(EXPIRED) Easy 5x: Fee-free Visa Gift Cards at Staples

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On the heels of this week’s fee-free Mastercard gift cards, Staples is again offering fee-free $200 Visa Gift Cards through Saturday, September 23rd, 2023. Note that the limit is once again eight per customer per day (although many stores allow more).

The Deal

  • Staples will waive the $7.95 activation fee when you buy a $200 Visa Gift Card between 9/17/23 – 9/23/23.
  • Direct link to weekly ad (see the 9/17 ad page 2)

Key Terms

  • Offer valid September 17 – September 23, 2023.
  • Limit 8 per customer per day (YMMV on whether your cashier / store allows or enforces the limit)
  • In-store only

Quick Thoughts

This can be an easy points-generator for Ink Cash or Ink Plus cardholders (note that the Ink Plus is no longer available to new applicants). Some other cards also bonus office supply store purchases (See our Best Category Bonuses page for more options).

In my case, my wife has an Ink Cash card and I have the old no-longer-available Ink Plus card (both cards earn 5x at office supply stores), so if we were going to a store, we could each pick up 8 fee-free $200 gift cards per store per day, earning 16K total Ultimate Rewards points in the process ($3200 in gift cards x 5 = 16,000 points). That would certainly make this an attractive enough deal if we were to pass a store during this promotion.

Overall, this is an easy way to generate some points without cost on this end of the deal if you’re going to Staples. Remember that this does not start until Sunday and it is in-store only.

We have added this deal to our list of current Visa and Mastercard gift card deals.

Other times this deal has run recently at Staples:

Fee-free Visa Gift Cards

  • 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
  • December 27, 2020-January 2, 2021
  • December 6-12, 2020
  • November 1-14, 2020
  • October 11-24, 2020
  • August 30-September 5, 2020
  • August 2-8, 2020
  • July 5-11, 2020
  • June 7-13, 2020
  • February 23-29, 2020
  • January 12-18, 2020
  • December 15-21, 2019
  • November 3-16, 2020
  • September 29-October 5, 2019
  • September 1-7, 2019
  • August 4-10, 2019
  • June 30-July 6, 2019
  • May 5-11, 2019
  • January 13-19, 2019
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CJH

I bot 8 cards on Sunday. My Staples enforces the 8 card limit per day, even with 2 cards. And even with a second person because of the same last name.

Dave

Can you use these VISA GCs as debit on paypal bill pay?

kukuki

try and you will c, …. the answer is yes

Ike s

What’s the best way to use these gift cards ? Can I load to Venmo ? I am trying to register these cards so I can add a zip code but I keep getting an error message. Any help would be appreciated.

kukuki

most register fine, but some do not, no particular pattern i know of, MC register better than VISA for me, for paypal registered cards are easier to add as funding source, otherwise it doesn’t really matter, everyday spend, paying bills,

Miguel Gomez

Does anyone know if Staples gift cards are compatible with the current 12 month 0% intro APR on the Ink Biz Cash?

Also, has anyone else had trouble finding a store that actually has fee-free Visa gift cards in stock? All my local stores seem to be out (hence, I can’t take advantage of the fee-free in-store only promo).

Thanks!

mushu_pork

That’s weird, I did 8 per card (two inks) yesterday and didn’t have any problem.

Vlad Krush

Can someone explain were I can transfer these cards to MO because WM won’t accept these cards anymore and neither will Kroger

Michael Lax

Ad says limit of 5 cards per day per customer, rather than 8.

CJH

my store’s ad says 8.

Rich

Can u guys post this on. Your social media handles. I keep missing it.

anna

card registration in not work on the web site
I tried google chrome, microsoft edge and Safari

Jennifer

I had an issue with the website accepting my email address. It turns out that it does not like capital letters in email addresses. Once I changed it to all lowercase, the registration went through.

Joe R

Anyone else have problems buying these? My local Staples had both 6.95 and 7.95 and neither worked on the auto fee removal at checkout. At first I thought it was because I unknowingly grabbed the 6.95 (while the flyer deal stipulates the others) but they didn’t work either

Kylie

So annoying my two local stores weren’t stocked. They only had the newer variable load $25-500 VGC, which unfortunately doesn’t qualify for the sale! WTF?!

