The Kinja Deals Guide to the Best Back-to-School Deals [Updating]

As summer comes to a close, all the little tax write-offs will soon be out of the house and back to school. We’ll be updating this post with the best deals around to make sure your kid’s education won’t drain your bank account quite as quickly as it could.

Even if you don’t have your own darling child to smother, you can take advantage of most of these deals. So everyone wins.

Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or sign up for our newsletter to never miss a deal.

REI’s Labor Day Sale is always one of the company’s biggest sales of the year. In fact, you could think of it as REI’s Black Friday, since the brand famously opts out of the post-Thanksgiving deal bacchanal. So get over there before all the good stuff is gone.

For the biggest markdowns, you’ll want to proceed directly to the Peak Deals section, where limited quantities of certain items are marked down by 50% or more.

Just because it’s a Labor Day Sale doesn’t mean you can’t find gear for the upcoming colder weather. For example, Patagonia’s ultra popular Better Sweater (men | women), the Arc’teryx Proton FL Insulated Hoodie (men) and The North Face’s ThermoBall insulated jacket (men | women) are all 50% off, while supplies last.

The sale also seems to be particularly heavy on camping gear, including REI’s Half Dome Tent (our readers’ favorite for backpacking), Magma sleeping bags (men | women), MSR’s Pocket Rocket camp stove, and even the best price we’ve ever seen on BioLite’s FirePit, which you can use in your backyard all year long.

If you’re spending over $100, you’ll want to add a $20 REI lifetime membership to your cart as well, as you’ll get a $20 bonus gift card added to your order automatically.

If you have affinity for certain outdoor brands, you can also just head to REI’s All Sales page, and sort by your favorite brands.

• Hydro Flask
  
• Smartwool
• BioLite
• Outdoor Research
• Patagonia
• The North Face
• Marmot
• Fjallraven
• prAna
• Arc’teryx
• United By Blue
• Columbia
• ExOfficio
• Nike
• Oru Folding Kayaks

Don’t see what you’re looking for. Check out REI Garage’s clearance items, which are an extra 20% off for Labor Day with promo code LABORDAY19.

We’re deep in the heart of mini fridge season at the moment, and if you still haven’t picked one up for your back-to-school needs, this $99 model is one of the coolest we’ve seen.

The 3.2 cubic foot fridge from Frigidaire includes storage space for drink cans, a small freezer compartment, a retro style handle, and best of all, a front face that acts as a dry erase board. Now you can warn your roommate not to eat your frozen taquitos right there on the fridge.

A blowout sale is upon us. Lucky Brand wants to make sure you get lucky with some deeply discounted apparel, so they’re welcoming fall early with a Farewell to Summer Sale. Take 40% to 50% off Lucky’s summer styles for men and women. So don’t waste another second; load up on tees, tops, denim, and shoes (all of which you can still wear right now) like it’s your lucky day.

Need some extra outlets on your desk, by your nightstand, or at the airport? Anker’s newest and smallest power strip includes two AC outlets and two USB charging ports, and it’s just $20 with promo code ANKER192.

One nice touch: The AC plug is flat, so you can easily stick this behind a couch or desk where a regular power strip’s plug might not easily fit.

Beyond the standard $50 discounts you hear about in the middle of every podcast, Casper mattresses don’t go on sale often, and Casper accessory deals are even rarer. But this 15% sitewide sale (live now) holds the promise of serious savings, if you still haven’t gotten rid of that old coil spring.

They’ve run the same deal for a few other holidays this year, but this is still a solid deal if you’re in the market for a great bed.

To get this deal, you have to buy a mattress (sorry, dog mattresses don’t count), so you can’t take advantage if you’re only shopping for accessories. But 15% savings on a standard Casper mattress works out to nearly $100 on a queen, or as much as $240 on the new, advanced Wave mattress. Just use promo code LABORDAY at checkout to see the savings stack up.

If you’re not wearing an item of clothing that’s branded with your favorite team’s name or logo, are you even a fan? Show your team spirit with up to 60% off NFL gear at Fanatics, happening today only (though really, it seems most items are only around 20% off—still a discount, but not an earth-shattering one). So start football season early, and be sure to use promo code 24SHIP to score free shipping on orders of $24 or more.

