When it comes to back-to-school shopping, don’t forget about the office supply stores! You may automatically think of Target back-to-school sales or Walmart back-to-school deals when planning your shopping list, but the Staples back-to-school sale every year includes deals that are priced to compete with even the biggest retailers. My local Staples is closer to my house than Target or Walmart, so it’s a no-brainer where I’ll be shopping for my school supplies next year.
Even though summer is just beginning, the Staples Back-to-School deals are already in full swing as of June 2024. We're sharing the best deals we've found this back-to-school season and showing you even more ways to save when you shop the Staples sale.
For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, text HACKS to 57299, or download The Krazy Coupon Lady app.
How to Get Your $10 Staples Coupon
Staples just launched its first ever backpack recycling program, complete with an incentive for back-to-school shoppers. When you recycle backpacks and school supplies in stores, you'll get a coupon for $10 off your $30 purchase.
Recycling these items is completely free. Here's a list of products accepted for recycling:
Backpacks
Lunch bags
Pencil pouches (soft and hard case)
Writing instruments (pencils, markers, pens, crayons, highlighters)
Rulers and similar items (protractors, triangles, etc. — wood, plastic, metal)
Glue sticks and empty bottles
Tech (calculators, headphones, earbuds, cables, USBs, etc.)
Binders (regular and zipper — paper must be removed)
Sharp cutting instruments, like scissors and exacto knives, aren't included.
After recycling your used school supplies and backpacks, you'll get the $10 off $30 coupon valid on in-store purchases only. The coupon will expire the day after it prints. Other terms may apply, so be sure to check your coupon for more details.
Best Staples Back-to-School Sale Deals:
A few of these Staples deals are already at our recommended stock-up prices for school supplies. You're unlikely to find a better deal for spiral notebooks, Crayola 24-count crayons, or plastic folders than these.
As for the timing, expect deals like these to pop up through June and last until Labor Day.
Online Deals
In Store Only Deals
The Staples Back-to-School Sale started Sunday, June 9, 2024.
Staples started their back-to-school sale on Sunday, June 9, 2024. We expect to see deals through mid-September, with another big sale in July.
How did we make our prediction?
Sales cycles at Staples always start on a Sunday, and the Back-to-School sale historically starts on the third Sunday of July. In 2024, Staples started back-to-school deals on June 9 — 6 weeks earlier than we expected. In 2023, the sales lasted eight weeks, putting the end in mid-September. We expect the sale to still end in mid-September, making the sale about 14 weeks long.
1. Join Staples Rewards to get 2% cash rewards, free shipping, and $2 for used printer cartridges.
Receive 2% cash back on your purchases. If you hit Premium (by spending at least $1,000 at Staples) or shop using Classroom Rewards (more on that in a minute), you get 5% cash back.
Get access to free shipping. But only on orders of $25+.
Earn $2 back for every recycled ink or toner cartridge you turn in. If you’ve spent $50 on ink or toner in the last six months, you can exchange up to 10 of your old, used cartridges for $2/each. You can exchange up to 20 if you’ve hit Premium status.
2. Leverage Staples Rewards to score free back-to-school supplies.
3. Earn 5% in Classroom Rewards during the back-to-school season.
Have you heard of the Classroom Rewards program at Staples? It’s really cool. All you need to do is sign up for Classroom Rewards on the Staples Connect app. When you upload your receipts to the Staples Connect app, you’ll earn 5% all year long, plus another 5% to donate to the teacher or school of your choice.
In the past, we’ve seen it get even better during back-to-school season. Keep your eyes peeled for incredible offers of 10% – 20% rewards back on your purchases over the next couple of months.
4. Stock up on Staples school supplies with prices that rival Walmart and Target.
At some points during the back-to-school season, Staples’ prices will even dip down below Walmart‘s. You’re gonna have to hang on for a couple of weeks before this is true for most products, though.
Here are the rock-bottom prices to look for from Staples next year — if you see them marked down this low, stock up!
Elmer’s liquid glue, 4 oz.: $0.50 (Stock-up price: $0.50 each)
Crayola colored pencils, 12 ct.: $0.97 (Stock-up price: $0.90 each)
Crayola markers, 10 ct.: $0.97 (Stock-up price: $0.95 each)
Pink erasers: $0.25 (Stock-up price: $0.25 each)
TIP: Download our (free) Back-to-School Supplies Stock-Up Price List for 2023 so you know exactly which prices to look for on 80+ items.
5. Wait for backpacks at Staples to go on sale for 50% off.
TIP: Jansport backpacks might cost you a bit more upfront, but they come with the Jansport lifetime warranty. That means you might not have to buy a new one from year-to-year, saving you more cashola over the long term.
6. Use Staples coupons or promo codes to stockpile copy paper for as low as $2 per ream.
7. Use manufacturer coupons and store coupons to save even more during back-to-school season.
8. You can stack promo codes when shopping Staples back-to-school sales online.
True story! Staples issues product coupons in the form of promo codes, and also promo codes that apply to your entire transaction.
You can use only one transaction coupon on your entire order. BUT, you can combine individual product coupons on top of that whole-transaction coupon when you shop Staples online.
9. Just note the product exclusion for coupons on Staples.com.
The fact that you can use more than one promo code when shopping Staples online is pretty amazing. But there’s a looooonnnngggg list of exclusions. You can never use an online coupon for any of these products:
Streaming devices
Bose products
Ultimate Ears products
Wacom products
TI graphing calculators
Most ink & toner
Phone cards
Postage
Custom orders or promotional products
While there are a couple of big-ticket back-to-school items on that list of exclusions, the good news is that you can still use promo codes on the most common basics you’re likely to buy in bulk, like notebooks, crayons, and glue.
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