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Staples is offering $200 Mastercard Gift Cards with no purchase fee 10through Saturday, 9/16/23. Note that the new limit of eight per customer per day is listed, but some may be able to purchase more at their local store.
The Deal
- Staples is offering fee-free Mastercard gift cards from Sunday 9/10/23 through Saturday, 9/16/23.
- Direct link to weekly ad (be sure to see the 9/10 ad, page 4)
Key Details
- Valid 9/10/23 – 9/16/23.
- Valid in-store only
- Limit of 8 per customer per day
Quick Thoughts
Note that Mastercard gift cards have been subject to a higher rate of problems than Visa gift cards in the past. I haven’t kept up with recent data points on that, but if you buy these, I recommend using them as soon as you can.
That said, if you’re buying, make sure you’re using a card that earns one of the best category bonuses at office supply stores. For example, with the Chase Ink Cash card, you’d earn 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points for each $200 Mastercard you buy. If you can buy 8 at a time, that’s potentially 8,000 points per day. Alternatively, this could be an easy way to pick up spend towards a big spend bonus.
See our Current Visa and Mastercard Gift Card deals page for other currently-available deals.
This deal recently ran on the following dates:
Fee-free Visa Gift Cards
- 8/20/23-8/26/23
- 7/23/23 – 7/29/23
- 6/18/23 – 6/24/23
- 4/2/23-4/8/23
- 3/5/23 – 3/11/23
- 1/8/23 to 1/14/23
- 11/5/22 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
- 2/27/22 to 3/5/22
- 2/27/22-3/5/22
- 1/16/22 to 1/22/22
- 10/31/21 to 11/13/21
- 10/17/21 to 10/23/21
- 9/26/21 to 10/2/21 (this turned out to be Mastercards in some areas)
- 8/8/21 to 8/14/21
- 7/11/21 to 7/17/21
- 6/13/21 to 6/19/21
- 5/9/21 to 5/15/21
- 4/11/21-4/17/21 (this was only a reduced fee)
- 2/28/21-3/6/21
- 1/17/21-1/23/21
- 12/26/20-1/2/21
- 12/6/20-12/12/20
- 11/8/20-11/14/20
- 10/18/20-10/24/20
- 10/11/20-10/17/20
- 8/30/20-9/5/20
- 8/2/20-8/8/20
- 7/5/20 – 7/11/20
- 6/7/20 – 6/13/20
- 2/23/20 – 2/29/20
- 1/12/20-1/19/20
- 12/15/19-12/21/19
- 11/3/19 – 11/16/19
- 9/29/19-10/5/19
- 9/1/19-9/7/19
- 8/4/19-8/10-19
- 6/30/19 – 7/6/19
- 5/5/19 – 5/11/19
- 1/13/19 – 1/19/19
- 11/11/18 – 11/17/18
Fee-free Mastercard Gift Cards
- 8/13/23-8/19/23
- 7/16/23-7/22/23
- 5/21/23 – 5/27/23
- 4/23-4/29/23
- 3/26/23-4/1/23
- 2/26/23-3/4/23
- 1/29/23-2/4/23
- 12/4-12/10/22
- 11/13/22 – 11/19/22
- 10/30/22 – 11/5/22
- 8/21/22 – 8/27/22
- 7/17/22 – 7/23/22
- 6/26/22 – 7/2/22
- 5/22/22 to 5/28/22
- 4/24/22 to 4/30/22
- 3/20/22 to 3/26/22
- 2/6/22 to 2/12/22
- 12/5/21 to 12/11/21
- 11/14/21 to 11/20/21
- 10/10/21 to 10/16/21
- 8/22/21 to 8/28/21
- 7/18-7/24/21
- 6/27-7/3
- 4/25/21 to 5/1/21
- 3/28/21 to 4/3/21
- 10/25/20 to 10/31/20
- 7/19/20-7/25/20
- 6/14/20-6/20-20
- 3/22/20-3/28/20
- 10/20/19-10/26/19
- 7/21/19-7/27/19
- 4/21/19-4/27/19
- 3/24/19-3/30/19
H/T: GC Galore
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Walmart would not accept the Mastercard in person last round or today. I buy them on occasion just to get 5x on some regular spend and have not had trouble before.
Consider calling ahead… went into Staples in Branford, CT, and was told they rarely have the $200 M/C gift cards. In fact, the assistant manager was quite rude about it, and said he didn’t know anything about the promotion.
unable to register card
same here, visa would not register, but the card works for online purchases, the past 4 months too many problems with these cards, not sure what is happening that about 1 in 10 cards are faulty in some way, had recently a MC card with several transactions just fine until at $6.59 left it stopped working, declined in person transactions as well as online, giftcardmall sent me a replacement card for that amount, this issues cost them money, it costs all of us money
I often get paid with cards- gift & reloadable-multiple ones every week. Only some are Vanilla, but here’s pertinent info to help you- and much of it has already been provided by others here.
