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!
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I certainly don’t value a $20 Staples gift card at $20.
I understand that is the case for some people which is why I make mention of it specifically in the article. You could always sell the Staples gift card for 87% or $17.40 which would leave you with a $3.50 profit plus the points.
What is your favorite way (website?) to sell gift cards?
Can you buy 2 and use 2 different addresses but with the same Credit card?
Yep, I did this last week when they were running the same deal on VGC. I submitted one rebate for me to my address and one in my husband’s name sent to his mom’s address. The whole rebate can be done online, so it’s pretty easy. Those were for $20 VGC though, not these Staples gift cards which aren’t as great.
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