The best back-to-school sales to snag now

Jeanie Ahn
·Senior Producer/Reporter

Families that have waited to go back-to-school shopping can score plenty of deals right now. In fact, savings are hard to miss when you’re shopping this time of year because of the convergence of three different sales: end-of-summer clearances, back-to-school supplies deals, and Labor Day sales.
 
According to the National Retail Federation, parents are expected to spend $26.5 billion this shopping season, second only to holiday spending. Households with children in grades K-12 are expected to spend $580 to $670 on apparel, shoes, and supplies and electronics. The older your children are, the more likely you are to spend on big-ticket items like electronics.
 
For the best back-to-school deals out there, we tapped Mark LoCastro of DealNews for tips on where to go when it comes to the most in-demand types of products.

Electronics
 
Based on historic trends that DealNews tracks, LoCastro says to expect the highest volume of laptop deals from the following retailers:
 
1.     Lenovo
2.     Toshiba
3.     Newegg
4.     Dell
5.     HP Home & Home Office Store
 
Some of the latest deals include a Toshiba Satellite laptop for $199 on eBay, a Lenovo G Series laptop for $419, and a 16-inch Hewlett-Packard Envy for $630 from HP and coupon code "PC599Q2" cuts the price to $605. Dell is also cutting up to 50% off laptops and desktops in their 72-hour sale now.
 
If you’re looking for Android tablet deals, make sure to check out this top 10 list of retailers:
 
1.     eBay
2.     Newegg
3.     Walmart
4.     Lenovo
5.     Adorama
6.     Amazon
7.     CowBoom
8.     Microsoft Store
9.     MicroCenter
10.   Fry's
 
Newegg, for instance, has an Asus Google Nexus tablet on sale now for $200 (a $30 discount).

For Apple lovers, each year there is a special back-to-school promotion. This year the company is offering a $100 Apple store gift card to college students when they purchase a Mac by Sept. 9. The Apple Store continues to offer a discount on a selection of MacBook Air laptops starting at $779. While Best Buy isn’t currently offering any special Apple deals, LoCastro suggests checking the electronics giant before school starts because it often puts Apple products on sale on or after Labor Day.
 
Apparel
 
Some of the best deals for clothing are at department stores like Nordstrom, JC Penney, and even Sears, as well has big-box retailers like Target. Clothing has typically seen mark-downs between 30% and 50%, LoCastro says. Summer clothing should be on clearance now, so you will see steeper discounts on those items. But for fall apparel, expect about 20% off.
 
Shoes
 
For shoe deals check out stores like 6PM, Joe’s New Balance Outlet, and Nordstrom. They have fantastic deals ranging from 50% to 70% off. Other retailers with shoe sales include FinishLine, Crocs, and Amazon.
 
Student Discounts
 
Don’t forget to look for additional student discounts. Many retailers like Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Dell, and Office Depot offer students an additional discount if you register your “.edu” email address for the exclusive deals.