Yesterday as I was sifting through the Staples circular I noticed that Staples was offering a $15 gift card (via rebate) for every $100 Visa or Mastercard Prepaid Card purchase (up to 10 per person/household). I was immediately interested knowing that I could purchase these gift cards with my Chase Ink Bold card and earn 5x per dollar since Staples is an office supply store (one of the benefits of all Chase Ink Business credit cards).
This morning I went to my local Staples only to find out that they had a limited supply and the promotional offer was not in their store circular. I showed the women the offer online, but she said that sometimes NYC has different offers, but we will know right away as the rebate will either print or not print. Since this is a prepaid card that cannot be returned if the rebate doesn’t print I didn’t want to take my chances without being 100% sure. Many chains have different offers/weekly ads for Manhattan stores and typically do not have the same generous promotions (CVS, for example, is one of these – in the suburbs you have a weekly ad of about 10 pages, in the city it is 2, pisses me off!). The Staples sales associate completely understood and called Staples customer service for me. Luckily she was able to confirm it would work and lo and behold the easy rebate form did print.
Although you can get up to 10 per person/household, my Staples only had 6 $100 Mastercard Prepaid cards, so I went with that. Each card has a $5.95 transaction fee, so I ended up paying $600 for the cards, plus another $35.70 in fees, for a total of $635.70. Due to the 5x bonus, this will give me a total of 3,178 Ultimate Reward points. I value these points at a 2 cent/point minimum, so this is worth at least $60. It will also give me $90 in Staples gift cards. I’ll either keep this for a future Staples purchase, or re-sell to a third-party gift card resale store – at Cardpool.com I can get $71 (for immediate cash) or $75 (by sending the gift card in) for my $90 Staples gift card.
Originally, I assumed I would just use my $600 Mastercard prepaid cards on everyday purchases, but after just reading some advice on DansDeals.com I learned that I can cash out these prepaid cards for free via Amazon Payments. Head over to his site to learn how to do this.
I will end up with… $600 in MasterCard cards (which I will then cash out via Amazon payments) + $71 in cash from Cardpool.com (by reselling the free Staples gift cards I eventually receive), TOTAL = $671
And I spent…. $635.70
So ultimately I am walking away with… profit of $35.30 and 3,178 Ultimate Reward points (valued at $60 minimum)
Not too bad for 10 minutes spent at Staples! If they had more $100 prepaid cards available, I would have purchased more, but oh well.
Some things to note:
- The Staples gift card comes in the form of an easy rebate – these are the best types of rebate as there is nothing you need to mail in. It takes just a few seconds to submit the information online. The Staples gift card will appear in 4-6 weeks.
- After reading DansDeals, I saw that some people were having luck purchasing a $200 MasterCard Prepaid card and getting a $30 rebate per card. This reduces the amount you need to spend on fees (the $200 card is $6.95 for the activation fee)
- If you purchase all MasterCard/Visa Prepaid cards on one transaction, you will receive only one Staples gift card with the total amount ($15 x the amount of prepaid cards). So if you are looking to give out the individual $15 gift cards as stocking stuffers/secretary gifts, purchase then as individual transactions. If you are looking to resell, having the rebate on one card is good as many third-party online resellers require a certain amount to resell (typically $25)
Enjoy!
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Simplest way to use some of those gift cards is just to pay your wireless phone bill online.
Is this for any staples? or are some stores not participating in this deal?
@ddawg – I believe all stores are participating. If NYC is participating, safe bet you are
you are incorrect about all on one receipt… this has been test by multiple people….. $200 yields $30 gc
@anon – Not quite sure what you mean… can you please explain/elaborate. Thanks!
@dealswelike- thanks! any way to check or should i just take a chance and hope it works?
@ddawg – It is in the sunday circular, so you should be good. the store can call customer service to double check for you if it is not in the local store circular or if no sign is up.
@dealswelike- thanks so much for the quick respnoses!
Stalking = stocking. I might have to stop by my local Staples
@Grant – Thanks!
@dealswelike- question- can I do this for another 1000 if Use a different adresss?
@ddawg – As long as you use a different name, different address, and DO NOT link your staples award number to it, then yet you should be able to.
[…] At Staples as well! http://boardingarea.com/dealsw…card-purchase/ […]
Two words: Sam’s gas. Perfect – nobody else considers them a “real” gas station (for category bonuses).
is this $100 purchase needs to be in separate form of receipt every time? or 10x$100 in one receipt should be okay?
@CHRIS – It depends on how you want to receive the staples gift cards. If you want them as individual $15 gift cards then make each purchase separately. If you want them all on one gift cards (for re-sell purposes), then have them on the same transaction/receipt.
Why do you value the ultimate rewards points at 2cents per point ? I must be missing something. Thx
@Sandy – While everyone will put a different value on points, I will not redeem them unless I am getting a minimum of 2 cents per point (and that is a minimum). My goal is to be at 3 cents/point. By transferring to Hyatt, British Airways, or United, you should easily be able to get this value. You can see how I value the various partnership programs here.
Airlines: http://dealswelike.boardingarea.com/2012/03/01/best-redemption-value-for-ultimate-reward-points-air-travel/
Hotels: http://dealswelike.boardingarea.com/2012/02/15/best-redemption-for-chase-ultimate-reward-points-hotel-stays/
Sandy:
Absolute minimum value for UR points is 1.67 cents, since they are good 1:1 transferred for WN fares at 60 per dollar. Laundered through Hyatt or Marriott at a 40% effective discount, they become Companion-Pass- qualifying, perhaps tripling their value (for me). So that is close to 3 cents in my case per UR.
