Ok, here goes my tips for steam sales:

1) Don't wallet unless you have to.
It can be a good way of not going overbudget BUT steam sales aren't as good as they once were. With some better bundles around and alternative retailers don't cash on wallet but by purchase

2) For the most out of your buck (even more so if you're going to more titles over very few) some Preparation/Pre-planing can help a lot.
The sale can be distracting; You may purchase a title that seens a good deal here and another there and later find a more wanted deal without any buck left.

• Rank your wishlist. Not all of it (heck, mine is over 1000), but a top 10 or more depending on your means or how optmist you are. Come on, we can dream.

• Make sure to check/double check the titles in it: reviews by professionals and on steam, requirements, etc. Refunds can take longer during sale(haha joking. They will take longer- they 'can' take not too long with luck).

• Stat check right now as you pre-plan this selection (see item 3)

3) Install Enhanced Steam on your browser if you didn't already and CHECK every title
It shows lowest price/highest cut it got and where also if it was bundled and how many times.

• with rare exceptions anything once bundled will be bundled again; Meaning as low or lower cut together with other nice titles in a good deal.
  So bundled=nono

• If it has been lower on other stores hold your horses. Some stores however aren't as frequent with their deals so Deal vs WANT may make exceptions, no point waiting ages for a good cut/sale again.

  • Isthereanydeal (links shown by Enhanced Steam) show graphs of price over time per store
    • Isthereanydeal is out of service because of heavy load year around- during sales it will be a nightmare. Have patience.
      • PS: support then if you can, they deserve it

• Look up on steamdb (link/icon shown by Enchanced Steam) if there were price changes.
  Many publishers happen to 'adjust their prices to inflation' (excuse) by some curious coincidence of fate sometime near a steam sale. Also curious its always for higher. Go figure.

• DON'T LOOK AT CUT BUT PRICE. Games lower in price as time goes by and tricky publishers rise prices. Never look at % but lowest $$. Raw.

4) Cart is your friend as a compare list BUT save it if needed
cart works as a selection 'to choose/select' but wonky/fuzzy server load during sales plus arcane internet cookies and during a browser restart it may empty by itself. If a list is too big save it somewhere else.
I love Evernote, its free and can swipe the list to a note- and you search all your notes in seconds. Plus if you reformat the list on evernote (so it becomes raw text) you can even add self-notes if you need.

5) Have patience: Research
As little or as much as you feel is needed. You don't have to hurry unless we're talking last day.

• Double check requirements, user reviews

• I like to check a titles forum- any big unadressed issue is probably high on the forum and most questions you might have are probably already made by fellow buyers.

• OTHER STORES: some have their sales at the same time. Heck Nuuvem starts after summer sale and ends the same day- im sure so they can check what deals they can beat. Nuuvem is the only one i need to worry about being brazilian (Brl prices, region locked keys). Depending where you live the stores you have to look up will vary.

4) Purchase button: the Decision Moment

• Use the main 'rules of thumb' for elimination: if bundled or better deals in the past= nope. Unless you're in a real hurry.

• Don't go for less then 30-50% on new titles unless they're really really fresh and or their publishers have an habit of low cuts.

  • Chances are they will go on deeper discounts this year or first half of the next. Some even soon after sale
  • The higher profile, hot and played a title is the less likely

• If theres a upcoming sequel soon ahead it will go deeper after the new title is around

• Older releases are hit-and-miss: they may get bundled for better deals soon or not and you may get mad for making the wrong move.
  Unfortunally theres no sure choice here BUT some tips can help:

  • Lookup humble bundles history of bundles: if it had sales from a publisher (generally called 'Publisher Sale') with not too old titles chances are this game will be on a next one.
  • Also look if said publisher appeared on humble monthly; If so there are chances their high but not too fresh title will be in some next one.

• My rule of thumb is: if you really want a game and will feel bad for waiting next year go for it (if it wasn't bundled and such). You're exchanging 50% of being mad because it was bundled soon after having the game to 50% chance of being mad of it not being bundled and you needing to wait, without a game.
  Plus if the purchase means getting a repeat game on a bundle thats one more to giveaway or trade.

• Rule of thumb for big spends is considering replayability. Seeing big hours played on user reviews are a good hint.

  • Take into account your preferences and previous experiences HIGHER then reviews, hype and appeareances. Personal tip- too many times a title too praised that i tought would make me very happy ended up being not for me or under my expectations. Better bet on 'similar enought to a game i love' then any big thing causing buzz;

(For example shooters for me are hit and miss. I love Stalker and even with some hardcore mods but mostly i liked but didn't played quite much shooters aiming for 'closer to life' or survival multiplayer shooters- so i won't be buying battleground unless its a steal).

• Indies are more likely to be bundled soon BUT they're also lower price/bigger discounts and very often the bundle thing is mistakenly given too much credit- either for bad titles in a bundle or simply math even (dividing titles in a bundle by cost). This is more on point with Humble Bundles monthly.

