Security Camera Deals: When Prices Actually Drop

Short version: the most reliable security camera deals (and video doorbell deals) come in two windows: Black Friday/Cyber Monday (late November) and Amazon Prime Day (typically held in July), with Ring and Blink — both Amazon-owned — typically the most heavily and visibly discounted brands during Amazon’s own sale events. Outside those two windows, discounts happen but are smaller and less predictable. This page is a general guide to when and how deals actually happen in this category; for month-by-month detail, see best time of year to buy a security camera.

In Plain English

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Late November is consistently the deepest discount window across nearly every brand in this category. Ring and Blink flagship devices, Wyze’s budget lineup, and premium brands like Arlo have all seen meaningful price drops during past Black Friday and Cyber Monday events — this is the single most reliable time to buy if your purchase is not time-sensitive. Multi-camera kits and bundles are also commonly discounted more heavily than single units during this window, since retailers use bundle pricing to drive larger basket sizes.

Amazon Prime Day

Prime Day, typically held in July, is the second-strongest discount event, and Ring and Blink devices — both Amazon-owned — are typically featured prominently given Amazon’s direct incentive to promote its own hardware during its own sale event. Third-party brands participate too, though generally with somewhat shallower discounts than what shows up on Black Friday.

Outside the Two Major Windows

Discounts do happen throughout the rest of the year — a specific model nearing end-of-life ahead of a next-generation release, periodic Amazon "deal of the day" promotions, or a manufacturer clearing older inventory. These are less predictable and generally smaller than the Black Friday or Prime Day discounts, so if a purchase can wait for one of the two major windows, that is usually the better financial decision.

Spotting an Inflated "Was" Price

Not every listed discount is genuine. The FTC's pricing guides treat a former price as fictitious when the item was not openly offered at it for a reasonably substantial period of time. Some retailers set an inflated reference "was" price that the product was rarely, if ever, actually sold at, making a modest real discount look far larger on paper. Checking a product’s actual price history over the preceding months — through a price-tracking browser extension or tool — is the most reliable way to confirm whether a claimed discount reflects a real recent price drop rather than a manufactured one.

Deciding Whether to Buy Now or Wait

If security coverage is an immediate, genuine need, buy now at whatever the current price is — an uninstalled camera protects nothing, and waiting weeks for a hypothetical discount carries real risk in the meantime. If the purchase is not urgent and a major sale event is within a few weeks, waiting for Black Friday or Prime Day is usually the financially sound choice given how consistently those two windows have produced the category’s deepest discounts.

Are Bundle Deals Actually Worth It?

Retailers commonly discount a multi-camera or camera-plus-hub bundle more heavily per unit than buying the same cameras individually, particularly during Black Friday and Prime Day. That said, not every bundle is a genuine saving — some pair a discounted flagship camera with a lower-value accessory specifically to make the total bundle discount look bigger than the real cash saving. The reliable way to check is dividing the bundle price by the number of cameras included, then comparing that per-camera figure against the individual camera's own current price rather than trusting the bundle's advertised percentage-off headline.

Previous-Generation Clearance

A manufacturer clearing outgoing inventory ahead of a next-generation launch is one of the more reliable non-seasonal discount triggers in this category, and it doesn't require waiting for Black Friday or Prime Day. The outgoing model is frequently still a genuinely capable camera, simply missing a newer generation's incremental upgrades, which can make it a smarter buy than the newest model at full price for a buyer who doesn't need the latest feature set. Checking the model number and release year against the current-generation model avoids buying what you assume is the newest camera when it's actually the one being cleared out.

Refurbished and Open-Box Listings

Manufacturer-run official refurbished programs, where a brand offers one, typically carry a real if shorter warranty and go through an actual inspection and reset process, making them a reasonably low-risk way to save over new. Third-party open-box or "used - like new" listings from unfamiliar marketplace sellers carry meaningfully more uncertainty around both item condition and what warranty, if any, actually applies. Checking who the seller is and what warranty coverage is stated, rather than the discount percentage alone, is the more useful filter before buying refurbished.

Subscription and Coupon Stacking

Cloud subscription plans like Ring Protect or Nest Aware occasionally see limited-window promotional pricing, often bundled with a new camera purchase during a major sale event, though this happens less predictably than hardware discounts do. Read the fine print on any discounted subscription offer, since some are a reduced introductory term (Blink, for example, lists a lower first-year price on some plans) that quietly reverts to the full ongoing rate at renewal rather than a genuinely lower long-term price. Checkout coupon codes that stack on top of an already-discounted sale price can produce the year's deepest real discount, but it's worth checking the final stacked price against the product's tracked price history rather than assuming a stacked discount is automatically the best deal available.

A Note on This Page

This page describes general, historically observed pricing patterns in the security camera category rather than tracking live prices — always check the current price on the product page before buying. For ranked product picks independent of any current sale, see the roundups linked below. See how we rank and our affiliate disclosure.

Building a Price Watchlist Instead of Guessing

Rather than checking a single listing repeatedly hoping for a discount, a price-tracking browser extension that logs a product's actual price over time removes the guesswork entirely and flags a genuine drop the moment it happens. Combining that with knowing the two reliable major windows — Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Prime Day — turns "waiting for a deal" into a specific, trackable plan rather than an open-ended hope that a discount eventually shows up.

Going Deeper: How the FTC Judges a “Was” Price

The rules behind a “was $X” tag come from the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Against Deceptive Pricing. The first section says a former price is a legitimate basis for a comparison only when it is “the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time,” according to 16 CFR § 233.1. The same section names the problem this page warns about: a fictitious price is “an artificial, inflated price” set up so that a large reduction can be advertised afterward.

The Guides include a worked example that maps neatly onto camera listings. A retailer whose regular price is $7.50 raises it to $10 for only a few days, then advertises “Were $10, Now Only $7.50!” The Guides call that a false claim, because the advertised bargain is not genuine. That short spike just before a sale is exactly the pattern a price-history tool makes visible, and it is why a tracked history beats the percentage badge on the listing.

Comparisons against other sellers — “compare at” or “retail value” claims — are covered separately. Under 16 CFR § 233.2, the higher price should not appreciably exceed the price at which substantial sales of the item are actually being made in the area, and a “comparable value” price should reflect what representative retail outlets charge. In plain terms, the reference price is supposed to describe the real market, not one unusually expensive listing.

Two limits are worth keeping in mind. The Guides describe when a price claim is deceptive; they do not promise that a compliant listing is the lowest price of the year. And they say nothing about subscription renewals or bundles. That is why the practical checks on this page — tracking actual price history, dividing a bundle price by the number of cameras, and reading what a discounted plan renews at — protect a buyer more than any single “was” figure can.