4 Reasons Why Procrastinating on Back-to-School Shopping Pays Off

At this point, you can stick a fork in the main back-to-school sales at the large big-box and office supply retailers. Labor Day generally marks the end of the school shopping season and retailers start preparing for the holiday shopping season (likely starting the day after Halloween if last year is any indication).

However, this doesn’t mean you necessarily missed out on all the back-to-school sales. In fact, there are a number of reasons why waiting until September and beyond is a superior strategy for shopping for back-to-school gear. Here are a few:

1.September is for Techies: According to our deal data over the last several years, there are a number of tech products that hit rock bottom prices in September, even nearing prices that your would find during November. These categories includes desktop computers, televisions, set-top media players, computer monitors, speakers and headphones.

In addition, mid to late September is the best time to purchase mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and eReaders. Many manufacturers introduce new models prior to the fourth quarter, thus previous generation models are heavily discounted. Smartphones are a particularly good buy during September at Best Buy and Amazon, about 15 percent less than any other back-to-school shopping month.

2.It’s not over until Everything is Gone: While the majority of the apparel and school supply sales are most aggressive in August, that doesn’t mean you can’t score awesome deals in early September. Big box retailers like Walmart and Target are already feeling the pressure of clearing out seasonal sections to make way for Halloween and Christmas items.

This means you will see aggressive clearance sales on the base items that kids will need for school. In addition to the the big retailers, you should check office supply stores that are attempting to clear out space for other items. This trend is especially true for backpacks as you are likely to see discounts of 50 percent off on brand name backpacks through the middle of September.

3.Dress for Summer 2015: As the fall 2014 line of clothing is currently dominating store space, summer clothing like shorts, t-shirts, bathing suits and sandals are hitting the clearance areas of the store. This trend will only get more aggressive through early to mid September.

This is an excellent time to stock up for next year. In addition, if you live in a traditionally warm climate like the Southwest or areas of the South, you can score excellent summer apparel deals online and wear those clothes throughout a larger portion of the year. Of course, if you are living in a cold climate, try to make last year’s fall clothing last six weeks longer to take advantage of clearance sales on Fall apparel as winter clothing is ushered into stores.

4.October is for (new) College Students: If you can convince your college student to wait until October to shop, this is the month for all the furniture, kitchen appliances and tools needed for that first place away from home. Granted, you will have to convince them to get by with Craigslist couches, a handheld can opener and a single screwdriver for a while. But it will pay off in the deals you can score before Black Friday sales hit.

In addition, late October is the time to start shopping for laptop deals. They will only get more aggressive as Black Friday approaches, but you will be able to score an excellent deal prior to late November. It’s also a good idea to have access to a laptop sooner in the semester as those huge term papers come due during November. Otherwise, it’s another few nights fighting for space in the college’s computer lab.

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