CJH

ask if the cards are being held in the secure area.

only1way2win

same here i went multiple store in northern virginia, they are always out!

LizaBelle

They had plenty of the MC cards at the Leesburg store this week.

Not worth it

when I went for these a couple months ago, I had to go to three different stores, all of them didn’t have them, last one didn’t know they had them cos they were still in wrapper on a shelf by the area.
I’m not much into churning and going by this experience and the shutdowns into liquidations method I hardly think it’s worth it.

Frank

Tim, I believe the fee is now $7.95.
Of course it makes no difference if it’s waived.

Gabriel

Is it just me, or are more and more stores not stocking $200 VGCs anymore? Kinda sucks. Denver area.

RWR

Sales clerk at my #2 store called manager to ask if limit is per household or person. Manager OK’d 9 cards each for P1 and P2. Then told us the store is “one of the stores” told to remove the Visa cards, proceeded to take all the Visas off the shelf and said the store wouldn’t have them any more. Don’t know why.

CJH

And I saw $200-$500 variable load Visa GV at my Staples. A reason to go back next week.

CJH

Should say Visa GC.

Johnny

Variable loads vgc are not fee free. Tried today,, didn’t work.

CJH

Yes, you are correct. I bot eight $200 Visa GC. Next week I will purchase the variable Visa GC. First time at Staples that i have seen the $200-$500 variable Visa GC in many years.

nate nate

Has anyone tried using these $200 GCs to add funds to an online Sportsbook (Fanduel, BetMGM, etc). I’m guessing it will be blocked like Venmo, but not sure.

Frank

No, but at my local gas station I heard the clerk say you could buy lotto tickets with these.

Better than Buying Clubs, Greg??

🙂

Allan

The stores in the Chicagoland area are completely out of stock of the $200 Visa cards on the first day of sale on Sunday. In reviewing the previous week sales of the MC gift cards they were out of stock on those as well and did not refill the shelf after the sale on Sunday. Spoke with one of the store staff members who seem overly honest. The statement given to me was that they have not received any stock on the $200Visa gift cards before the sale. Something does not see to be right.

Slaven

Keep calling them, they restock. Any ideas on how to liquidate them in Chicago area, non organic spend?

Michael Scott

My local Staples sold on in 3 1/2 hours. 🙁

Travis Kelly

Just went in and got another 8 cards. Be careful folks they checked my ID when I tried to use P4’s card. Glad our names match

Mary Jane

I wonder if anything is up. Went today and they said they didn’t get a delivery this week. Asked them to call another store and that store said someone bought some and then tampered with the rest.mmmmmm

Brandon8100

So frustrating…1pm on first day of sale and they’re still sold out.

Ritesh

Which credit card is the safest to buy this with?
I have
Chase sapphhire preffered
Freedom unlimited
Explorer plus
Amex Gold
Bilt

Brandon8100

This probably isn’t worthwhile unless you have the Ink Cash or are working towards a welcome bonus.

I’d say of the ones you listed use the Freedom for 1.5x.

Travis Kelly

Don’t for whatever you do use the Amex Gold card. Amex pulled the trigger and froze my account when I put $1.2k on gift cards at staples. Use any Chase card.

Brandon8100

Out of curiosity, were you working towards a welcome bonus at the time? I didn’t think AmEx had a problem with gift cards outside of that situation.

Alice

Quick question for the community: Is it possible to buy and use visa gift cards online without ever having to receive anything by mail? I am currently abroad (unable to receive mail) but would like to buy gift cards to pay for tuition, while getting the office supply store multiplier. Thanks!

Kaza

You have to go to a Staples to buy these in-person.

Jason

First time for me, store seemed very relaxed about it, even joked about how often they see the Chase Ink card. Not a ton of cards on the shelf though.

don

for some reason, my local store restricted me to 5 this time. never had a problem buying 8 before.