1. Prefer Visa over MC. It’s just accepted at more places- including between banks & processors, not just stores.
Example A- Cashing (also labeled free advance) reloadable prepaid cards at a bank teller- I’ve yet to find a bank or credit union that won’t do it with Visa, conversely MC works at very few places not BoA or Chase.
Example B- From same provider…its Visa has online ACH transfer option, but not its MC.
Example C- Similarly online. My cellular provider but one example where only the Visa variant works.
2. Yes, registering it online helps with more acceptance, but it’s no magic bullet. Be prepared for card to work first time and then no more, as others have reported- even with the big Wallets & Fintechs.
A. The following not an option with Vanilla, but with reloadables you can bug the bank to send a replacement card printed in your name (those of you who do focus groups, product testing, clinical trials, surveys, gigs).
3. To foster a higher success rate and avoid shutdowns, try to add steps in between \ throw a few crumbs to everyone. When someone gives you free or cheap transfer, they’re often eating fee \ cost in hopes they can make it up with processing fees & third-party commissions on future purchases. So to avoid being categorized as a customer that will earn them zero fees, or suspicious money launderer (that in turn may trigger regulator focus on them), try to add steps \ purchases. I’m talking Fintechs, banks, Wallets, retailers…Coinbase, Cash App, Venmo, PP, Google, Apple Pay, Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. Fund their wallet\card\account first, then transfer to your bank but not in identical amount & meantime try to buy something that you usually do with a different provider.
They’re too valuable to risk shutdown and can take many months to resolve disputes.
4. If you know what you’re doing & can devote the time you can use sports betting & Bitcoin buy \ sell, but research thoroughly Provider quirks. Coinbase & Cash App come to mind. One of them, besides directly with gift\prepaid cards, even lets you buy Crypto using PayPal (using your gift card registered inside PP) but card may only work first time, there are rules like max daily PER card OR Coin (to bypass Limit you have to switch card and\or crypto type purchased). And they give you false sense of security by vetting account with credit header info, but later on may want to do KYC (& not accept your ID).
FYI Cash\Venmo\PP\GPay allow 2 accounts, 2 of them allow AUs & minors each w\ own card. (Cash- obviously same SSN, but phone & email need to be different)
5.YMMV always, but this is true in other industries from food to electronics. Individual managers may not like or fully accept corporate promos. Or owe explanation, even to the point of lying that a promo (or any of its stated benefits) exists…even in corporate locations, not just franchisees.
6. Addresses in neighboring States can be helpful. For example Amex Serve (& others) monthly fees are forbidden in NY, TX, VT.
Contrarily, many Fintech brokers \ crypto exchanges \ banks, & now even mobile check deposit provider Ingo (serves many small banks \ fintechs- PP, Venmo, Serve, etc.), not available in NY & maybe a few other States.
7. Miscellaneous \ in between transfer tools useful at times- (also useful because some retail stores open 24\7 whereas bank ATM lobbies being closed to combat crime and homelessness).
Fidelity refund all ATM fees everywhere.
Chime can be loaded immediately w\ zero fees at Walgreen \ Duane Reade + use their ATMs at zero fees.
Serve (now has a Visa variant). Instant free loads at CVS & some Family Dollar, 7\11 & Walmart.
Cap One free instant deposits CVS counter.
Target Debit free at Target.
8. Cash emergencies- or when you just like to see instant transfers- with zero or little fees- besides #7 (maybe use same amount to fulfill fee-waive or bonus requirement at multiple banks).
Props to Cap One for Mobile Check Deposit- Large funds available instantly to purchase with or transfer out.
Zelle- (IF you’ve ascertained that your phone # & email address have NEVER been previously registered by someone else at Zelle or any other bank!), and PP \ Venmo \Cash.
When they support your particular bank, it’s just impressive to do instant transfer to Debit Card- even to Podunk little Credit Unions that take several days to verify ACH or Credit Card payment, funds listed immediately and available.
PS. Tim please mod out anything that doesn’t serve your purpose. Thanks.
Can these be purchased online? We don’t have a Staples here.
Can confirm they’re more finicky. My registered MC gift cards didn’t get processed via PayPal Bill Pay when I paid my electric bill. Furthermore, instead of letting me pick a different payment option, it automatically defaults to a linked bank account without notifying me. I wouldn’t have known about that switch if I didn’t happen to look at my rarely used bank account’s balance a week later.
The switcheroo didn’t happen with physical Vanilla Visa or Visa e-gift cards.
How long do people keep the cards after used up. I once got a refund to a pre-paid card one year later, and by that time I had thrown away the card. Fortunately it was ~$7, but there was a different refund of ~$100 that went to a pre-paid card I fortunately did keep.
