In March 2023, there was a massive recall of specific Yeti coolers. There have been no injuries reported, but we have an entire story dedicated to what you should know.
Yeti is the brand that outdoor lovers and adventurers swear by. Their products are the real deal. They’re tough, durable, and built to withstand even the harshest conditions. But great quality comes at a cost. So, we looked into whether or not Yeti coolers, one of the most popular of all the Yeti items, ever go on sale.
The answer is actually yes! I know a trick or two for finding Yeti coolers on sale, and I’ll tell you this — while the sales are rare and discounts aren’t always jaw-dropping, Yeti sales do happen. (There’s actually a 20% promotion going on right now at Moosejaw — more on that below).
So how do you avoid paying the big bucks for a cup or cooler to keep your ice from melting and your drinks cold for up to a week? When it comes to finding Yeti coolers on sale, it’s all about where you shop and when.
And if you can’t afford Yeti, we also have some cheaper Yeti alternatives that we love and recommend. For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, text HACKS to 57299.
Get 20% off at Moosejaw.com now.
Now through September 4, Moosejaw is offering 20% off any full-priced item off their site, including YETI coolers. Just use promo code EGGBAG at checkout. Note that some exclusions may apply.
When do Yeti coolers go on sale?
For the most part, it depends completely on the retailer. Since Yeti has a handful of authorized retailers that can sell their goods, the sale schedules fall solely on the retailers. We recommend shopping clearance sales and end-of-season sales in months like April and September to catch deals on seasonal colors.
You can typically expect to see Yeti coolers on sale during the following retail events:
Lowe’s Clearance (April and September)
Cabela’s Clearance (April and September)
REI Anniversary Sale (May)
Father’s Day (June)
Amazon Prime Day (July)
Moosejaw Sale (August)
Amazon Prime Early Access sale (October)
Best Tips For Finding Yeti Sales & Discounts
1. Get an extra $25 off if you have a recalled Yeti cooler.
Yeti recalled 32 different Yeti Hopper soft coolers and SideKick Dry Gear cases in March 2023. The reason for the recall? They received nearly 1,400 reports of the magnet-lined closures degrading or failing, including reports of missing or detached magnets, which can pose a serious health hazard. If you have one of the recalled coolers, the brand offers a full refund plus $25, or they’ll replace your product with a new one. Here’s everything we know about the 2023 Yeti recall.
2. Set a deal alert in the KCL app so you never miss a Yeti cooler sale.
Sure, we’re partial to this tip because it’s our app. But it’s a pretty genius way to make sure you don’t miss a sale. Here’s what you do:
Tap your profile icon in the top right corner of the home page.
Select “Notification Settings.”
Turn on Push Notifications using the slider tool.
Scroll down until you see the option to turn on Deal Alert notifications for “Yeti.”
For example, we recently saw Yeti drinkware like the Slim Rambler Can go on sale for 50% off during Amazon Prime Day. And for one weekend in June, select Yeti coolers went on sale for up to 36% off at Dick’s. We’ve also sent alerts for free engravings on Yeti water bottles during holidays like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. Whenever we post about a Yeti deal, you’ll get an alert and can start shopping the sale immediately — before anything sells out.
Related: Here’s how to save 20% with the Yeti Military Discount.
3. Aim for 20% – 30% savings on anything Yeti.
Finding Yeti coolers on sale can be just as hard as finding an actual Yeti in the wild.
This is because Yeti is picky about who gets to sell their products. They hold on to their wholesale pricing tightly, not allowing dealers to offer big discounts. (It’s called minimum advertised pricing, or MAP. Brands like Birkenstock do it, too.) But, it’s not impossible to find certain Yeti Rambler tumblers, bottles, and mugs for up to 30% off. When you see anything between 20% – 30% off, that’s probably the best range of discounts you’re gonna get.
TIP: Woot.comsometimes has events with up to 30% off Yeti, and Amazon Prime members get free shipping.
4. Shop Yeti coolers at REI in May to save up to 25% during the Anniversary Sale.
If you want Yeti coolers on sale, shop REI’s Anniversary Sale in May when Yeti is 25% off. REI carries Tundra, Rambler, Hopper, Panga, Roadie, Daytrip, Sidekick, Loadout, and Camino. In 2023, the REI sale ran from May 19 to May 29, and we expect it to be around the same time next year.
