• Amazon Back to School sales started on July 6, with new deals appearing weekly until September. The last deal ran through September 26. This was the first big Back to School sale of the year, and Amazon is likely to start sales early and run them late this year, too.
• Best Buy Back to School sales started on July 8, with new items joining the sale about every two weeks. These events wrapped up in late August.
• Target Back to School sales started on July 14 and ended on August 11. That should be a good period of time for most shoppers, but those who want to shop particularly early or late may miss Target's savings.

Back to School shoppers should also look to Amazon Prime Day, which will be in July once again this year. While this sale event isn't focused on Back to School necessarily, you could find some real bargains, particularly if a Kindle or Echo device is on your shopping list — Amazon-brand products typically see some of their best prices of the year on Prime Day. Amazon is offering shopping guides for Back to School and Off to College, as well.