Checking this list will save you money this weekend in York, Lancaster, Chester

If you’ve been waiting to get your child’s supplies for the upcoming school year, the time is now.

South Carolina’s tax-free weekend began 12:01 a.m. Friday and runs through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 6. This means local shoppers will be able to buy some items without paying a sales tax.

Most states that offer the tax-free weekend do so to allow parents to buy back-to-school items at prices a little cheaper than normal, but the sales aren’t limited to that.

Broadly, exempt items include everything from clothing, footwear and lunchboxes to bookbags, computers, and bed linens. Click here for a full list sales-tax exempt items to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

South Carolina has held a sales tax holiday during the first weekend in August since 2000. Former Governor Jim Hodges originally proposed the measure, saying it would give parents a break when they went to buy items for their children. The South Carolina Department of Revenue says shoppers save $2-3 million in an average year.

South Carolina’s sales tax rate is six percent. York County has a sales tax rate of seven percent, while Lancaster and Chester counties are set at eight percent. The sales tax-free weekend will wipe away all sales taxes on purchases bought within the weekend, according to the SCDOR.

If a shopper buys $100 worth of eligible merchandise, the shopper would save $7 in York County and $8 in Lancaster and Chester counties.

Because Georgia and North Carolina are choosing not to host sales tax-free weekends, retailers are expecting more traffic from residents along the state’s borders, according to SCDOR public information director Bonnie Swingle.

North Carolina nixed its own state sales tax holiday four years ago, but local malls such as SouthPark, Charlotte Premium Outlets and Concord Mills offered extra discounts at stores such as J. Crew and Steve Madden on several back-to-school items.

Retailers throughout South Carolina have prepped for one of the busiest times of the shopping calendar. The annual event is only out-done by Black Friday after Thanksgiving, according to Lindsey Kueffner, executive director of the South Carolina Retailers Association.

Online orders of exempt items can also help save shoppers money, as long as consumers make the order within the weekend, according to Swingle.

This story was originally published August 4, 2017 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Checking this list will save you money this weekend in York, Lancaster, Chester."