Flip

Sadly, I don’t even bother with these promos. Long are the days of grinding liquidation of $200 GCs. I got worn out and just stuck to vendor GC purchases (eg Whole Foods, Amazon, etc). Still looking for a better liquidation option especially given I have 3 CICs. Anyone else feel the same?

Saul

are you not able to use these GCs to reload your Amazon GC balance? that is usually what I do with the GCs I get for contacts rebates etc.

Flip

I mean I can do that I suppose but it would be such low volume. Doesn’t move the meter for me but thanks for suggesting it!

Frank

Ouch, just missed this post which came while I was in the Staples store buying a bunch of Mastercards, same deal. I much prefer the VISAs because they are nicer looking and easier to read. But, of course I can go again tomorrow … 🙂

Frank

I meant Sunday.

Tim T

Mastercard > visa for me.

Frank

Why is that, Tim?

Nigeep

Tried to purchase repeatedly, no luck, every card available other that the denomination thats on “special”. Staff sez they NEVER have the advertised deal for that “special”

Zach

What’s the best [no fee?] way to transfer the Visa Gift Card cash to your checking account? Ty

CJH

My Staples store keeps the $200 Visa GC in the back room, with keypad access.
I have to ask at the counter. I bot 8, but it appears that I could have purchased more.

Frank

If you can find them. Went yesterday – rack full of them and no mastercards. today and the rack was full of mastercards and no visas….

Harry

somehow visa gift card website has been down for long time. does anyone have same issue?

Mike Chicago

Yes I’ve seen that too. Also giftcardkey site is down for activating cards bought online from staples/quill. Calling in worked for activation. I guess Pathward/Blackhawk is so busy blocking legitimate use of their cards that they don’t have time to fix the website.

Last edited 6 months ago by Mike Chicago
Kawa Lau

Their website sucks. Always have issues.

[…] Cards at Staples: Next week, March 5-11, Staples is waiving the fees on $200 Visa gift cards. See this post on Frequent Miler. I have purchased these cards in the past to pay off cruises while earning 5X points with my Chase […]

Frank

Just ran into problems at Amazon, using these (and the MC alternative) to buy anything or load my Amazon balance. Last time it worked was Feb 2. Amazon says they have not changed anything but that is nonsense – I have been doing this for years – for over 10 years.

And just today I find that Amazon is rejecting my Simon Mall GC too.

I used to clear out small balances and even load $200 to my balance – done this for years and years.

Amazon says nothing has changed, but of course it has. I have had no trouble anywhere else (except Points.com who this week rejected my Wyndham purchase).

Trader Joe’s works but you have to say it’s a Credit card and it also will just drain the balance and ask for a different card if more is needed, same as Costco. Other stores mostly want you to say it is a debit card.

Frank

Figured it out at last. You have to register !!! your card online first with your (or anyone’s) name, address, etc. then you can use it like any other debit card at Amazon.

Terrible, as this would take so much extra time to clear balances on these GCs. Trader Joe’s, here we come!

satellite

FYI, Chase Freedom is 5x at grocery stores in this quarter, it’s an easier way to earn 5x till April.

chopsticks

Anyone else have a problem turning these into a money order at an Albertsons-brand store? I previously turned some Staples Visas at an Acme store in Philly, but now they come up as “not authorized.” This seems to happen sometimes at supermarkets, and it can be unpredictable which debit cards will or will not work.

Stevenson

visa hasnt been working for months. breaking news is that now mastercards wont even work.

Sanja

I understand MS and all that, but I actually use them to pay for anything that is not 5pts or if not using a specific cc for a reason. So, gas, groceries, shoes and clothing, books, ebay and Amazon, anything not on a bonus category anywhere else. $50 dinner on SPP = 150pt. $50 dinner paid with a Visa from Staples = 250pts. And I always register the cards. This way you can trace what goes where just like with CCs.

Paul5795

Not sure why you would use them at Amazon. Amazon gift cards are available all the time at my local Staples and Office Depot so I can get 5x points on those anytime with my Chase Ink. And its also a lot easier to load an Amazon GC on Amazon.com than to constantly change credit card numbers on your amazon.com account.

