is that Apple's two most expensive AirPods — the AirPods Max 2 and the AirPods Pro 3, retailing for $549 and $250 respectively — get frequent sales. The AirPods Max 2 (a new product which released in 2026, by the way) has already been discounted multiple times, going steadily from $549 to as low as $399. The discount price isn't always the same, but the discounts are frequent and happen multiple times a month. This is huge since the AirPods Max has always had a painfully high price point compared to competitors making premium ANC headphones, like Sony.

The same goes for the AirPods Pro 3. Since their release in 2025, AirPods Pro 3 pricing only stayed level for a few months and then went on a jagged downward trend of sales that at one point reached $169. That's roughly a third off the usual price on a product that's not even a year old. Pricing is so low on these new products that the difference is small compared to the previous generation, meaning you might as well just get the latest and greatest.

What's more, we're not talking about used or refurbished products from a third-party store. These are all directly from Apple's official Amazon storefront. When you buy an Apple product from Amazon, you still get effectively the same guarantees and peace of mind, like the ability to buy AppleCare+. There are a few advantages to buying directly from Apple, too — but that's only worth it if Apple's price is as low as Amazon's.

In the tech world, Anker is viewed by many as the gold standard for power banks, chargers, cables, and more. A lot of its stuff is really affordable. The more premium of its products, though, are not cheap by the standards of most. To give an example, one of its most popular 10,000mAh battery packs runs you $79, and only goes on sale occasionally for almost $20 off. But that one feels like an exception rather than a rule since many of its products do get frequent, deep sales.

Take its massive Anker Prime Power Banks, 25,000mAh and 26,250mAh monstrosities, the latter of which supports up to 300W charging and feels like it could power NYC for an evening. Both sell for $119.99 and $229.99 respectively. The former goes on sale for as low as $87.99, and the latter for as low as $159.99, and these sales are more regular than the seasons, so if you want to knock almost $100 off the price, you don't have to wait long.

The same goes for Anker's premium wall chargers. The 160W brick frequently goes on sale from $149.99 to $99.99, and the 140W brick from $69.99 to as little as $47.48; one of its 3-in-1 wireless chargers for iPhones goes from $149.99 to $99.74; its $300 Prime docking station drops to $209.99. Again, these are all new products (admittedly third-party, in some cases), but the sales are happening so often that you have every incentive to wait. Also, Anker's other brands (like Eufy) can get frequent discounts too.

A smartwatch can be a net positive for your physical health. The problem is the price. Watches like the Apple Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch cost hundreds of dollars. Even a decent budget option cuts close to $100. But you guessed it, this is another category where the sales are frequent enough that you have no business buying new. On the lower end, we have options like the Amazfit Bip 6 selling for $79, with regular sales dropping as low as $59.99; Samsung's Galaxy Fit 3 starts at $69.99, going down to $41.81; Nothing's CMF Watch that starts at $99 and hits $61.75. All new devices, all frequent sales.

Smartwatches that fall into a more premium category above $100 also get more sales than you may realize. The latest Apple Watch SE 3 that retails on Amazon for $239 goes as low as $189.99; Samsung's Galaxy Watch8 that starts at $299.99 has had frequent sales bringing it as low as $218.49; Garmin's previous-gen vívoactive 5 goes for $299.99 and on a particularly good sale will drop to $173.

Even the ultra-premium category, i.e. smartwatches that cost as much as smartphones, can see deliciously low sales, though you'll have to settle for previous-gen and/or renewed models. An Apple Watch Ultra 3 retailing for $643.98 can go down to $588.95; Garmin's $1,099 fenix 8 has seen regular — though less frequent — sales to as low as $849.98. Since it is challenging to justify buying a smartwatch that expensive, these sales might make it an easier pill to swallow.

Smart cameras for outside and inside the home are a key component to building your smart home. They aren't expensive, per se, but you can get them for a lot less if you just wait for one of their many sales. Take this subscription-free Eufy 4K indoor security cam that retails for $139.99. It can go down to $79.98. The same applies to Eufy's cheaper E30 4K indoor cam, which sells for $69.99 and goes as low as $34.88.

The same goes for competing smart camera brands. The Wyze Cam Pan v3 that normally retails for $87.98 gets constant sales that in one case brought it down to $30.98; the Reolink E1 security camera pair that retails for $89.99 has sales as low as $49. We could keep going, but you get the idea. Considering you may want multiple cameras to cover your entire home, these sales can reduce the price of setting up a smart home by hundreds of dollars when all is said and done.

Controllers from first parties are typically not cheap. Take the PS5 DualSense controller, which is $74 on Amazon and gets a sale a few times a year at most, or the $89 Switch 2 Pro Controller, which gets a bunch of tiny sales so weak they're not worth mentioning. These are, we feel compelled to mention, controllers that continue to suffer from stick drift, making it likely that you will have to repair or replace the controller within a few years given regular play. Third-party controllers, on the other hand, are where you can really get your money's worth.

The 8Bitdo Ultimate 2 Wireless Controller — widely considered one of the best controllers you can buy right now — normally retails for $59.99 and gets sales cutting the price down to $47.49; it can easily go on even deeper sales on other retailers. For the record, this is a controller that has long-lasting TMR joysticks and Hall-effect triggers, a low-latency 2.4 GHz connector, extra programmable buttons, and its own wireless charging dock.

8BitDo is not the only player in this space. GameSir also makes wonderful, affordable controllers with premium specs. Try the GameSir Cyclone 2 that retails for $55.99 but goes on sale constantly to as little as $44.79. These third-party controllers were already competitively priced for effectively superior specs, but we'd recommend even then still waiting for a sale.