5. Shop Yeti coolers on sale during Amazon Prime Day.
We’ve seen Yeti for as high as 50% off during Amazon Prime Day. In 2022, we saw the best Yeti deals during the Prime Early Access sale, which fell on October 11 – 12. And during the most recent Prime Day in July 2023, Ramblers went to 50% off.
6. Get a Yeti cooler with a price match at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
If you see a great deal on a Yeti cooler from Amazon, remember that Dick’s Sporting Goods will price match Amazon. Note that this is only for Yeti items that are sold and shipped by Amazon.com — not third-party sellers.
Related: Get all our best Dick’s Sporting Goods sale hacks, and maybe you can even save some money on your Yeti.
7. Watch for eBay Yeti coupons and get an additional 10% off.
You can save on Yeti coolers on eBay when you use coupon code promotions that get you 10% off a $30+ purchase.
TIP: Bookmark the KCL Yeti Deals page to stay informed about all the deals.
8. Use the D&B Supply senior discount and save 10% on Yeti coolers or drinkware.
Every Tuesday, D&B Supply offers a 10% senior discount to anyone 60 years and older. And D&B Supply rarely offers discounts on Yeti (read: basically never), so this is a good workaround.
9. Shop end-of-season Yeti clearance at Lowe’s & Cabela’s in April and September.
Finding Yeti clearance deals is tough. Yeti makes sure that their authorized dealers hold prices tight. Discontinued items and colors are the exceptions, and you can find them on clearance shelves at the end of the season. (Think fall for coolers, spring for tumblers).
Clearance Yeti items tend to be easier to find in the store rather than online. We often see 20% off Yeti coolers in clearance sections at Lowe’s and Cabela’s.
10. Get 20% off Yeti coolers with the military and first responders discount through ID.me.
Listen up, military members, first responders, nurses, and government employees. You can get 20% off your Yeti cooler purchase at Yeti.com when you verify your credentials through ID.me. That’s better than the 10% Lowe’s military discount. Or, get 20% off when you’re shopping in stores. Whether a store accepts the discount is up to the manager, so call your local Yeti store first and ask.
11. Save up to 20% on Yeti at Scheels.
Scheels, one of our favorite retailers for deals on Hydroflask and Stanley, also offers 20% off on Yeti throughout the year. We saw this 20% off deal earlier in March 2023, so keep an eye on this store. They sneak in surprising deals sometimes!
12. Buy the $1,000 Yeti Tundra 250 cooler for the most bang for your buck.
If you want to get the most value, you’d think that buying the biggest Yeti cooler would give you the most bang for your buck. Not so fast.
While you might think the number after each model name is the cooler’s size in quarts, you’d be wrong. According to Yeti, they do not name them like this. So, how do you calculate how much a Yeti cooler really costs based on its size? Yeti’s website shows how many cans of beer fit into each cooler, which I decided to use in my calculation.
You can see below how the price per can gets lower as the cooler gets larger. Until you get to their mac-daddy Tundra 350 hard cooler, the price goes back up, so don’t go any bigger than the Yeti Tundra 250 for the best value.
Yeti Roadie 24 ($250/18 cans): $13.90 per can
Yeti Tundra 35 ($275/21 cans): $13.09 per can
Yeti Tundra 45 ($325/28 cans): $11.61 per can
Yeti Tundra 65 ($375/42 cans): $8.93 per can
Yeti Tundra 75 ($450/57 cans): $7.89 per can
Yeti Tundra 105 ($500/67 cans): $7.46 per can
Yeti Tundra 110 ($550/74 cans): $7.43 per can
Yeti Tundra 125 ($600/92 cans): $6.52 per can
Yeti Tundra 160 ($750/115 cans): $6.52 per can
Yeti Tundra 210 ($900/162 cans): $5.56 per can
Yeti Tundra 250 ($1,000/181 cans): $5.52 per can
Yeti Tundra 350 ($1,500/259 cans): $5.79 per can
13. Register your Yeti cooler at Yeti.com and get a free sticker.
Register your new Yeti cooler, drinkware, or other items at Yeti.com and get a free sticker. Who doesn’t love a little freebie?