If you can’t use a WN CP, you might value them less.
Enough of this 2 cent minimum nonsense. Actions speak louder than words. Here you valued depositable UA miles less than 1.5 cents!
http://dealswelike.boardingarea.com/2012/09/28/500-worth-of-free-items/
@HikerT – And where exactly did I write that? Don’t see it anywhere! But yup, I would not redeem Chase Ultimate Reward miles for anything less than 2 cents per point at the absolute minimum.
Do you know how long this is running for? I’ve got a Chase Ink card coming that needs minimum spend met. Would love to do it at 5X points for free!
[…] We Like says you can get $15 Staples gift cards for each (of up to 10) Visa/Mastercard prepaid gift cards you […]
I cant figure out how to load them into amazon payments- when i try to add funds it only allows via a checking account- any advice?
Any other ideas of cashing out the VISA/MC gift cards for their full value? Like actual cash or in a place (say Paypal) where I can deposit in my bank account.
Register your Visa/MC gift cards at respective sites, goto amazon payments, send money using the above gift cards(use Credit/Debit card option).
Dan- go to “Your Account” in Amazon Payments “Edit My Account Settings” then to “Add, edit, or delete credit cards”. I had to Google that yesterday!
I just bought $600 worth (3 x $200) VISA gift cards at Staples tonight thinking I would get $90 in Staples gift cards in return. When I submitted the “easy rebate” online just now I was told I was only eligible to receive ONE $15 Staples gift card for that transaction (“Get a $15 Staples gift card on purchase of $100 OR MORE on Visa/MC Gift Cards”). Has anyone gotten confirmation that they would receive more than that with multiple gift card purchases on a single transaction?
@KevinRI – That is just the offer. When you click on the “see status” button it will give you the full $150 amount. It will have a list of all the purchases with the total gift card amount
Where do you see that? It was only one transaction with 3 $200 GCs on the same transaction. This is what I see when I look at the status:
Rebate tracking number: xxx
Rebate Information Submitted
Easy Rebate ID: xxx
Rebate Offer Number(s): 12-28680
Get a $15 Staples Gift Card on Purchase of $100 or more on Visa and Mastercard Gift Cards at Staples Stores Only
Rebate Tracking Number: xxx
Date Submitted: 11/14/12
@KevininRI – You are good, don’t worry. No where does it state you will only be receiving a $15 back rebate. Once it gets submitted through the system, which takes a day or two, you will then be able to click the “Get status” button when you go back to check on your rebate status. Not to worry!
Cee Lee – So we add each card to our list of cards in AP, correct? Then when you send a payment how does it know or how do you tell it to use multiple cards @ $100 each
@dealswelike Thanks for the advice, I checked online and I did see my forthcoming $135 Staples card (not sure how they came up with that math but I won’t complain) for my 3 x $200 gift card purchase.
@Rick from NoVA yes I unloaded 2 of the 3 cards on AP with no issues $200 each payment. Just add each card as a separate new card on your AP account
Rick- Yes, add each one separately as a credit card. I’d imagine there’s somewhere to pick payment source. I haven’t used AP with multiple cards yet so I’m not totally sure. Can someone confirm?
[…] is giving away $15 gift cards for each $100 Visa/MasterCard Prepaid card you buy. As Deals We Like shows, you may be able to make […]
Is this promo still running?
Well, I guess they are fixing the miscalculation:
—–
Dear Valued Staples Customer,
We have identified you as one of the consumers who may have visited the
Staples Easy Rebate site to track your rebate. Upon tracking your
submission, you may have noticed that the value of your rebate might
have calculated incorrectly.
Please know that we are working to correct this issue. When you
receive your Staples gift card in the mail, it will be loaded with
the correct reward value.
We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
As always, thanks for shopping at Staples.
Sincerely,
Staples Rebate Team
Just got the same email. So does that mean if you bought the 3 x $200 cards they’re adjusting the rebate down to $15 instead of $135? That’s what the terms and conditions seem to suggest.
I received the same email about an incorrect rebate calculation. I bought $200 x 2 and my rebate is currently listed as $75. I’d be happy even if I got the correct $60, but if it’s $30 or even $15 I won’t be pleased.
@Cee Lee – Darn! I actually bought a few $200 cards earlier today prior to learning this. Will be interested to see how this plays out.
Great Deals coming out on eBay. Found this one but ends tonight
http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-Applebees-Gift-Card-ONLY-40-/251180736827
Actually according to the thread on Flyertalk, someone contacted a Staples rep and they confirmed that the correct amount should be $15 per $100 worth of gift cards, so 3 x $200 even in one transaction should result in $90 for example.
@KevininRI – That is great news, let’s hope that is how it plays out!
Here’s the offer description:
Get a $15 Staples Gift Card on EACH Purchase of $100 or more of Visa and Mastercard Gift Cards at Staples Stores
$15 on EACH purchase, so 3x $200 will be $90 worth of GC
“Get a $15 Staples Gift Card on EACH Purchase of $100 or more of Visa and Mastercard Gift Cards at Staples Stores”
$15 on EACH purchase, so 3 x $200 = 3 x $15 = $45 NOT $90
I just bought 5x $200 at Staples on Tuesday, filled out the online rebate form, and it says I have $150 rebate coming.
@Matt – that’s good to know. It seems like people are getting $15 per $100 purchased.
[…] When I originally saw this I immediately assumed I’d sell my Staples gift cards I got through this amazing staples/mastercard/visa deal (now over), BUT Plastic Jungle only pays up to 73% of the gift card value, while Cardpool.com will […]