Back-to-school prices are a mixed bag this year

Some back-to-school prices are higher, some are lower, and others have stayed put since last year.

Back-to-school season is in full swing. Many students are already back in the classroom, and some are still savoring what’s left of summer while checking items off their shopping lists.

But when it comes to prices, parents and kids are in a whole new territory. It’s murky, to say the least. Some prices are higher, some are lower, and others have stayed put since last year.

Both retailers and consumers are navigating price adjustments as a new wave of tariffs as high as 50% on some imported goods went into effect earlier this month, creating even more uncertainty. Consumers currently face an overall effective tariff rate of 18.6%, the highest since 1934, according to the Budget Lab at Yale.

NBC News, working with e-commerce price tracking platform Bright Data, is tracking online prices for roughly 30 back-to-school items at Amazon, Walmart and Target to pinpoint if and when those price jumps happen. Bright Data is separately tracking its own set of more than 4,000 back-to-school items across retailers.

The price tracker can’t identify what causes prices to rise or fall, so it’s impossible to determine whether any changes reflect retailers passing along tariff expenses to shoppers. But the tool can help consumers plan their purchases at a time when goods from certain countries, such as China, or with specific components, like steel or aluminum, are disproportionately subject to steeper levies.