Frank

Well, let’s say you get an Ink card with big bonus and don’t have an easy way to spend $6K quickly? But these and get 5x and then liquidate them at places where you can only get 1x.

Frank

When did you last try Amazon? I have not been able to since Feb 2. Just stopped working this week.

Sanja

No Staples in my area has them. Didn’t have them at the last sale either. One store says they haven’t seen them in for a long time, another store said someone scoops them all up when they come.

Raj

Same issue. $200 cards are not found in store, only $25/$100. Any suggestion ?

Frank

Can you buy visa gift cards with staples gift cards?

Barry

No.

Frank

I am having trouble using these cards on Amazon.com – anyone else experienced this?

Frank

Fixed – a minor adjustment is needed – just a little more work.

Adam Kirby

Did it require registration or something else

Frank

You had to use the name on the card exactly as it is printed, like “A GIFT FOR YOU” – however this seems to not work anymore this week. I wrote to Jeff Bezos but no reply yet.

Frank

Can one use these immediately in a store or do they need to be registered or activated (besides what Staples does when you pay) beforehand? It’s been years since I bought these.

Randy B

Do these usually get picked clean on Sunday where y’all are? Debating going by to help meet some minimum spend but its a ~20 minute drive.

Pam

Nope! Am guessing very location-dependent but I regularly get these later in the week, though I wouldn’t wait til Sat. Just picked 5 up today

Barry

They’re usually gone by Tuesday night or Wednesday morning where I live, but I’m probably personally responsible for buying 20-30% of the cards on the display.

Buzz

I’ve got a current promo on my Ink Cash for 5000 bonus points for every 5000 spend (up to 3 times). I grabbed 8 cards this afternoon at the Staples down the street from me.

Daniel

Thanks Nick – it’s tempting to load up on these…what’s a reasonable number/range to get without raising any flags with Chase?

Dave_Rohan

Will Capital One be okay with this? I’m trying to hit the SUB bonus on my Venture X card.

Thanks.

DudeM

Is it possible to liquidate by adding multiple gift cards to my Venmo account, and using the standard transfer option to move the money from my Venmo account to my bank account? Just plan on doing this in order to meet MSR for the CIC SUB.

Tim

No, Venmo won’t accept GCs.

Jay

What is CIC SUB?

DudeM

Chase Ink Cash Sign Up Bonus

Christopher

I think that’s a typo Re the $3600 and should be $3200

A guy named Mike

Does Chase have issues with pumping a few of these through during an MSR period? I will be able to hit the MSR on my Ink Cash either way.

Nick Reyes

No.

Ted

Does AMEX frown on this. Just trying to hit a SUB and we shop at Costco a lot. Obviously I’d buy something else along with gc so it wasn’t too obvious, or maybe it doesn’t matter?

Nick Reyes

You’ll probably be fine with a GC or two. I probably wouldn’t go and buy $1600 worth if I could meet the minimum spend differently, but a couple is likely to fly under the radar.

LSP

Can anyone confirm if the default PIN on these cards (Visa) is the last 4 digits of the card #? I tried that at a Costco gas pump last night and it got declined. Thanks!

James Sheskier

Did you activate the card?…you can do so at the website on the back of the card and set the pin yourself. Not sure if there is a default pin number

Last edited 9 months ago by James Sheskier
CJH

i always reset the pin# via the website listed on the back of the car.

Nick Reyes

Yes, it’s last 4.

JeffLA

Yes last for, but you have to go inside and turn it into a Shop Card (gift card).

YK2100

Checking my balance account on mC $200 gift card I noticed that the balance was $0. When I added all charges, the sum was $195! I am writing to Black Hawk customer service. Ded anybody else had this experience?

Nick Reyes

Sorry that happened to you! That stinks. This week is a Visa Gift Card Deal. Our post about the Mastercards (which is what gets posted when those are on sale) notes that the Mastercards are more susceptible to fraud and best practice is to use them right away. I think some people have been able to file a fraud claim with Blackhawk, but I understand that the process is long and slow.