Whether you’re moving your teen into a dorm room or want to power a few more gadgets than your wall outlet will allow, this Anker power strip is a no-brainer. With 3 outlets and 3 USB ports built in, you can power just about any accessory or give your spare cables a new job. Better still, the wall outlet plug is angled so it can be tucked behind a dresser.

This current price is the lowest we’ve ever seen. Just make sure to clip the coupon on the page to get the best price.

You probably already own billions of bags (at least, I do), but the one’s sold at millennial haven Urban Outfitters are particularly awesome. And today, the whole lot of them is 25% off with promo code BAG25. So bag yourself a new backpack, tote, purse, duffle, crossbody, or—yes—even a newly trendy fanny pack (one of our favorites is on sale!) from coveted brands including Patagonia, The North Face, Herschel Supply Co., Adidas, and more. It’s a bag bargain blowout you won’t want to miss.

J.Crew Factory is already marked down significantly compared to its regular J.Crew counterpart, but now, the Factory is taking its discounts to a whole new level. Everything on site is 50% off today, plus you’ll get an extra 15% off your purchase when you use the promo code FLOWERPOWER. The whole factory is currently stacked with summertime staples in that classic J.Crew aesthetic, so shop and save on those in-season styles now.

Labor Day is basically here already, or at least, all of the sales are. Thankfully, you can get up to 87% sitewide at Jachs during their Labor Day Sale. Right now, crewnecks are on sale for as low as $17, while Chinos are only $35, and all men’s henleys are $17. Fall is coming up quick, so you’re going to wanter to shop Jachs’s outwear selection while some jackets and sherpa-lined flannels are marked down to $39. Free shipping is included on orders over $100, no code required.

Have you ever flipped your pill0w over during the summer, expecting the cool side, but you only got some more hot pillow? Yeah, sleeping when it is hot outside can really suck, especially if you don’t have central air. If you’ve wanted to try out temperature-regulating sheets, now is a perfect time. You can get 15% off My Sheets Rock at with the promo code KINJA19. My Sheets Rock makes their bedsheets using the highest-grade bamboo rayon to keep you cool, no matter how hot it is.

And lo, Tile decreed you can replace your own batteries now, and there was much rejoicing. If you’ve been waiting on a good deal for the new Tiles with replaceable batteries, we find some good deals buried in the couch cushions.

If you just want to dip your toes in the water, you can get a single Tile Mate for $20, or $5 less than usual. The four-pack for $50 is a considerably better deal though, if you have enough uses for them (drop your suggestions in the comments!). You can also get a four pack that includes two Mates and two Tile Slims for $50, but just note that the Tile Slims don’t have replaceable batteries.

USB-C Power Delivery battery packs are getting smaller and cheaper, and Anker’s latest and greatest PowerCore is one of the slimmest we’ve seen to date. Despite being just over a half inch thick, you get 10,000mAh of capacity, a 12W USB port, and an 18W Power Delivery port, which is sufficient for phones, tablets, the Nintendo Switch, and even small laptops in a pinch.

The PowerCore Slim 10000 PD also includes Anker’s new trickle charging technology, which allows the battery to charge small devices like Bluetooth headphones that don’t draw enough power to keep most other battery packs “awake.”

Normally $40, the PowerCore Slim 10000 PD is marked down to $32 this week on Amazon, no code required.

Back in March, Private Internet Access (our readers’ favorite VPN service) raised its prices for the first time ever. And while our readers can still get an exclusive 3-years for $99 plan, they just lowered their other plans back to their old prices for a limited time.

The reason this is a big deal is that you can renew your membership as many times as you want at whatever price you originally paid. Once the prices go back to normal, you’ll still be locked into the lower rate.

Here are the new (old) promotional prices, along with what you’d normally pay:

• 1 month: $6.95 (down from $9.99)
• 1 year: $39.95 (down from $71.88)

Clearly, the annual plan is the sweet spot here if you don’t want to commit to the three-year plan, but $6.95/month for 10 simultaneous connections, clients for just about every conceivable device, and servers in 32 countries (foreign Netflix, anyone?). We aren’t sure when the prices will go back up, so you probably want to lock in your account ASAP.

Amazon’s discounting a bunch of gear during their back-to-school sale. Save a bunch of cash on a whole bunch of Echo devices, including the 3rd generation Dot, Plus, the Input, and the Show 5.

Shopping for a Kindle? The Oasis is also on sale for $50 less than usual.