Since then, my rule has been only to spend these cards at places I wouldn’t expect a refund, like grocery stores or utilities. I also keep the used cards in an old airline amenity kit in my sock drawer
No refunds for MO’s. If possible in your area, pursue that.
Are these USPS money orders or WU? Is there a fee to buy with a debit card?
Grocery stores – WU. At least for me. Usually around a buck for a MO <$500. Check Flyer Talk's manufactured spending forums for specifics. Tread carefully.
Most places will give you a refund in store credit instead of refunding the original form of payment if you ask for it.
Relatively new to this hobby – will I encounter any issues with purchasing eight of these cards (via my Ink card) and then immediately using all for a hardware purchase at the Apple Store?
You could use them to buy apple gift cards and then use the gift cards at the Apple Store.
Or you could buy apple gift cards at Staples.
Just beware that apple has a limit of how many gift cards can be used for one order.
Latest statement from Chase Ink only shows 1X points for Staple purchases (all gift cards) anybody else see this?
Did you hit your 25k cap? This is the Chase Ink Cash?
This was not the case for me last Mastercard sale, but that was back in April or March.
Anyone buy on Sunday, when the sale started, and see if their pending points are 1x or 5x?
As The Other Sam suggests, I’m betting you hit your cap. I’ve got 5x from a purchase on 5/5. Yesterday’s purchase is still in pending, so won’t know for a couple of days, but I’m certainly expecting 5x.
Thanks, betting I totally forgot about the limit.
My pending points showing 5x multiplier. All gift cards too.
Nick, you say “Note that Mastercard gift cards have been subject to a higher rate of problems than Visa gift cards in the past”. Is this only to do with MSing? I find it hard to believe that Mastercard Gift Cards cannot just be used like Visa Gift Cards at stores to buy thing like normal people do.
concur it’s quite LAME of Nick to toss that in there generically (without even clarifying what he means by “problems” but then excuses himself by saying he hasn’t kept up with it. (but is nonetheless still happy to trumpet the news here)
Would actually be helpful to know if anyone IS keeping up with just what outlets (for “liquidation”) still are working (for both v and mc gc purchased at Staples)
Kroger, no, maybe… Food Lion, yes, maybe, etc.
it’s also quite IGNORANT of you to expect MS participants to not gatekeep certain actions, and also quite USELESS for applying a one size fits all approach to every individual living in every possible geographic area committing every possible $ amount
Agreed. I figured out MS methods in my area through trial-and-error from the hints I got from FM and other blogs and I now I understand why MS’ers gatekeep. There’s very few MS’ers here, and the pastures are rich both on the uptake and the liquidation.
MCGs work just fine IMO, and VGCs were more of a pain at first, but found the sweet spot. You gotta read between the lines and put in the work. If you can see it online, Mr. Mouse, so can Mr. Cat.
I am unable to use MC gift cards to pay local water company. When I submit, I get an error message.
Amazon is also a bit tricky. The way around this for me is to register the card in your name first (this also let’s you change the PIN for security). Go to the web address on the back of the card and follow the prompts.
So, what I do is not MS. I just use a Chase Cash Ink card to buy the fee-free VISA or MC gift cards at Staples for 5x points and then use them wherever you would normally get only 1x. Example, I often load my Amazon balance, but not this quarter because my 2 Freedom cards are paying 5x anyway.
Mostly I use these $200 gift cards at grocery stores. I finally got my wife to do this also. I prefer the VISA cards as they can also be used at Costco.
MC’s can be used at costco too as debit if you set the pin.
True, and you can also buy Costco Shop cards online with any Mastercard, free postage and are just Costco gift cards.
Try registering the card online before paying your water company.
I just had problems using them at Lowes Home Improvent stores and Home Depot. The system would only take the Visa Giftcards. I had to use a regular card for the balance at 1x.
Nick know what he is talking about. Nick is an OG at this.
My local staples limited me to two cards today. never had that happen before
Since you cannot load them in Walmart anymore what else is left? MO only? Perhaps you can put a useful piece on this to update all venues.
Thank you.
I’m writing again, because I received alerts that my query would have been answered, but I can’t find it below. Has it been removed? The question was whether it is possible to use these giftcard shopping techniques with 30% for example and then use these cards at the apple store or apple website when purchasing the iphone. I wanted to buy this in the next few days because I’m leaving Miami.
It should not work but until you try it in your store you would never know…
UPDATE: I found out I had to read Nick’s whole article, which said to select next week’s ad. It’s in there.
I’m not finding this on the weekly ad. How often are these targeted for local areas?
Glad you found it. Also, to answer your question, they are never targeted to local areas. This is always a nationwide deal.
If these are MetaBank/Pathward, how can you use them for WU MOs? What dollar amount works? I tried $199 and it said “Not Authorized.” I’m tired of being looked at by store workers like some sort of scammer.
