The Back-to-School Fake Deal Report · Back to School 2026
20%
of back-to-school “deals” weren’t real.
We scanned 600 advertised Amazon deals for Back to School 2026. 122 weren’t meaningfully below their usual price.
Fakest back-to-school categories
Toys & Games27% fake
Computers20% fake
Office19% fake
Electronics15% fake
Busted back-to-school “deals”
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Movie, Beast Alliance, Beast C… — $18 is basically its everyday $16
- Hedbanz, Harry Potter Wizarding World 2022 Edition with New Car… — $22 is basically its everyday $20
- Razer Gigantus V2 Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad (Medium): Textured Mic… — $25 is basically its everyday $23
- SOAR NFL Bluetooth Bottle Opener Speaker, Tennessee Titans — $14 is basically its everyday $13
- Fuggler Alley Cats 9-Inch Plush Toy (Yawper) by ZURU – Funny Ug… — $13 is basically its everyday $12
How this is measured
- Sample: 600 advertised Amazon deals across back-to-school categories — Computers, Office, Electronics, and Toys & Games (scanned per-category, then pooled).
- “Busted” = today’s price sits within 0.88–1.12× the item’s usual (90-day) price — i.e. not meaningfully below it, a “discount” off an inflated or invented “was”.
- Source: real Keepa price history — the figure can’t be bought.
← Press & reports · Full methodology · Weekly Fake Deal Index
Scanned from real Keepa price history — a “deal” is busted when today’s price isn’t meaningfully below its 90-day usual price. Check any product →