If you’re looking to add a some brains to your TV, choose from a Fire Stick bundled with an Echo Dot for $60 or add 4K capabilities for $10 more. To be clear this is your standard fare sale, nothing is too game-changing. In fact we’ve seen all of these prices before but they’re still good.

If Amazon’s acquisition of eero didn’t scare you off the pioneer in mesh networking, the retailer is celebrating its new networking play-thing with big discounts across the board.

Get an Eero and an extra Eero Beacon for $239 (a $60 discount), an eero and two beacons for $319 (an $80 discount), or for the largest and most densely constructed houses, three full-fat eero routers for $399 (a $100 discount). To be clear, If you live in a one bedroom apartment, you don’t need any of these, but if you find that a single router doesn’t get you a reliable Wi-Fi signal in every part of your house, mesh systems like these are a godsend.

You don’t have to be a music major to get an extensive musical education, thanks to Amazon. Right now, Prime Students can enjoy Amazon Music Unlimited for just $1 per month—because you should be putting your money toward more important things, like tuition and books and stuff. You’ll gain unlimited access to over 50 million songs on-demand, with the ability to listen offline and via Alexa. Finally, all those hours in class have paid off.

You probably know Status Audio from the company’s legendary CB-1 over-ear headphones, but the brand’s new Bluetooth earbuds carry on that legacy of sound quality, while letting you finally cut the cord.

Launched last month, we’re big fans of the BT Transfer and BT Structure headphones, and had this to say about them on The Inventory:

If you prefer in-ear monitors, Status has you covered with two different options. The larger BT Structures include over-ear wings for a secure fit, a whopping 12 hours of battery life, and a larger-than-usual 9mm dual driver system that allows them to achieve an impressive depth on the low end without sounding muddy. They’re the best-sounding wireless earbuds I’ve ever tried.

For $10 less, the BT Transfers offer a smaller form factor at the expense of battery life (eight hours instead of 12) and slightly smaller 8mm drivers, though those are still larger than the ~6mm drivers you’d find in most earbuds of this size. To my ears, they sounded nearly identical to the Structures, so I’d choose based on the form factor that’s right for you. Both sets of earbuds are IPX5 water resistant (not great, but good enough for exercise), include Bluetooth 5.0, and sadly, charge over microUSB.

You can now buy either model on Amazon, and our readers can take 20% off with promo code INVENTORY20.

This is everything you could want in a $11 surge protector. Six outlets, two USB ports, and a swiveling design that minimizes the distance the whole setup will project out from your wall once everything’s plugged in.

This price is $5 less than usual and is the lowest price we’ve seen since August.

If you’ve wanted a Fire HD 10 Tablet tablet, there is no better time than right now. It is currently marked down to $100, which is $50 off and the lowest price we’ve seen. With this tablet, you can download all of your favorite apps to watch movies and TV shows, listen to music, and read all of the eBooks and magazines you want. You can download Netflix, Facebook, HBO, Spotify, and more.

Buying a new mattress is one of the biggest purchases you’ll make, after buying a home, of course. What you sleep on is important and can shape how you feel all day long. Right now, you can get $100 off a Casper mattress, plus two free standard Casper Pillows when you use the promo code CASPERPILLOW. The Casper Pillow is our readers’ favorite pillow and this is actually a deal we’ve never seen before from Casper.

Check out what our readers’ had to say over in The Inventory:

Perfect combination of fluffy, supportive, and stays cooler than any other pillow I have owned. - Wholandia

Summer is drawing to a close, and that means it’s time once again for REI’s annual summer clearance, offering huge markdowns on thousands of past-season styles from the biggest brands.

Just because it’s Summer Clearance doesn’t mean you can’t find gear for the upcoming colder weather. For example, Patagonia’s ultra popular Better Sweater (men | women), the Arc’teryx Proton FL Insulated Hoodie (men) and The North Face’s ThermoBall insulated jacket (men | women) are all 50% off, while supplies last.

If you have affinity for certain outdoor brands, you can also just head to REI’s All Sales page, and sort by your favorite brands.

• Hydro Flask
  
• Smartwool
• Patagonia
• The North Face
• Marmot
• Fjallraven
• prAna
• Arc’teryx
• United By Blue
• Columbia
• ExOfficio
• Nike

The Razer Blade Stealth is a beautifully designed ultrabook with a lot of features gamers love, and right now you can pick it up for $500 less than its regular price just in time for back-to-school.

