How to Get the Best Back-to-School Sales Without Leaving Your House

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The benefits of shopping for back-to-school supplies online are great — no lines, no cranky kids and no traffic come to mind. Plus, you’ll have extra time to browse our Back-to-School page so you know you aren’t missing any deals!

There are great back-to-school sales online! You just have to know where to look. You can’t use manufacturer coupons, but you can get many of the items on your list for stock-up prices.

Here are some of our tried-and-true tips to help you get the best possible online deals when back-to-school sales hit!

1. Walmart.com has some of the best back-to-school sales on spiral notebooks and crayons.

These three items have shown up consistently cheaper at Walmart than anywhere else. In 2018 we saw one-subject spiral notebooks for $0.25.

We also saw Crayola crayons priced at $0.25/24-ct. box, which is 50% less than the KCL stock-up price of $0.50.

Follow our Walmart deals page to stay updated on all the best back-to-school sales at Walmart.

2. Buy $10 character backpacks from Hollar.

Think of Hollar.com as an online dollar store except prices range from $1-$10 or so, and items are slightly higher quality than a regular dollar store. One of the best things to buy at Hollar are character backpacks because prices run cheaper than Walmart.

At Hollar, character backpacks run from $5-$10, whereas you’ll pay $10-$30 for them at Walmart.

Hollar offers Avengers, Star Wars, Shopkins, Toy Story, Hello Kitty, Spider-Man, Cars and the list goes on. Plus, shipping is free when you spend at least $25.

TIP: You might also find some sweet deals on other back-to-school supplies, like pencil boxes for $1.00 and dry erase markers for $2.00/5. These back-to-school items might not be better than others, but they’ll be great filler items to reach free shipping!

3. Sign up for Paribus to find out when a price drops at Target.com.

When you sign up for Paribus, they’ll notify you when recently purchased items — like back-to-school clothes — go on sale.

Paribus monitors a few online retailers, including Target.com, and will help you request the difference on items that receive a price drop.

Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links we provided

4. Download the Krazy Coupon Lady app and never miss a back-to-school deal.

Once you download the app, click “Back To School” on the very top and you’ll see the latest back-to-school sales and deals.

Want personalized deals? Check it out:

Open the app and choose the three bar menu in the top right corner
Click the “notifications” button
Choose the gear icon in the top right corner
Toggle on “Push Notifications” which will allow Krazy Coupon Lady to send notifications to your phone
Scroll through the list of popular products and toggle on any and all that you need for back to school — like Apple and Bic! Anytime there’s a hot deal, Krazy Coupon Lady will send a push notification directly to your phone.

You can simply toggle off the deals when you don’t need them anymore, or toggle off “Push Notifications” if you don’t want to be alerted at all. It’s that simple!

5. Buy Dixon Ticonderoga pencils on Amazon for $0.10 each.

A solid stock-up price on Dixon Ticonderoga pencils is $0.15 each.

They reach prices as low as $0.10 each on Amazon during back-to-school sales, but definitely don’t buy them if they’re over $0.19 each!

RELATED: 26 Back-to-School Shopping Hacks That’ll Save You All the Money

6. Buy back-to-school uniforms at Old Navy.com and save up to 70%.

In 2018 we watched gleefully as kids’ uniform polos dropped to $3.00, regularly $9.99.

The sale was only good for 2 days, and you had to pay for shipping if you didn’t spend at least $50.00. The good news now is that you can buy online at Old Navy and pick up in store! If you aren’t going to score free shipping then we think this is the best choice for back-to-school clothes.

Make sure to follow our Old Navy Deals page so you’ll know if and when this sale hits again!

7. Shop The Children’s Place online for back-to-school outfits and save at least 49%.

In early August, The Children’s Place offers a back-to-school sale where the entire store is 50% off plus you can earn $10 in Place Cash for every $20 you spend. Also get free shipping, no minimum.

Here’s an example outfit:

One graphic tee, on sale for $2.85, down from $9.50

One pair of jeans on sale for $6.99, down from $19.50

Total: $9.84

Savings: $19.16 (49%!)

I use this strategy and then spend my Place Cash in September on whatever back-to-school clothes the kids need that I didn’t get during the sale.

Pro Tip: Since Place Cash offers a 50% savings, you could also buy half the back-to-school outfits your kids need in August during the 50% off sale, and the other half in September when you spend your Place Cash.

RELATED: 8 Tips for Last-Minute Back-to-School Clearance Shopping

8. Do your back-to-school shopping at Target.com and get ballpoint pens and scissors up to 75% off.

During back-to-school 2018, we saw Papermate InkJoy pens for $0.37 for a 10-count! They’re regularly $1.49, so we’re looking at a 75% savings!

And children’s scissors consistently reach around $0.45 a pair, $0.05 less than KCL’s stock-up price. Talk about good deals on back-to-school supplies!

Guess what! You can also use Cartwheel online as long as you choose store pick-up! Seriously, you should stop shopping at Target unless you know these 31 ways to save.

Psst…. don’t know about Cartwheel? It’s Target’s savings program full of in-store and manufacturer coupons and offers. We’ll show you how to get the most out of the Target Cartwheel app so you can save as much as possible.

9. Take advantage of Amazon Prime Day and save up to 24% on Apple products.

Amazon Prime Day is an annual event in July — this year it’s July 15-16 — in which Amazon runs some epic deals.

In 2018 Amazon put new Apple Macbooks on sale, which is almost unheard of!

We saw the 12″ Apple MacBook Notebook drop from $1,299.99 to $989.99, a 24% savings!

TIP: If you don’t get this deal during Prime Day, then you might still get special student pricing through Apple. You can save up to 10%, which is still a great deal for MacBooks!

Follow our Amazon Prime Day deals page to get the most up-to-date Amazon Prime Day deals!

10. Shop for socks and underwear at JCPenney during their BOGO sale to save up to 75%.

In 2018 JCPenney ran a BOGO sale on all socks and underwear, PLUS they offered a 25% off promo code that you could use at the same time!

Here’s what one of our deals looked like:

Buy 2 Hanes Kids’ Underwear, Tee or Socks Pack $16.00, regular price

Buy one get one free

Use 25% off promo code

Free store pickup

Final Price: $6.00 each, 75% off!

We chose free store pickup because we didn’t want to spend $99.00 to score free shipping. We’re willing to leave the house for this kind of back-to-school sale!

11. Get back-to-school shoes at Zulily.

If you haven’t shopped at Zulily yet, then back to school is a great time to start! Last year we saw Ositos kids shoes for as low as $6.99 a pair, regularly $21.00!

Zulily deals only last for a few days, so don’t wait if you catch a good deal. Shipping is free for an entire day after you make your first purchase, so we suggest buying something small (like a single pair of shoes) then using the promo code they email you once your order is placed to stock up on any other sweet deals. You might even score some other great back-to-school sales!

12. Do all your shopping through Ebates or Swagbucks in order to save 2–10%.

Stores like Walmart, Target, The Children’s Place and more offer cash back when you shop through websites like Ebates and Swagbucks.

With Ebates you will get your cash back quarterly, either via PayPal or a good old-fashioned check. You can cash out anytime through Swagbucks — as long as you have at least 300 points then you can get a $3.00 gift card to retailers like Amazon, Walmart or Starbucks.

Shop the back-to-school sales now and make a few bucks for later, too!