YK2100

One more thing. When I checked my Chase Ink+ statement I saw that I did not receive 5 points/$1 for the purchase from Office Depot. The charge showed as BHN Gift Cards.

Nick Reyes

Yes, buying online from OD routes the sale through GCM / Blackhawk. It’s always been that way – no 5x buying GCs from ODs website. You do get 5x on Staples website. However, the deal in this post is in store only.

Mr. Seg

I am a newbie and just got a chase ink. Anyone from NYC could tell me how you liquidate these cards?

Jimm

Reading the other comments is a good place to start…

Mr. Seg

I tried, but also haven’t found that much as people seem to keep this info for themselves… I would appreciate any help! So far I found Walmart (not in NYC), Western Union, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. Do you have any experience with those stores in NYC?

Nick Reyes

It’s highly likely you’re not going to be able to liquidate them in New York City, and anyone who has found a method in the city is unlikely to share it publicly. Your best course of action is to buy a single card and look around for ways to liquidate it or plan to take a road trip out of the city every now and then.

Mr. Seg

Thanks for the info, Nick. Sad it’s very unlikely, but I’ll give it a try with one gift card and see how it goes

teo

I do have. Was able to liquidate over 100k already.But the problem is once I share it. The bank gonna find out and shut down that way 🙂

Mr. Seg

Thank you for letting me know teo. Are you willing to share it privately and not here?

Mr. Seg

Hey Teo just wanted to check if your method is still valid

Bmo

Thanks for the great content. I went to the staples closest to my house and they told me that they had to send their $200 visa gift cards back because of an error and all staples stores did the same thing. Anyone else have data points for this most recent sale? I haven’t had luck yet.

Johnny

Huh? My staples was fully stocked with vgc today and i bought my 10 as usual. Routine.

James Sheskier

I cannot find them anywhere…all stores near me are empty

Bmo

Same. I think the store itself has a bad batch but they usually are gone the first day of the sales.

CJH

My staples stores was also empty, but i asked the clerk and she went to an office behind the counter and came back with the 8 card limit.

James Sheskier

I’m curious if the offer rain checks… Going back today to see

CJH

regarding rain checks, I would think not, as the discount should be hard-coded into the register.

Nick Reyes

I haven’t heard of anybody offering a rain check on anything since I was a little kid (and even then I remember it more often as an advertising ploy, as in “Sorry, no rain checks” rather than as in “we offer rain checks”). Do those still exist?

As CJH says, there’s no mechanism for them to do that since these sales are hard-coded into the register. It’s not uncommon for stores in popular areas to either sell out or not bother putting them back on the rack (I was at a store in a different area recently that didn’t have any out and I asked and they opened up the rack and had VGCs inside it).

Ben

Go there before the sale starts and stash some cards in the store somewhere then when the sale starts each day you can go get what you need from your hidden stash!

James

This is brilliant

Kristina

Hey so I clicked on the link and it says the sale ENDS on Sunday, Dec 11… it doesn’t start the 11th… fyi….

Nick Reyes

No Staples sale ever ends on a Sunday. They always start on Sunday and end on Saturday.

If you’re looking at the 12/4 ad, then you’re seeing the MasterCards that have been on sale from 12/4-12/10. See the note next to the link that says “see the 12/11 ad page 10”. The Visa cards (which is what this post is about) after there on page 10 on the 12/11-12/17 ad.

Jeff

The only Staples in Austin closed recently. I’m in mourning for all the points I could have collected.

CJH

I just left the Staples at the RIM in San Antonio. There were approx. 8 Visa GCs left, on the rack on the cashier side. Plenty of restaurants to choose from at the RIM.

Jen

I am brand new to all of this. My only Staples said they don’t have any 200 Visa GC because someone bought them all, and they seldom carry them? My question is this – can you take a 200 V GC off a rack at some other store, carry it into Staples, and activate it there? Since they are empty on the racks?

