There is one case where sale events work right for me

We have some hardware shops, who are also some "authorized distributor" of good tool manufacturers like Signet, Makita, Bosch, etc. Once or twice in a year they have a fair on the stuff from those manufacturers, sometimes also covering other things - ladders, paints, etc. An outdoors sales event with lots of stuff on display, representatives you can ask about the stuff, and free beer (i guess the latter one boosts the sales of tools quite a bit ^_^ - Actually it is a local brewery using the opportunity to advertise itself)

Normally if i need some tool for one time and dont have it i borrow from a friend. Then at the time of such sale, i do come to get one for myself. Of the expensive stuff i got for quite good discounts (i'd say around 1/3 off) at such events were a battery drill set with 2 batteries, grinder, tall ladder, and some smaller stuff. I also take a look at what is presented there to be familiar with the devices in general, things like generators compressors etc