Retailers Vying for Cash-Strapped Students As School Season Nears

Back-to-school electronics specials kicked in quickly on the heels of Fourth of July deals, we found in a scan of e-commerce sites. In the struggling PC segment, retailers are using sub-$300 pricing to reel in students prior to the start of school. Office Depot is issuing a $79 rebate in the form of a prepaid Visa card to college students who buy both Microsoft Office 365 and a qualifying Windows 8 PC. The deal runs through July 13 and requires proof of student status via a valid college photo ID or an original copy of an acceptance letter to a college or university, with another form of photo identification, it said. Qualifying PCs Thursday included the Acer Aspire 15-inch V5-571P-6472 laptop with a touch display that’s marked down from $649 to $499. The other PC option in the promotion is an HP Envy TouchSmart 23-inch all-in-one computer that’s been discounted from $949 to $749.

Billing its back-to-school deals as “College Essentials 101,” OfficeMax, awaiting SEC approval for a merger with Office Depot, is pushing the Dell Inspiron i15RV-3763BLK laptop in a $100-off promo that brings it to $349. OfficeMax featured two Chromebooks in the back-to-school section -- the HP Pavilion 14-c010us ($329) and the Samsung XE303C12-A01US ($249) -- but neither Chromebook was discounted. Seven printers are part of the OfficeMax back-to-school discounts, ranging from $10 off an HP Deskjet 2512 all-in-one printer, now $39, to $100 off an HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color M251NW wireless printer, now $229. Promotions run through July 13.

Technology is excluded in a back-to-school reward promotion at Staples, where shoppers who buy a back-to-school savings pass through Aug. 31 for $10 get 15 percent off supplies including paper, backpacks and binders through Sept. 21. Staples didn’t respond to questions about how products were selected for the program. But technology purchases do count toward Staples’ Reward-A-Classroom program announced this week, which allows Staples Rewards members to allocate extra rewards to a teacher of their choice by linking their Rewards account. The goal of the program is to help teachers, who spend an out-of-pocket average of $356 a year on school supplies and instructional materials for their students, Staples said. Rewards members still earn their five percent savings under the program, while linked teachers get five percent back in rewards on copy and print services and two percent on “everything else,” including technology, Staples said. Educators can also earn rewards on their purchases, it said.

Newegg, meanwhile, is running a “Gear to Rule” back-to-school promotion through Sept. 16, focusing on a different phase of student life in each of six phases covering roughly two weeks each. The prime draw is Newegg’s “Stay in Touch” sweepstakes, sponsored by Intel and Microsoft, which will award $60,000 in prizes, the company said. Two grand prize winners will receive Ford Focus STs, and technology prizes include a Sony Vaio L Series SVL24147CXB 24-inch all-in-one PC, Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A-DH51 13-inch Ultrabook, Toshiba Satellite U925t Ultrabook and Acer Iconia Tab W510-1422, Newegg said.

Through July 15, Newegg is holding its kickoff sale for the back-to-school season, selling a Windows 8 Toshiba C855-S5346 notebook PC with Intel Celeron processor for $299, according to the website. A 25-inch HP LED monitor is on sale for $249, with an additional $40 off for adding a promo code, it said. From July 15-29, the theme is “the room” for products students need in dorm rooms, including monitors, printers, TVs, and mini fridges, it said. Computing sale days are from July 30-Aug. 12, followed by “DIY” days through Aug. 26, it said. “On the Go” features mobile devices including tablets and smartphones from Aug. 27-Sept. 9 and a final sale ends the season from Sept. 10-16, it said. In addition to product deals and the sweepstakes, Newegg is pushing its more than two million product reviews as a resource for buyers.