Bexho

OD/OM has $15 off $300 MC purchases this week (11/6-11/12). Not advertised but there are signs above the gc rack in the store. Bought a couple of sets as limit of 2.

rxgeek

My Ink Cash is maxed out until the December billing cycle. My statement closes on the 5th of the month. Am I on the December cycle on November 6 or December 6?
I’m also looking at my other cards to earn when I can’t get 5x on the Ink. Suggestions?

Bexho

Unrelated to staples (or indirectly related) , bought a $200 grocery everywhere visa at OD and rang for $7.99 at the register. The shell itself had the new price of $5.99. Exp date was 3/31. Found an old issue one with exp 2/30 and it rang at the old price of $4.95. Manager said the got new supplies of all sorts of cards as visa was changing their fees (the display was full of the new editions with higher fees)

Dugroz Reports

I noticed at CVS yesterday, some Vanilla Visas were $5.95 and some were $6.95. Same kind, same issuer.

Art Leyenberger

Just got an AMEX offer this morning on one of my Plat BIZ cards. “Spend $100 at Staples and get $25”. Stackage awaits!

Daniel

Is there a risk of getting shut down by Chase by buying $25K worth of vgc at staples in a 4 month period of time?

Bonnie

They can extend it all they want, but all the stores near me only have a few and sell out the first morning. They finally got an order mid-week and it was only a pack of 12 that was gone before I even got there!!

Barry

The cashier at my local Staples told me that they aren’t selling as many of these cards as in the past. Either people are running out of ways to MS these or they’re hitting their annual limits for office supply spend.

slaven

for me it’s not that “i am running out of ways to MS”, rather places that previously took these cards no longer do so.

MSK

Same difference?

LSP

Where does this information come from? I believe it, but I’m not seeing it in Staples’ weekly ad nor on their website….

Barry

It’s on the bottom of page 9 in next week’s ad.

LSP

Thanks! I didn’t realize I was looking at the current week’s ad.

Frank

Friendly math correction: $3,600 x 5 = 18,000 points, not 16,000.

CJH

$3200 x 5 = 18,000 points is the correct scenario.

Brad

Try calculating that again 🙂

CJH

Yes, should be 16,000 points.

rxgeek

Since WM got the letter from WU not to accept gift cards, they will be harder for some to liquidate. I see Staples sales dropping dramatically. If my WM Money Center no longer works, I’m going to try DG and FD.

Ham

What is FD?

Mark

To decode the above, it’s Walmart, Western Union, Dollar General, and Family Dollar.

slaven

anyone knows what’s going on with these cards? just a few days ago, an online vendor that i’ve been using for years, could no longer process any of these cards as payment.

PointsHound

Can you liquidate GC loading on Venmo then cashing out to your bank?

MSK

Does this get down votes because it’s secret, or because it doesn’t work?

Adam Kirby

I’ve tried Venmo on a registered Blackhawk card with no luck

Stephen Dedalus

One liquidation option is to use them at Kroger grocery stores to buy $500 gift cards, because the self checkouts there autodrain smaller payments. So you could you five $200 gcs to buy two $500 gcs at Kroger. Obviously, there is some additional expense involved but if these are fee-free at Staples and OfficeMax, it works out okay for me at least.

Meme

Need some liquidation ideas please

Barry

Kiva loans.

ECR

Kiva reports credit loss on loans averages ~4%, and thats BEFORE the slowdown we’re entering. Maybe I’m missing something but aside from charitable value of lending, locking in money for ~2 years with no interest doesnt seam worth the effort.

Barry

I’m selective about the loans that I make. I always look for short, high-quality loans. I lend out for 8 months max. My default rate is .12% and my currency loss rate is .08%. These two added together make a total loss rate of 0.20% in my case.

JayP

“We have added this deal to our list of current Visa and Mastercard gift card deals.”
I don’t see it, just Quill and Gift Card Granny. Am I missing it?

[…] Staples Fee-free Gift Cards for 5X Points: Starting this Sunday, Staples is once again offering a deal for fee-free Visa gift cards. This is a great way to earn 5X points on certain cards, like the Chase Ink Plus/Cash cards. See this post on Frequent Miler. […]

Frank Doyle

What I do is buy amazon gift cards with them then deposit that directly into my account…easy peasy.

