(EXPIRED) More Easy Rewards: Fee-free Visa Gift Cards at Staples (extended)

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Staples is currently offering fee-free fixed $200 Visa Gift Cards this week but it’s not stopping the Sunday like usual. There will be another, consecutive, Visa gift card sale that will run from Sunday, November 17th through Saturday, November 23rd, 2024. The limit is again nine per customer per day (although some stores may allow more).

Different stores appear to have different policies regarding the variable-load cards that some Staples now sell. Some folks report that fees are waived when they purchase them…others find that they aren’t. Your mileage may vary.

a close up of a credit card

The Deal

  • Staples will waive the $7.95 activation fee when you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card between 11/10/324 – 11/16/24.
  • Direct link to weekly ad (see the 11/10 ad page 9)
  • Staples will again waive the $7.95 activation fee when you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card between 11/17/324 – 11/23/24.
  • Direct link to weekly ad (see the 11/17 ad page 9)

Key Terms

  • Offer valid November 10 – November 23, 2024.
  • Limit 9 per customer per day (YMMV on whether your cashier / store allows or enforces the limit)
  • In-store only

Quick Notes

These deals can be great way of getting rewards through spending at office supply stores. If you can buy 8 at a time, that’s a potential of $1,600 that’s possible each day. Note that some stores may allow you to purchase more than 8, and we also hear occasional reports that some managers will only sell a smaller amount despite what the ad says.

See our Current Visa and Mastercard Gift Card deals page for other currently-available deals.

Other times this deal has run recently at Staples:

Fee-free Visa Gift Card Sales

  • 10/13/24 -10/19/24
  • 9/15/24 – 9/21/24
  • 8/18/24 – 8/24/24
  • 7/21/24 – 7/27/24
  • 6/23/24 – 6/29/24
  • 5/26/24 – 6/1/24
  • 4/28/24 – 5/4/24
  • 3/31/24 – 4/6/24
  • 3/3/24 – 3/9/24
  • 2/4/24 – 2/10/24
  • 1/7/24 – 1/13/24
  • 12/10/23 – 12/16/23
  • 11/12/23 – 11/18/23
  • 10/15/23 – 10/21/23
  • 9/17/23 – 9/23/23
  • 8/20/23 – 8/26/23
  • 7/23/23 – 7/29/23
  • 6/25/23 – 7/1/23
  • 5/28/23-6/3/23
  • 4/30/23 – 5/6/23
  • 4/2/23 – 4/8/23
  • 3/5/23 – 3/11/23
  • 2/5/23 – 2/11/23
  • 1/8/23 – 1/14/23
  • 12/25/22 – 12/31/22 (only on $100 cards)
  • 12/11/22 – 12/17/22
  • 11/6/22 to 11/12/22
  • 10/9/22 to 10/22/22
  • September 25-October 1, 2022
  • September 4-September 10, 2022
  • August 7-13, 2022
  • July 10-16, 2022
  • June 12-18, 2022
  • May 8-14, 2022
  • February 27-March 5, 2022
  • January 16-22, 2022
  • December 12-18, 2021
  • October 31-November 13, 2021
  • October 17-23, 2021
  • September 26-October 2, 2021
  • September 5-11, 2021
  • August 8-14, 2021
  • July 11-17, 2021
  • June 13-19, 2021
  • May 9-15, 2021
  • February 28-March 6, 2021
  • January 17-23, 2021
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Al Saito

Purchased four Visa Gift Cards last month: went to register the first card right away in the Staples parking lot but got an error message. I was able to use it for $50 in purchases before it was declined for the 3rd purchase. Called the number on the back of the card and the friendly customer service representative said that the card is registered to someone else! I inspected the packaging and it didn’t look like it was tampered prior to my purchase. I told the customer service rep that I just purchased the gift card from Staples an hour ago (I had to spell “Staples” for her??) and she said they locked the card, will investigate and will get back to me. A day later, I had received an email requesting a copy of the gift card and purchase receipt, which I sent right away. It’s been a month now and still no response. I’ve purchased over 50 Visa gift cards before without any issue but after this incident, it has me rethinking whether the risk of losing $$ is worth the points. By the way, the other 3 cards were OK. Buyer beware.

wjsecond

Went through the same experience in August. Someone used the Visa GC # for video games through Google. It took about 10 weeks to get all my money refunded.

Jody

sorry for newbie question…. i can use these anywhere? I heard the prepaid mastercard were a pain to redeem, and this isn’t the same? My plan was to purchase something w/my amex to help hit MS, and there is something pricey I wanted to buy on eBay and they don’t accept amex (even when it’s put through as apple pay or venmo!) so could this be a good workaround? Can I pay on ebay with multiple cards of 200 each though? Purchase I want is 1500.

Paul

Your best option is to buy ebay gift cards with these prepaid visa cars. Ebay only lets you to split payment via ebay gift cards. Have never been able to use multiple credit cards for the same order.

CJH

2 week promo? There will not be enough inventory as in $200 Visa GC left at the end of the week. The GC vendor better restock this weekend. I was at Staples at Noon on Sunday and my store has very little on the rack. There may be more cards in the back room.

