Staples Mastercard Gift Card Rebate Deal
Staples has another gift card deal coming up next week, but not as good as the one going on now. You can still get a rebate and generate 5X points as well. Let’s take a look!
The Deal
- Get a $20 Staples gift card by mail with your Mastercard gift card purchase of $300 or more.
Key Terms
- Deal valid from 03-19-2017 through 03-25-2017
- In-store only.
- Limit 1 rebate per name/address/household.
The deal can be found on the upcoming week’s ad on the Staples website.
Maximizing the Deal
This deal is best maximized by using a card that earns 5X at office supply stores like the Chase Ink Plus or Chase Ink Cash. You can also use an Amex SimplyCash Plus which earns 5% cashback at office supply stores.
Using the Chase Ink, the optimal strategy is to purchase 2 of the $200 cards which cost $206.95 each. Here is the math:
- Cost: $413.90
- Minus Rebate: $20
- Final Cost: -$6.10
- UR Points Earned: 2,070
You could also purchase a $200 card and a $100 card, but the savings of $1 on fees doesn’t justify the loss of 500 Ultimate Rewards points on the extra $100 in spend.
About the Mastercard Gift Cards
Mastercard gift cards sold by Staples are issued by U.S. Bank and the PIN is in the packaging. You can also reset the PIN by calling the number on the back. These can be used as PIN-enabled debit cards at various grocery stores, etc., but using them at Walmart can be tricky since the POS system recognizes them as credit. To get around that you need to quickly change the payment type on the POS screen, but newer versions of the system make it difficult. If you plan to use them at Walmart, YMMV.
Liquidate the Staples Gift Card
The rebate comes in the form of a Staples store gift card. This can be used to purchase merchandise (but not other gift cards) at Staples. It can also be sold to various gift card resellers for up to 85.5% of face value. ($17.10)
Conclusion
These deals are nice if you have a Staples nearby, but stock tends to run out quickly, so I wouldn’t go far out of my way to get the cards. While this deal won’t make your Ultimate Rewards balance swell too much, it is a way to pickup a chunk of points and a few dollars too.
This one is also inferior to the current deal since the rebate comes in the form of a Staples gift card instead of a Visa card that can be used anywhere.
HT: FatWallet
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any recent report of changing payment method to debit card payment at WM by pressing cancel button immediately after card swipe?
That method doesn’t work anymore at most locations with the new POS equipment.
i hate Staples Easy Rebates dude. maybe i should get back, but man…
The last time that I bought Mastercard Gift Cards was in September or October. Walmart did not work, but the Post Office worked just fine. I am assuming that is still the case, but a lot can change in 6 months.
things change daily and everything is very fragile. as more and more CSR n00bs come to the scene, things get broken very easily. so OV at WM and Meta at USPS is pretty much out of the picture. U.S. Bank and Bancorp only. Even those have been YMMV for some since this one is MC not VC.
Can these cards be bought with an Amex card? I’m trying to meet minimum spend.
Yes, you can use any card. Just makes more sense with Chase Ink cards.
Claudia. based on your question, let me tell you something. do not MS with AMEX. i strongly suggest you do more reading. youre gonna get clawbacks or FR. so like DDG said, use chase INK. its also likely youre below 5/24 then you should be applying for other chase CCs instead.
Great point on clawbacks and FR, forgot to mention that.
Do you know if the Mastercard GCs are Meta or others? Thanks.
Mastercard gift cards sold by Staples are issued by U.S. Bank