Another Staples Moneymaker Deal – But This Time There’s A Catch

Staples American Express Gift Card Deal

Staples has been pretty consistent with running negative cost deals on Visa and Mastercard gift cards for awhile. The biggest issue with these deals is scalability since they are done via Easy Rebate and the limit is one per household.

This coming week they are having yet another deal, however this time it is on the harder to liquidate American Express gift cards. Lets look at the deal, the math and how best to liquidate those cards.

The Deal

From 6/7/2015-6/13/2015 purchase $300 or more in American Express gift cards and receive a $20 Staples gift card via Easy Rebate.

• Limit 1 per household.
• In-store only.

Math & Maximizing

The best way to take advantage of gift card deals at Staples is to use a Chase Ink card that earns 5x Ultimate Rewards points. You could also use an Amex SimplyCash Business card that earns 5% back. My scenario below will assume you use an Ink to pay.

I think the best way to go with these deals is to purchase 2 x $200 cards. The math in this scenario works the same as with previous Visa/Mastercard deals since the cost of the cards is the same.

• Cost of 2 cards: $413.90
• Rebate: $-20
• Total Cost: $393.90
• Total Profit: $6.10
• Ultimate Rewards Points: 2,070

So as you can see, this is a potential $6.10 moneymaker plus you would earn 2,070 points. There is a limit of one per household, however you can always try to recruit friends/family members. You also want to factor in that the rebate is in the form of a Staples gift card instead of a more liquid instrument.

Liquidating These Cards

I want to warn everyone that American Express gift cards are not pin-enabled and thus cannot be loaded to REDbird, Bluebird or Serve. It simply can’t be done. There are ways to liquidate these cards, but the best way is probably to just spend them on normal things.

There is a great guide to Amex gift cards on Frequent Miler that can help fill in the gaps on how to liquidate Amex gift cards.

Conclusion

While I wish this deal was for Visa or Mastercard gift cards, it is still a negative cost way to generate points. With that said, I highly suggest making sure you are comfortable with the liquidation options for Amex gift cards before buying them. Happy Saving!