Katie

Anyone have any thoughts on whether OfficeMax will still have their promo next week? Usually they alternate, but this two-week promo throws off the schedule!

CJH

Yes – a good question. We may not know until next Sunday.

Igor

Same question here.

Katie

Update: my Office Depot says no promo this week ☹️

CJH

Same thing here, no promo. I went to two different Office Depot’s.

CJH

and I see on Doctor of Credit there is a Mastercard sale at OD.

Frank

Gone before my nearest store even opens !!
I guess they keep them for their friends.

CJH

Ask if there are cards in the back room. Or inside the card rack.

Frank

Not in my area. Both nearest stores are a problem. I have been there 10 minutes before opening the store and they have “sold out”. I can wait until I go farther afield.

Katie

The rep at my staples also said they were sold out…they were sitting on the rack directly in front of him.

Harry

How does anyone buy any of these? I have never been able to see it in stock even on the first day of this promotion, every time. I almost feel like chasing after the treasure at the end of a rainbow.

Last edited 1 month ago by Harry
Harry Shin

Hi Tim, I am also in PNW. Would you be able to share your local stores?

Ben

Neither had any visas this time..

Jay

Any DP or luck for Barclays SUB?

Alex

Two stores by me said they sold out immediately on Sunday

Rich

I know not to buy these via Amex while working on the SUB, but once the SUB is hit is there a risk to your points or accounts with Amex? Btw I have the business gold. Thanks!

Miles Ahead

Not that’s been reported, but why purchase this on Amex Gold instead of using your AG to purchase the same at grocery store where you earn 4x instead of 1x MR???

Rich

Thanks! My thought was this will count as a 4x spending category if it is one of my top two categories because this is an office supply store and I have the business gold. The purchased cards will have no fees as well. If I purchase from a grocery store with the personal Amex Gold I will get 4x but all the cards will have fees.

Maybe I need to double check that office supply stores are part of the bonus categories for the business gold… But I thought they were .

Sean

No luck on putting $200 on a variable up to $500. Store was out of $200, at least I got a nice walk to the store in.

Miles Ahead

A known issue, that’s been reported on here before, $200 only cards.

Sean

The second paragraph said some people had success. There was a guy who walked in while I was checking out and went straight to the gift card rack and spun it like I did. He hovered in line as I tried and then walked out about when I did. So I wasn’t the only one disappointed.

Kristin

Where can you use these cards? Could I use them to make my car payment? I just got an Ink Cash and want to maximize my sub points.

ECR12

I’ve never tried car payment but interested if anyone has made this work before?

Madison

I use them for NiCor Gas and ComEd over the phone,

mike wood

Since not every merchant accepts Amex, if I buy a Visa GC from Staples I can theoretically use it at merchants that don’t accept Amex. One problem I have though, is that the Visa Debit GC sold by Staples has a three digit pin. Many merchants want you to enter a four digit pin. I’ve tried adding a zero at the front or just hitting ENTER without putting in a pin but the card doesn’t get accepted. The one place that these cards consistently work at is Costco. I would love to find a way to get these GCs to work at places that want a four digit pin.

ABC

The default 4 digit PIN is the last 4 numbers of the VGC. Of course you can reset the PIN by calling the phone number on the back of the card. Are you confusing the 3 digit CVV on the back of the card with the PIN? Also if you’re just buying stuff with the card, why not just use the card for credit instead of debit?

mike wood

Thanks! I will try the last four digits. As far as using it for credit, I think the card stated to only use it as Debit. But I will double check that.

ABC

FYI you can use it either as credit or debit. I’ve used it both ways.

CJH

3 digit pin? I believe you are confusing the card security code with a pin. below reply from ABC answers your question.

Ross Bradley

And does this include Office Depot or only Staples? Sorry for the noon question. First timer here. Thanks!

Ross Bradley

My wife just got the Chase Ink Cash a few weeks ago so we will definitely look to take advantage. What are the easiest use cases of these Visa cards? Would be great to hear the easiest user-friendly / no-brainer ways to use these cards. Thanks in advance!

Brandon Fletcher

Amazon-preload them as gift cards. Some Utility bills, grocery stores, medical bills, etc.. Or use them to buy a gas station gift card so you can use them to pay for gas like at Casey’s.

Last edited 3 months ago by Brandon Fletcher
Ryan James

I had to call the support number to register my cards — the usual website hasn’t been working for me (www.giftcardmall.com/mygift). Is anyone else having this issue?

Kawa

it works, but i can only check balance on 1 card, then site get blocked and won’t let me check balance for any other card for 24 hrs. pretty annoying. only can ck balance by calling.

Brandon Fletcher

I never register my cards, just use them.

Scott W

I have had this issue for a few weeks now. I can enter all the card info correctly to get to the captcha page, and when I complete that correctly, it tries to go to the next page (either check balance or register) but then just automatically kicks me back to the main screen.

I’ve tried chrome and edge on my PC, as well as safari on my cell phone (both using wifi and cell service), as well as trying incognito modes. Nothing has worked. Someone please let us know if you have a solution or if it gets fixed! 🙂