Starting Sunday, August 5th, Staples will be offering an instant discount of $5 off when you buy $200 in Mastercard gift cards. That should stack with a couple of Current Amex Offers at Staples (for either $5 back on $25+ or 10% back on up to $1K on some business cards). Even without those offers, this can be a good deal if you’re using a card that earns one of the Best Category Bonuses at Office Supply Stores to make for some very cheap points indeed.
The Deal
- Instant discount of $5 off when you buy $200 in Mastercard gift cards at Staples (in-store only) from 8/5/18-8/11/18
- Direct link (on page 10 of next week’s ad)
Key Terms
- Valid 8/5/18 to 8/11/18
- Valid in-store only
- 1 per customer (YMMV as to whether or not your store allows more than 1 transaction)
- Issued by US Bank National Association
Quick Thoughts
These cards are PIN-enabled, though Miles to Memories reports that some people have had trouble using them that way at Walmart. Still, they should work as debit elsewhere.
The activation fee is $6.95, meaning that you’ll pay $201.95 after the instant $5 discount. That’s a good deal since there are a couple of opportunities to pick up cheap points:
- Use an Amex business card with the offer synced for 10% back at Staples. Net cost per $200 card = $181.76. Nothing quite like printing money.
- Use an Amex card with the new $5 back on $25 Staples offer synced. Net cost per $200 card = $196.95. Still, free rewards are…free.
- Use a Chase Ink Cash or Chase Ink Plus (no longer available for new applicants). Pay $201.95 per card and earn 1,010 Ultimate Rewards.
Any of those options are pretty good. Obviously, coming out eighteen bucks ahead before considering rewards is a stellar deal. If you don’t have the Amex Offers, the Chase Ink Cash or Plus angle is still solid. Assuming your liquidation cost is $1 (it may well be less), that’s like paying less than 3/10 of a cent per Ultimate Reward point, which looks like a win to me.
Remember that this doesn’t begin until Sunday, so set a reminder on your phone. In some areas, I expect the $200 Mastercards may sell out early on, so you don’t want to forget to head to the store.
H/T: Miles to Memories
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Worked on multiple MC cards….only $1.95 fee each after the $5 discount. Used Chase business card @ 5X for cost of less than 2 tenths of a cent per point doing MS….
Are there still concerns with fraud regarding the MC GCs?
I wonder if using Amex offers to buy VGC/MGC will get attention from the RATs. So far I have been buying third party gift cards with the 10% back
Does it matter if buying vgc/mcgc or 3rd party? All Amex sees is a GC purchase