  • BUT id say go for it for most indie titles with too high praise if they're new. They will probably hold on bundling for longer and... come on, we gotta support indies that deserve it. If bundled it can save you a good buck (Newer titles if bundled will be on HB's Montly- 15 dollars- and often as the only title you'd get).

• Buying mid to the sale gives you enougth time to get cards and craft or sell then. If you're like me wanting more titles and cheaper ones cards for wallet can afford a few good titles as bonus.
  So avoid buying too late if you want to use cards for more titles this sale.

• Any spare bucks or doubts you can find threads on SG, steam and elsewhere with people pointing out hidden gems, their choices and whatnot.

• Variety: often ignored by some, even more so the more niche focused they are; If you love to death shooters and multiplayer for example, or any genre that takes too many hours of playtime- you only have 24 of those in a day. Mastery in skill-based games also take time. I want Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat X and still deciding on the new KoF. Not my main genre but even if it were i would buy only one of those for now; By the time i have room for more another sale will be close or not far ahead.

6) Most important: joy factor.
Holding on some buys for a little potential deal later on for less joy is... idn, bad? Its rational but joy isn't rational and on my opnion more valuable then a few bucks.
I freaking love having some slick and novelty titles the sooner.

As long its not misguided hype train directing your purchase then go for it. Joy, emotion and the irrational aren't bad- they're only bad when you're not the one behind it. And oh do the marketing guys do everything they can to direct your impulse and wants.
(For example is Fallout 4 good? Yes it seems. Is it as good as 3 o new vegas? Is it as good a purchase if you bought and played the previous ones? I want Fallout 4- but id buy, idn, Hollow Knight (just naming one out of the top of my head) over it in a hurry. Not only i will probably get it for less i will probably be getting a better if not newer game(for me) and for less. You can put any franchise on this buck btw)

Id exchange any bulk purchase of 'great deals on ok/good games' with less of great games that brought me more joy.

Bump for future references and help regarding Summer sale

im too in summer sale first time as well :P

List of games bought during the sales:

gog: ~35€ for 24 games, 1 dlc and 15 free games
Monkey Island 2
Gurumin: A Monsterous Adventure
Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition
Dungeon Keeper 2
Faces of War
Dustforce DX
Stories: A Path of Destinies
Hand of Fate (+ addon)
Oddworld: Munch's Odysee
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD
Avadon 1+2
Gothic 1-3
Leisure Suite Larry 1-6
Deponia 2-4

steam
?

Rule #1: Don't talk about the Steam sales.
Rule #2: Check re-sellers for better deals.
Rule #3: Do you need that game? You don't need that game. Don't buy it.
Rule #4: ...Are you listening?
Rule #5: Stop it
Rule #6: No
Rule #7: Think of your wallet
Rule #8: Please stop
Rule #9: OH GOD WHY ARE YOU SPENDING SO MUCH
Rule #10: There are no rules. Welcome to Steam.

I will keep it simple:

1) Do you HAVE to have that game NOW? Or isn't it that urgent and can it wait? If it can wait, wait. If the game has DLCs, wait for the GOTY-Version. Else wait until you can snag it up for a price you actually really like.
2) Only buy things with a discount of 75% or higher. If the game you have to have does not get such a steep discount, look a number 1).

Don't rush. It takes a while for the discount to apply.
Buy what you're going to play. Unless you buy just because you want to.
If you bought a game in the previous sale and still haven't played it...i think that's a problem.

If you're not crafting the event badge, sell the cards ASAP.
Be responsible. If you have backlog waiting, finish it but don't force yourself to finish it just because you've bought it.
Sometimes, you make mistake, purchasing impulsively. There's steam refund for that.
But if you keep repeating that mistake...I think that's a problem.

I'd add that if you occasionally trade/sell TF2/DOTA2/CSGO keys/items for games, you may want to consider liquidating whatever items you plan to trade on the marketplace before the sale rather than during the sale. Key/item prices tend to drop during sales.

I'd predict this would be even more useful this year given the changes to the gifting system. You are probably just better off spending your own existing wallet/inventory on games you want versus hunting for trades. It may be harder to find good swaps, and at least by buying yourself, you can get a refund if you want one.

My tip: just wait for Humble Monthly games to be revealed. Maybe there are the games on your wishlist.

I'm still angry because I missed the price glitch on Life is Strange last year.. I read on Reddit that it was probably because I already owned Episode 1 so I got a special discount, but that wasn't the case, and soon after the price glitch got fixed. :S

Not my first sale, but thanks for this guide.

Where is the option:"Not Interested in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S Battlegrounds"?!? I would rather buy a gift copy of winrar.

My summer sale guide:
boycott Volvo ... pass and dont care about Steam Store, their gifting thing is awful

Save to pay for moar college oWo

(RIP those textbook prices)

Mostly hoping for S.TA.L.K.E.R to be discounted or the first Far Cry