I’m not sure when this happened, but Staples has introduced $200 Visa gift cards to be purchased online.
Let’s play around with some numbers. We’ll look at 5% back cards, specifically the AMEX Simply Cash and the Chase Ink line of cards for the 5x in Office Supplies. Also note that if you have the Chase Ink Visa you would receive an extra 1% cash back from the Savings Edge
Here is the quick breakdown of the return using 5% cash back and 2x for portals as well as the different variations for the cards for cash back play or points play:
As soon as you buy $100 and up gift cards, you will be making money if you do purely cashback. If you are like me and like manufacture spend for points, you could be buying the points for as low as $.0034/point.
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Swagbucks also announced that they give 6 swagbucks per $1 spent. Anybody know if this will count towards gift card purchases? That’s another 6% cash back (6.6% if you want amazon credit).
Nice find on Swagbucks, Doc.
For those that haven’t seen it: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/staples-now-has-200-visa-gift-cards-for-sale-online-massive-free-money-opportunity/
Thanks for pointing out the $200 VGCs! It’s a shame so many people blatantly stole your blog post without giving any credit at all.
figures they do this a week after I buy 12k worth of 100’s…
Eric, how large of an order were you able to make at one time?
I’ve found when there is a widely know discrepancy between cash back and the cost usually it gets shut down or altered quickly. We’ll have to see on this one.
Yup definitely. It could be a first ever % change on Discover. Or Staples might fix the payouts for gift card purchases.
Who do you think this $300 mastercard get $20 back is aimed at? I would argue it’s aimed at people MSing. You know corporate knows that there is a minority of shoppers that spend large amounts on gift cards. We are the shoppers propping up there there sales. It’s about time they reward our community for driving there sales numbers. The day chase does away with 5x miles at office supply is the day OD and staples file for bankruptcy.
These promos are awesome! I don’t go to Walmart and with small denominations ($200 GC’s) so I’ve unloaded them using Evolve to pay my student loans.
I didn’t see any for $200. Only the typical $25, $50, $100. Am I missing something?
Scratch that…found them. You have to click on the Visa “Brand” not the Visa “Gift Card Type” when sorting the gift cards.
Checked shop discover and it says 5% not eligible for gift cards. Is that true?
could you let me know as soon as possible.
It’s not, there’s quite a bit of success using the Discover portal.
Do you think we can order staple VGCs using Amex Gift cards?
Frequent Miler proposed that idea.
http://boardingarea.com/frequentmiler/2014/04/28/best-ways-to-buy-200-visa-gift-cards/
I haven’t tried it out, so I couldn’t tell you
Placed 2 orders on 4/28, one with Amex GC and one with reg card. Both went through, but the Amex GC took an extra day to process.
Thanks for the feedback!
Don’t forget to add a black mini desktop fan for free, on $150 more order & it seems to work even it said not valid for GC but a crappy review USB powered fan.
Nice find!
Can’t find the black mini desktop fan for free in staples products.How do I find it?
Not sure if it’s targeted, expired on 5/3.
http://www.staples.com/Black-Mini-Desktop-Fan/product_116886
Don’t forget an additional 1% saving through VISA saving edge.
Yup, plenty of savings/money making ability to go around
The UR portal is offering 2x points if you buy from staples through it. If you have an Ink card that already offers 5x points, does that mean 7X points if you purchase the gift cards from Staples through the UR portal?
Correct, so for a $200 gift card + $6.95 fee, you would earn 1449 UR points per $200 card purchased.
How much should you spend buying gift cards at staples with your ink? If you buy too much will chase cut you off? What is the number? How much do you spend each month on ink?
Does it matter if all your purchases are for the same amount?
These are all questions that I wouldn’t know how to answer, I’m not a fan of $200 gift cards and do not go to Walmart to unload. In the year of having the card, my spending patterns have always been less than $3000/mo in the 5x categories.
Does anyone know if cashback is still in effect for Discover orders? I read that portals have been asked to sign a new agreement by 5/12 and that once they sign, the new terms are in effect. Do you have any info on Discover? on other portals? I am hoping to place some orders on today Thurs. (5/8) and Friday (5/9)?
Thanks.
I am under the impression that it’s still ongoing, but this does explain why I haven’t seen anything come out of Staples for my most recent order.
Well, maybe it explains that. But who knows?! Thanks!