UPDATE: Jun. 21, 2022, 3:25 p.m. EDT This story has been updated to reflect the latest back-to-school deals ahead of Amazon Prime Day 2023.
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Prime Day is gracing us with its presence once again. It officially takes place July 11 and 12, but as you can probably guess by now, early deals have started dropping. Big categories like vacuums, headphones, and Amazon devices are seeing impressive discounts already, but not everyone is looking to drop big bucks this Prime Day season. If you’re searching for some decent deals on back-to-school essentials, we’ve got you covered in that department as well.
While Amazon has a ton of pens, pencils, folders, notebooks, and binders listed “on sale” for its annual two-day savings event, data we examined on the price-tracking site camelcamelcamel revealed that most of them were actually still hovering around their historical averages. The same thing happened last year, but don’t worry: we’ve sorted out the duds from the legitimately good deals.
Keep reading for an overview of the best early Prime Day back-to-school deals that we managed to scrounge up on Amazon. New deals will continue to trickle in as we inch closer to the Big Day(s), so we’ll keep an eye out and update this page regularly.
Backpack deals
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Our pick: Champion Top Load Backpack
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Why we like it
Heavy duty, durable, and most importantly, comfortable to wear, the Champion Top Load Backpack is a top contender for carrying around heavy books, a laptop, and more. The dark grey option is currently sitting at 44% off, dropping the price to just under $40. Keep an eye out, though, as the price dropped even lower last summer.
More early Prime Day deals on backpacks
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Amazon Basics School Laptop Backpack — $16.50
$24.19(save 32%) -
Minecraft Creeper Allover Print Backpack — $31.49
$44.99(save 30%) -
adidas Originals Trefoil 2.0 Backpack — $34.06
$50(save 32%) -
adidas Prime Backpack — $52.50
$65(save 25%)
Tech deals
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Our pick: Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Pro Tablet
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Why we like it
Designed for kids ages 6 to 12, the Fire HD 8 Kids Pro is a solid first device for your school ager. It’s equipped with its own kid-proof case, one year of age-appropriate Amazon Kids+, 13 hours of battery life, and easy-to-use parental controls to keep an eye on your child’s screen time and educational goals.
Prime members can snag it in three fun color options for only $74.99 ahead of Prime Day — that’s 50% off its 149.99 MSRP and its lowest price to date.
More Prime Day deals on back-to-school tech
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Amazon Fire HD 7 Kids Tablet — $54.99
$109.99(save 50%) -
Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Tablet — $74.99
$149.99(save 50%) -
Apple Pencil (1st Gen) — $79
$99(save 20%) -
Kindle Paperwhite Kids (8GB) — $89.99
$159.99(save 44%) -
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Tablet — $119.99 $199.99 (save 40%)
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Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro Tablet — $119.99
$199.99(save 40%) -
Apple 2021 iPad (WiFi, 64GB) — $269.99
$329(save 18%) -
Microsoft Surface Go 3 (Intel Pentium Gold, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC) — $311.95
$399.99(save 22%) -
Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (Intel Core i3, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD) — $418.93
$749(save 44%) -
HP 17-inch Laptop (Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $499.99
$639.99(save 22%)
School supply deals
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Our pick: Texas Instruments TI-30XIIS Scientific Calculator
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Why we like it
Solar and battery-powered, the TI-30XIIS Scientific Calculator can easily handle one and two-variable statistical calculations. It has a two-line display, so it can show the entry and calculated result at the same time. It’s ideal for general math, algebra 1 and 2, geometry, trigonometry, statistics, and science. At just $9.88, Amazon currently has it listed for just $1 more than its lowest price ever.
More Prime Day deals on school supplies
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Crayola Colored Pencils, 12 count — $0.99
$3.99(save 75%) -
BIC Brite Liner Highlighters, 5 count — $1.72
$3.99(save 57%) -
Elmer’s Disappearing Purple School Glue Sticks (22 grams) 3 count — $2.70
$6.99(save 61%) -
Elmers Liquid School Glue (4 ounces), 12 count — $5.38
$32.59(save 84%) -
Amazon Basics Felt Tip Marker Pens, 12 count — $5.88
$11.35(save 48%)
Honorable mention: Sign up for a free six-month trial of Amazon Prime Student
A friendly reminder that anyone with an .edu email address can score a six-month trial of Amazon Prime Student, which unlocks Prime Day access, free two-day shipping, and several bonus offers in addition to standard Prime benefits. (That includes free Grubhub delivery, a month’s worth of homework help from Course Hero, three free months of Calm, discounts on flights and hotels from StudentUniverse, and tons of entertainment discounts). After your six months are up, you’ll have to pay $7.49/month.
