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It feels like quite some time since Office Depot and OfficeMax ran some kind of Visa or Mastercard gift card deal. Well, they’re back with one today and it’s even more profitable than usual.
The Deal
- Buy $100+ Visa gift cards & get $10 instant discount at Office Depot/OfficeMax.
Key Terms
- Expires May 30, 2020.
- Limit 1 per customer.
Quick Thoughts
You can get the $10 instant discount when buying a $100 Visa gift card, but you’ll be able to earn more rewards by buying a $200 card even though it comes with a slightly higher activation fee.
The $200 Visa gift cards come with a $6.95 activation fee, so you’ll make a $3.05 profit for each transaction. If you pay with a Chase Ink Cash or Ink Plus card, you’ll earn $9.85 / 985 Ultimate Rewards each time which is a great bonus.
The Office Depot Chase Offer has been extended if you were targeted but hadn’t used it yet, so that offer can save you an extra $8.
h/t Kai for the heads up that there was a deal going on.
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Office Depot is running $10 off $100 VGC online through 7/8.
https://giftcardmall.officedepot.com/deal/default/visa-gift-card-119
[…] of months of no gift card deals due to COVID-19, Office Depot/OfficeMax kicked things off with $10 off $100+ Visa gift cards a few weeks ago. Staples followed up with fee-free Visa gift cards last week and they return this […]
To those still curious, it is hardcoded for $10 off $100 or more. So, if you buy 2 x $200, the receipt shows $5 off each for a total of $10 discount. This is per transaction so YMMV on location policy. I like UR points, so worth it to me for a $200 card. Liquidation is time consuming and limited, so many ms’rs I know aren’t even bothering this time. Depends on your time as well as other factors. Be careful trying to do multiple transactions even with a decent location due to card issuers right now.
They suggest buying $200 GC instead of $100 because of activation fee difference. I get it’s $1.00 extra and normally a better deal. Instead of a $200 GC plus $6.95 fee minus $10, wouldn’t it be better to buy $100 GC plus $5.95 fee minus $10 for $4.05 savings instead? And don’t play dumb, we all know you can get away with buying more than one.
You can potentially get away with buying more than one, but I’m not sure if that’d have to be in separate transactions or if buying more than one in the same transaction would take off multiple $10 credits. It’s also dependent on the store letting you buy more than one – I had a couple of stores a few months ago have a very strict 1 per person policy, although I was able to go back the next day and get another.
With regards to buying a $200 card vs $100 card, your net profit would be $3.05 vs $4.05 respectively. However, if you’re paying with a 5%/5x card, your earnings will be $9.85/985 Ultimate Rewards vs $4.80/480 Ultimate Rewards. When taking into account those rewards, the $200 card works out more profitable.
Which is why I vouch for buying two separate $100 GCs for $8.10 savings total. UR earned will be 960, 25 less than buying $200 GC, but you save $5.05 in actual money.
If you’re lucky and have more than one store nearby or just make separate trips this week.
Does this particular offer definitely take off $20 when buying two $100 cards then? If so, what you suggested is certainly a better way of doing it if your store lets you buy more than one card in a transaction.
99.99% certain it doesn’t work. That’s why you got to make separate transactions and preferably separate trips. I’ve purchased two separately the same day in two different stores before. You’ve got until the 30th to do this so there’s plenty of time.
If you have to do separate transactions, then wouldn’t 2x $200 cards still be better? Your net profit would be $6.10 for $200 cards vs $8.10 for $100 cards. You’d be earning $19.70/1,970 Ultimate Rewards for the $200 cards though vs $9.60/960 Ultimate Rewards for $100 cards.
Then why not four separate transactions of $100 each for $16.20 total savings. You can keep going in quantities if you like, but at the end $100 increments are better % wise. Only advantage of $200 GC is if you want to buy the most $ and limit number of transactions.
Because once you take into account the rewards for $200 cards, those work out much more rewarding than $100 cards.
However many transactions you do for $100 cards, you could equally do with $200 cards and come out further ahead.
Let’s just compare 2 x $100 vs. 1 x $200.
2 x $100 = 960 UR, $8.10 savings
1 x $200 = 985 UR, $3.05 savings
So spending that extra $5.05 nets an additional 25 UR. But what did you actually get in return for spending $5.05? You didn’t get an additional $5.05 in your GC balance or any product or service valued at $5.05, just additional fees. By that logic why don’t I let OfficeMax charge $100 for nothing just to earn 500 UR points. Really feel happy about earning that extra 25 UR now? Not trying to berate or anything, but pointing out the math.
My point is that you have to buy those two $100 cards in separate transactions in order to get the two $10 discounts. If you’re having to do two separate transactions, why not buy $200 cards and get the two $10 discounts on those cards instead?
Maybe I don’t want to spend that much on GCs. And if I wanted $400 in GCs, then I’d do 4 x $100 instead for $16.20 in savings vs. $6.10 with 2 x $200.
So do what works best for you. Please keep in mind the process of liquidating $200 v $100 is far more scalable.
At the end of the day, most of us don’t have multiple OD/OMs around to justify driving around to save $1 per $100 GC. As Phill above states, it is easier to liquidate a $200 (as some expenses are more than $100). And besides most people who MS, don’t even bother with the $100
If buying gc’s for personal/intended use & not ms’ing, Andy is correct & the net is better. I always thought the difference in purpose s/b pointed out in these blogs, too, so am glad Andy did so.
This can also be combined with the 10% chase offer at OD/OM (max $8). Be sure to add to ink cards before going to the store!
Is this in-store only, like these offers have been in the past? Or online too? Hard to read the fine print. Thx.
In-store only unfortunately; Office Depot’s online gift card offering is run by GiftCardMall.
When clicking through from OD/OM to get online gift cards, does the charge still show up as OD for these (and thus the 5x UR), or is it processed as Gift Card Mall? I can’t tell when I do a mock purchase. thanks
it’s processed as GCM. You will not get 5x. I tried it out about a year ago.
I think online gift card payments for Office Depot are processed by GiftCardMall, so it’ll show up as something like Blackhawk Network / GiftCardMall / GiftCards.com, so it won’t earn 5x.
[…] HT: FM […]
Lol, my asking for GCs deal at OD on ur earlier blog did come sooner
You’re our lucky charm – please comment the same thing each week and see if we can keep the streak going 😉
haha, thx Stephen… will do my best