Mark P

You buy Visa gift cards and then… use them to buy amazon gift cards? Why even bother with the Visa gift cards, you can just buy amazon gift cards at staples?

Michael Nalavey

Not sure about where Frank lives, but I know I have issues finding amazon gift cards at my local staples.

Ukr

Office Depot carries $1-$500 Amazon gift cards, resulting in 5X on Ink card

Rich Howdy

And your able to deposit this back into your account without any fees?

Ukr
MSK

But, on Amazon it competes with 5x from the Amazon Prime card? That way, it becomes a wash (other than the 1.25x or 1.5x value increase from Sapphire). In my view, you need to offload it at 2% or less to make any sense..

Ukr

I use my Ink card to gain airline mileage. Does Amazon 5X credit card give you a cash back?

Adam Kirby

Yes, it’s 5% as cash versus 5X ultimate rewards

Charlie

Just tried buying and the person at the register said they have a new policy as of a month ago where they won’t let you buy these with a credit card?

Nick Reyes

Varies by store and sometimes by cashier. Definitely not a nationwide thing. My wife and I stopped at a store this week and bought $1K each with no issue.

drew

how sensitive is chase to MS’ing these? I just started, usually do 600-1k at a time but don’t want to get shut down

Mark

Because paying with cash cuts down on money laundering.

Sandie

i bought 7 of these over on sunday to pay off a river cruise through gate1travel. thanks for keeping us posted on these!!!

jimbo

If only using for regular spend, how do you deal with the remaining balance after a few purchases? I don’t want to have a bunch of gift cards, each with a few random amounts left on them.

Barry

A lot of places auto-drain the gift cards. I finish mine at Costco. I don’t use these cards ever for restaurants or gas at the pump. Restaurants can preauthorize these cards for 20% above the bill to account for the tip. Gas stations sometimes preauthorize the cards for $100 at the pump.

Ed. C

I spend them down as much as possible, then load the remaining balance to my Amazon account.

Vince

drain completely by adding to your amazon gift card balance. I think the minimum is 50 cents or a dollar to do so. I have a lot of random low value reloads that do add up
Costco is another good option as noted.

slaven

getting harder and harder to liquidate. my local grocery chain just stop accepting metabank visa and mastercards from purchasing money orders.

used to buy $25-50k annually using my ink cash card, but now have no place to go that will allow me to liquidate them.

regular spend for so much is not practical, so am at a loss.

CJH

any suggestions on how best to liquidate Staples Visa GC. Other than normal spend.

Harry

costco

CJH

are you referring to normal spend?

slaven

i know some ppl buy high value stuff using a bunch of these $200 cards and then return for cash. however this is not an avenue i choose to pursue.

ECR

Do large chain stores typically allow refund in cash for items paid by card (GC or otherwise?)

BDLS
  1. Purchase ~$604M in Visa GC. May require multiple trips to Staples.
  2. Purchase each number in Mega Millions when cash value exceeds $604M.
  3. Profit. Plus, get ~3B points when you use your Chase Ink Cash card.
CJH

sounds like a fun week at Staples!!

MSK

And this week, we have 2 winners!

Say goodbye to $302M..

Barry

Kiva.

Ham

Kiva seems like a long process, do you become both lender and borrower to liquidate the money faster?

Barry

I only make loans. I’ve reached an equilibrium where my loan payouts equal the amount of VGCs that I purchase and deposit each month. About $8K per month with about $30K total in outstanding loans. I gain about 40K in UR points every month by doing this.

Rob

I would not want to be lending money going into a hard landing recession.

Johnny

My small, rural Post Office still allows me to purchase money orders with VGC. Purchased 2.9k in Money orders today with Metabanks. The secret is to find a very small, rural p.o. that does not have an integrated computer system. I realize this is an outlier scenario for most but just wanted to let folks know that p.o.money orders with vgc is not completely dead.