Online Office Supply (Not Staples)

NotYouTu

Level 2 Member
So... being overseas with the US Army I run into problems ordering online all the time. The worst is some stores, such as Target and Staples, block all non-US IPs so I can't even have things delivered to family for reshipping.

So... wondering what options are there for Office Supply stores (yes, Ink) online that I can use. We actually do have a legit business (wife is freelance teacher). Which means we actually go through a lot of office supplies (paper and ink mostly), so looking to actually purchase things for business use. If they happen to offer OVC as well... that's just a bonus.

I believe officedepot will work, but haven't checked to see if they ship to APO, but what other options are there?
 

ed1chandler

Level 2 Member
Just get yourself a VPN account so you can tunnel via a U.S. IP. Problem solved. I use PrivateInternetAccess.com but I just saw that TunnelBear has a Chrome extension now.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
I could, but in general (unless I have NO other option) I will not go out of my way to do business with a company that specifically chooses to not ship to overseas military.
I understand your annoyance. But really, they are not trying to block military. They're trying to block overseas scammers, of the sort that prey on craigslist sellers, etc.
 

NotYouTu

Level 2 Member
I understand your annoyance. But really, they are not trying to block military. They're trying to block overseas scammers, of the sort that prey on craigslist sellers, etc.
And you do that by not allowing APO addresses? Blocking by IP doesn't really do anything, as mentioned above a vpn (or tor) is easy to setup. All you've done is block legitimate customers that happen to be overseas at the time of purchase.
 

Someone

Level 2 Member
And you do that by not allowing APO addresses? Blocking by IP doesn't really do anything, as mentioned above a vpn (or tor) is easy to setup. All you've done is block legitimate customers that happen to be overseas at the time of purchase.
They're blocking by IP address to prevent a ton of attacks that tend to come from overseas networks. Tunneling attacks through VPNs and TOR is possible, but very slow. Most major ecommerce sites are blocking places they don't serve, especially much of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Doing it this way they know they also block some legit customers, that's probably why they aren't blocking vpn services.

If you're overseas military, maybe you could place your orders from computers with US govt IP addresses instead of from home (preuming that's allowed). If not, you need a vpn.
 

NotYouTu

Level 2 Member
I'm sorry, but that's a load of bullshit. There are plenty of sites FAR bigger than Staples that don't pull this crap. For example Newegg does not ship internationally (with a couple exceptions, but only if you are on that countries version of Newegg) but they do not block overseas IPs. Newegg also offers shipping to APO addresses, which Staples does not.

Companies, such as Staples, have made a conscious decision to ignore overseas military members, as well as any Americans living or travelling overseas. What ever crap excuse you want to buy about why they block it is nothing but garbage, as a working, educated, certified, and experienced expert in IT security I can attest to the fact that blocking by IP does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING against attacks.

Attacks, such as a denial of service, requires a large number of launch points but is not affected by the minimal slow down of a VPN or Tor. Both services are fully capable of streaming video, far beyond that required by simple HTML requests needed to launch a DDOS. Other attack vectors only look for the anonymity provided by such services, speed is not a major concern. And even if it could, such organizations normally control, or purchase, a large network of zombie systems to utilize in their actions. Such networks include more than enough US based systems to handle anything they may wish to accomplish through such systems.

At best, it can be considered an uneducated and misguided attempt at IT security, nothing more.

Back to the topic at hand, what sites are available that code on Visa as office supply stores for use as a method of purchasing at 5x on the Chase Ink card?
 

DL172

Level 2 Member
Its less to do with attacks and more to do with the thousands of "carders", search up "carding". There are all these kids in Eastern European countries that love to purchase stolen credit card numbers and resell items in the U.S. As someone who has dealt with fraud before, I can attest that blocking overseas IPs does work!

Yes, the vast majority of them don't even know how to use a VPN. Very few of us overseas folks would have "products" shipped from staples... It wouldn't make sense to do timing and shipping costs.

I don't see anywhere you can point fingers and make accusations that staples is making "a conscious decision to ignore overseas military members".

I do want to help you, so here is my advice:

If you are unable to go with any of the major companies, My recommendation for you is perhaps find a store that ships and match their "Industry/MCC" to Office Supplies using this handy website:

https://www.visa.com/supplierlocator/search/index.jsp
 

Someone

Level 2 Member
I'm sorry, but that's a load of bullshit.
Easy killer. This isn't FT (or more appropriately Slashdot, or 4chan, or IRC), you are not anonymous and we are not legion.

What ever crap excuse you want to buy about why they block it is nothing but garbage, as a working, educated, certified, and experienced expert in IT security I can attest to the fact that blocking by IP does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING against attacks.
I'll be nice and just say that in my experience blocking huge swaths of public IP address space at the edge is tremendously helpful. I suppose you are entitled to your opinion, and your frustration with Staples is completely understandable. Many of us stateside get Staples orders cancelled as duplicates, for using too many coupons, or ultimately wind up unfairly denied rebates.

Back to the topic at hand, what sites are available that code on Visa as office supply stores for use as a method of purchasing at 5x on the Chase Ink card?
I "liked" DL172's post because his advice is spot on. Exploring with the supplier locator is one of the best ways to find your own deals (also in my experience). Since you're primarily looking for websites, another starting point might be to check out the office supplies category on a few savings portals.

Let us know what you find.
 

MickiSue

Level 2 Member
I'm not sure that you are looking for answers, so much as looking to vent. If that's so...go for it. But venting won't find you much help, as even helpful people are turned off by anger.

My DD lives in a foreign country, and deals with the lack of access to many things US by having them shipped to my house (occasionally, I'll order, as well, with her CC). Then, she either gets them when they visit, or we bring them when we visit. SHE leaves here with at least one more piece of luggage than she arrived. WE leave there with our luggage weighing half as much!
 

quasi8

Level 2 Member
That visa site is very useful thanks for that info, as far as getting to the US office sites I recommend using dot vpn extension for chrome it lets you pick your country on demand.
 
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