BigHabitat
Level 2 Member
Here we go with a solid weekly coupon from Staples.
There is a 20% off coupon good for “regularly priced” in-store merchandise.
It can be found on Staples coupon page.
Here are the exclusions – and they seem to be growing.:
Valid in Staples® U.S. stores only. 20% discount applies to regular priced items only. Cannot be combined with any other discount or other coupon. Limit one coupon per customer, nontransferable. Not valid on desktop or laptop computers, tablets, netbooks, Amazon Kindle®, Apple®, Beats™, Bose®, Canon® ink, Epson® ink and toner, HP ink and toner, JBL®, Roku®, SquareTrade® warranties, Staples® EasyTech(sm), Steelcase®, custom printing orders placed online, gift cards, mobile phones and services, phone cards or postage stamps. Each item purchased can only be discounted by one coupon, applied by cashier in the order received and prior to tax. Coupon not valid if purchased or sold and must be surrendered. No cash/credit back. Not valid on prior purchases or purchases made with Staples® Procurement or Convenience Cards. Expires 4/4/15.
The key here is “regular priced items only”
In the past, the strategy was to look for items on sale… and then use the coupon to get even bigger discounts. Recently, Staples introduced this language. I don’t know if this relies on cashiers to not apply to regular priced items, or if it is actually coded in the system. Do you have any insights? If so post them.
So what products is the 20% coupon good for?
- Networking products (do you dare resell the Netgear Nighthawk? Beware…)
- Hard drives
- Speakers
- Cameras
- Monitors
Let’s go back to the Nighthawks for a sec…In the weekly ad we see an offer…
A $30 prepaid card… plus it is at regular price so the 20% coupon should work… That’s a total of 30% off…
And the smaller Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 has a $20 gift card deal, so 30% as well.
Of course, people thinking about reselling this item should be aware that Netgear wants to fix the price of these items, err. I mean “protect the consumer” against anybody getting a new, unopened, original OEM product from a 3rd party reseller by claiming they are not new. The reason they say they are not new, because Netgear can refuse to honor the warranty if not purchased from an authorized distributor. You see how not honoring their warranty helps protect the customer!
$100 Staples Gift Cards Still $85 on Ebay.
As of 3/29/15 at 4pm, these were still available here. Limit is 3. Also paypal has some other, unpublished limits on gift card purchases that you may hit.. If you do, calling them doesn’t help much.
Try to pay with paypal but switch payment to your Chase Ink card. This wont work if you have a Paypal balance. Of course if you were somehow getting a 5% discount on Paypal cards, that’s ok too.
Ultimate Staples Discount Stack?
- Buy $255 in Ebay gift cards at a Supermarket with your Amex Old Blue Cash card with 4x Kroger Fuel Rewards (5% OBC, plus 1020 fuel points, lets say you get $1 off the max 35 gallons for $35 back – you bring 3 extra 5 gallon cans, or about 14%, for 19% total)
- Go to TopCashBack to get 1.5% back on Ebay (total 20.5%)
- Buy $300 in Staples gift cards for 15% discount (total 35.5%) paying with your Ebay Gift Cards
- Use the Staples 20% off coupon (total 50.5%)
- Get 5% back in Staples rewards…
- Get additional 10% for buying products with a gift card like the Netgear Nighthawks….
Groupon Multiple Account Shutdowns
Public service announcement: I’ve received two reports today of Groupon account shutdowns. And when I mean shutdowns, I mean of multiple accounts. And pending orders/groupon credits in limbo. Of course Groupon is not being forthcoming on what caused the shutdown, just vague “violated terms of service” wording:
Speculation, things that may trigger the shutdown:
- Using an account of a significant other in addition to yourself (although one reader reports using separate addresses)
- Using the same credit card in both accounts (one reader reports they might have done this)
- Ordering the same items with a 5 item limit in multiple accounts
- Using coupons which are usually limited to 3 items in multiple accounts to use them more than 3 times
Continue reading...