This particular 13" model offers an i7 4-core processor, an GeForce MX150 graphics card, 16GB RAM, and 256GB SSD. It promises up to 13 hours long battery life. That graphics card means you can actually game on it. There’s only a few remaining, so pick yours up ASAP.

If you didn’t buy enough years of PlayStation Plus for $40 back on Black Friday or Prime Day, you can get the exact same price today on from eBay. If you own a PlayStation 4, or are planning to buy one soon, the only question is how many of these membership years you should buy, not whether you should buy them.

Fall is almost here! And Patagonia has vests, puffers, pullovers, and zip-ups galore, all of which are great for wearing alone on warmer days or all at once when it’s an arctic tundra outside. Right now, the the anti-Silicon Valley folks are majorly marking down their Web Specials section for a limited time with up to 50% off their past season products. So it would behoove you to pile everything you can into your cart ASAP, so you can pile everything onto yourself during the cold months ahead.

Anker’s home goods brand, Eufy, put its uber-popular copper string lights back on sale today for $10, or about $7 than usual. They’re one of the most popular products in Kinja Deals history, and come with a remote to control and dim them that you’ll definitely never lose.

No dorm room is complete without a set of these haphazardly draped from something.

If your Tupperware is so stained from years of use, you really need to toss it out. Get yourself a brand new set with the AmazonBasics 10-Piece Locking Food Storage Containers for only $13. Included in the set are two 1.3-cup containers with lids, two 3.2-cup containers with lids, and one 9.6-cup container with a lid. The locking lids provide an air-tight seal, so you won’t have to worry about food leaking in your fridge or lunchbox.

Save big on a boatload of Aukey gear during the company’s back-to-school sale. Everything from keyboards starting at $18, power banks, USB-C hubs, and GaN chargers are discounted. Just a heads up, you’ll only see the deal price if you add the promo code at checkout or if there’s a clippable coupon on the product page.

If you’re on a budget but are looking to add a mechanical keyboard to your setup, Aukey’s line of keyboards are on sale. Prices start at just $18 for this blue-switch equipped tenkeyless model, just clip the coupon on the page and use the promo code SMA57P4Q at checkout.

Here are the rest of your options:

• AUKEY Mechanical Keyboard LED Backlit Gaming Keyboard | $32 | Amazon | Use code TM2ELC3G
  
• AUKEY Mechanical Keyboard Red Backlit Gaming Keyboard with Red Switches | $33 | Amazon | Use code ZQG5CWTB
• AUKEY Mechanical Keyboard Blue Switch, 104-Key RGB Backlit Gaming Keyboard with Customizable Lighting Effects | $41 | Amazon | Use code ZZIBUNQS

A number of charging accessories from Aukey are also on sale. The star of the show: the 60W PD wall charger, available for $35 after you clip the code on the page and use the promo code E7W6KLYI at checkout.

Our deals researcher Corey tried one out and he says “I’ve tested it with my Dell USB-C (requires 45W) laptop, my Switch, and my Pixel 3. All charge at the highest speed and none caught on fire or fried.”

Here are the rest of your options:

• AUKEY 24W/4.8A Dual-Port USB Car Charger | $5 | Amazon | Use code J4S8NSNE
• AUKEY USB C Wall Charger, USB Charger with 60W Power Delivery 3.0 | $28 | Amazon | Use code
• AUKEY Power Delivery Power Bank 20000mAh, USB C Portable Charger | $34 | Amazon | Use code 9I3G8NVT

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RDX34KH?kinja_price=28&kinja_promocode=3VJEVUIW

If you have one of those new MacBooks with the too few IO ports, this USB-C hub adds an HDMI port, two standard USB ports, and two card slots. Just use the code NYVP9OW6 to bring it down to $40.

Not a deal, but it’s still worth mentioning that the Nintendo Switch Lite is now available for pre-order just in time for back-to-school shopping. Choose form the Gray (Amazon | Walmart), yellow (Amazon | Walmart), turquoise (Amazon | Walmart), and Pokemon Limited Edition (Amazon | Walmart) models for $200.

Note: It seems to be going in and out of stock, so keep checking back if you aren’t able to order.

The Nintendo Switch Lite differs from the standard model in a few ways:

• Smaller Screen
• Handheld Only, Non-Detachable Joy-Con, Longer Battery Life
• Costs $100 less

The handhelds will ship in a little more than a month on September 20.