Staples have just announced that they are stocking all models of the iPad, this is great news for consumers, especially nearing the Holidays should any of these items be on the wish list of some lucky person. Apple products are notoriously difficult to discount, however the vendor choice, and stacking some of the benefits from that vendor will reduce your total cost of ownership nicely.
The Staples price matches the Apple store price exactly, though they didn’t seem to list every available model, this did seem to have every WiFi Only iPad, including the new 128GB model and with Cellular Data from AT&T (up to 32GB iPad) and Verizon (up to 128GB iPad) I didn’t see Sprint listed.
The Savings
When buying any product, especially a big ticket consumer item like the iPad you can save money, even when it appears the price is fixed by the manufacturer, these are the three areas you can save:
1. Method Of Payment
If you Pay Cash you get nothing back in terms of savings, however if you put the purchase on rebate earning credit card, such as Cash Back, Frequent Flyer points or other then you can claim a saving. The highest rate you can get from a card rebate is 5x per dollar (which if using a points currency can be worth more than 5% cash back) The exciting thing about the iPad being available at Staples is that it would now count as an Office Supply purchase at 5x on the Ink Bold Card from Chase.
2. Vendor Rewards
If you are willing to join the Vendor rewards program at Staples you are immediately eligible for 5% in Staples Rewards, these can be used for most purchases in Staples in the future, notable exclusions being on the purchase of Gift Cards or Stamps, but they can be used for Electronics and other items. Terms and Conditions
3. Online Shopping Portal
Apple does currently offer 5% back from ShopDiscover for owners of the Discover Card (their shopping portal is the best thing about this card). Here is my affiliate link for the Discover it® card. However, if you don’t have this card the best available Online Shopping Bonus for Apple.com is 1% (or 1 mile or point per dollar) should you decide to buy through Staples.com though, that changes considerably, at time of writing you can also gain the 5% Cashback from ShopDiscover, or if you wanted to focus your earnings within the Chase Ultimate Reward family, you can earn a further 3x at Staples.com
4. Reducing your bill at Staples
Staples also has an Ink Recycling Program, where you can recycle up to 40 Cartridges per month – they buy these from you at $2 per cartridge. I currently earn $480 per year in rewards from this (though due to expiration on the rewards I cash them in no longer than every 6 months) check this post: Stocking up for Holiday Gifts by recycling Ink at Staples for a ‘how to guide’ on this.
Impact on savings for your iPad purchase
Example: iPad 32gb Wifi Model MRRP $599
Staples Savings from above:
1. Ink Recycling Discount = $240
Base price reduced to $359 ($599-$240)
2. Method of Payment Ink Bold = 1795 Chase UR Points (5×359)
3. Online Shopping Portal = 1077 Chase UR Points (3×359)
Total Ultimate Rewards Earned = 2,872
4. Staples Rewards Earned = $17.95 (5% of $359)
If you value the Ultimate Rewards at 1 cent each (which is much lower than most valuations) and add up the Savings.
$599-$240-$28.72-$19.75 = Final Cost 310.53, almost a 50% discount, not too shabby eh?
Keep an eye out for extra coupons too, whilst they frequently exclude Apple products there might be some that work out well, such as the 25% in Rewards for any single item. Depending on terms and conditions things like that can sweeten the deal considerably.
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