14. Still can’t afford Yeti? Walmart’s Ozark Trail offers a great alternative.
With a price tag that’s over 50% cheaper, it’s nice to know that Walmart gets those of us who can’t spend $500 on a cooler. For example, the Ozark Trail 45-quart hard side cooler is $150.70 ($3.35 per quart) at Walmart versus $325 ($11.61 per quart) at Yeti.com.
Walmart’s Ozark Trail Yeti knockoffs get great reviews, with the biggest complaint being that they’re not Yetis (obvs, right?). Meaning, the Yeti knockoff may only keep your ice cold for five days instead of a full week like the Yetis do. Plus, the Yeti knockoff doesn’t come in as many colors as the real thing.
So if you’re going on an extended trip where you won’t have access to ice, Walmart’s Yeti knockoff may not cut it. But for families on a budget who can hit the local gas station for more ice if needed, it may be a good option.
15. Even used Yeti coolers tend to sell for 75% – 80% of retail value.
It’s tough spending upwards of $1,500 on a cooler! If your heart is still set on a Yeti cooler, but you can’t part with that much cash and you can’t find any Yeti sales, look to Facebook Marketplace or rescues.yeti.com for a used Yeti cooler. Of course, you need to be careful and ensure everything is on the up and up with the seller and cooler before you pay out. If you can live with the condition of the cooler, you can save about the same amount as you would if you found it on sale at a retailer.
Here are some recent deals we’ve seen on rescues.yeti.com:
Roadie 24 Hard Cooler, $185 (reg. $250) — 26% off
Tundra 35 Hard Cooler, $205 (reg. $275) — 25% off
Tundra 45 Hard Cooler, $245 (reg. $325) — 25% off
Tundra Haul Wheeled Cooler, $340 (reg. $450) — 24% off
And here are a few deals we recently found on Facebook Marketplace:
Tundra 35 cooler, $200, (reg. $275) — 27% off
Tundra 45 cooler, $270 (reg. $325) — 17% off
16. Learn to spot a fake Yeti.
Yeti Ramblers might be the most frequently faked items of the whole Yeti collection. Basically, be wary of random internet sites you’ve never heard of that are selling Yeti.
Look for these telltale signs of a Yeti Rambler fake (the first two tips will also help you spot a fake Yeti cooler):
Problems with the font. The “E” and the “R” should be squared, but they’re rounded on a fake.
Weight difference. The 30-ounce Yeti Rambler should weigh 17 ounces. The fake weighs 12.7 ounces.
Problems with tint on clear lids. The real thing has a lid that’s perfectly clear; the fake has a bluish tint to it.
17. Buy from a Yeti-authorized dealer to avoid the fakes.
The only way to be certain you’re not buying a fake is to buy from a Yeti-authorized dealer. Authorized local shops are abundant and include chains like REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods, D&B Supply, Academy Sports, and Sportsman’s Warehouse.
18. Amazon and eBay are Yeti-authorized dealers…kinda.
When you’re shopping on Amazon, shop the Yeti store for the real deal. However, if you see a Yeti cooler sold by “Yeti Authorized,” you can trust that it’s an authentic Yeti. But, any third-party Amazon sellers without this name are not authorized.
As for eBay, make sure you’re shopping Yeti’s authorized storefront, and you can rest easy. Anything sold on either platform that doesn’t fit these criteria might not be an authentic Yeti.
19. Do your homework and be wary of inflated Yeti prices.
Authentic Yeti items are always in demand, which increases the price, but you have to be wary of inflated prices. For example, we found the 18-ounce Yeti Rambler on Amazon for $67.40, while other retailers, including Yeti.com, have it for $30. You could buy two for the price of one on Amazon!
Other colors shown, like the Clay ($69.99) and the Reef Blue ($80.40), are so expensive because they’re out of stock at other retailers. Don’t cave to these ridiculous prices. Instead, do your homework and compare prices using this article as your guideline, wait for the item to come back in stock, or go with a different color.
Do you have any secrets about finding Yeti sales? If so, please share below in the comments.
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