Are you saying you’re NOT scamming?
Are you saying he IS scamming?
No. But I do think it’s a waste of time.
Then don’t partake. An easy win for you.
Participate. One partakes of a cake. Yes, true. No longer anyway. I do it with the $1000 Simon cards.
Adding another data point that the mcgift.giftcardmall.com website is not working. I tried on phone, laptop, desktop, and nothing. Anyone find a successful workaround?
Works for me. What does “not working” actually mean? What error did you get, and at what point?
i bought few of them as in the past, but this time when buying $399 MO at Stop and Shop, and splitting $200+$200, first card goes through, but second is ‘not authorized’.
Anybody had similar expierience?
same problem. IN fact, none of mine cards works anymore.
Are you splitting $200+$200 or just buying single $199 MO?
I usually do splitting. It stopped working since about 10 days ago.
Yes same issue here. It worked last month for split the payment but now it all failed. Does anyone know how to fix it? TIA.
Have you found a solution?
I got some and the expiration dates are 2031, which doesn’t work on some of my commonly used sites with drop-down for expiration. I typically get visa and expiration has been 2029 or 2030. Anyone know any workarounds??
The giftcardmall website has not been working for days, so I cannot register my MCG. Anyone else encountered this also?
This happened to me as well. I used my laptop instead. It worked great.
Problem is that I was using my laptop…
That’s weird. I couldn’t use my phone the last few days. It worked when I used my laptop.
I can’t reach
tcardmall.com/ to register my MCG for days. Anyone else has this problem too?
Was this accidentally reposted, or are the dates just incorrect?
Sorry about that. I had the dates correct under “The Deal” and they were correct in the weekly ad (which is also linked to under The Deal), but I forgot to update the dates in the first paragraph also. It’s updated now in that first paragraph also.
NBD, it just threw me for a second there. I appreciate the clarification.
I bought the master card today, but unable to register, I am able to check balance
I enter the card number and get to the page to put e mail and address and I click accept , then there is the error message, unable to register, call the number at the back of the card, I try microsoft edge and Fiore fox and apple, none of the browser works
Ummm, no!
Anybody tried it this week yet? Is it waived?
I just went to staples today. The activation fee is not waived.
Did you ask them or did you try to check out and the fee was not waived? From my experience, the employees might not be on top of these types of promotions.
I asked since I didn’t see any signs on the gift card rack that advertised the promo. The cashier asked his supervisor and they told me it’s not waived. I didn’t want try checking out and risk being charged the fee.
Staples is pretty good at advertising fee free gift cards on their weekly ads. Their machines should ring up the promotion if there is one. Don’t bother asking their employees. I asked once, and a cashier insisted no promotion. I then showed her the weekly ad, and she called her boss. She then came back saying her boss overrode it for me this time, which didn’t make any sense to me at all. Anyway, it worked.
Dates in intro need to be changed! Thanks for posting this.
The limit on gift card purchases is 2K. Staples will only let you do 9 $200 gift cards at once because the purchase fee is included in the 2K limit, thus 10 cards will code as being MORE than 2k (2,079.5, for example) However, a way around this is to buy the the 10th card separate from the first 9. The total gift card purchased are exactly equal to 2k. Did this with the Staples MC sale and had no problem using this technique to get 10 2oo k cards.
does staples sell Best Buy gc (preferably in large denominations)?
[…] Staples fee-free $200 MC Gift Cards: Starting Sunday, Staples is once again offering fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards. If you have a Chase Ink card with 5X points at office supply stores, this is a great deal! I’ve used these cards to pay down my Royal Caribbean cruise. See this post on Frequent Miler. […]
In my region, the VGC are always easier to liquidate than these MC. Machines run the VGC as debit so I can do a bunch of things with them. The MC always run as “credit” so tougher to liquidate. Also the VGC give me the option of do you want cashback.
This obviously varies by location, but it totally makes sense to find out what works (or doesn’t) in your area / for your methods and buy accordingly.
Went in with wife yesterday, purchased eight myself, then the manager wouldn’t let my wife purchase more than $600 worth. She agreed that the limit was $2000 per person per day, but claimed that she could only sell us $2500 total since we were together? It was a disaster because the cashier had already scanned too many cards and threw everything from both of our transactions into a bag, we had to go through each serial number to make sure we got it right. Was she making something up about the limit between the both of us or is this an actual policy somewhere?
Whenever my wife and I buy VGCs at the same time, we just act like we don’t know each other. Never had any issues.
Last weekend I had one manager who insisted that he couldn’t let us both buy because we were together (despite the fact that we had both bought at that same store the night before, though I obviously didn’t get into that). We visited several other stores where we both bought without issue.
But…but.. I’ve already committed all my available MS to $15k on my Surpass card for the Hilton free night that FM said earlier this month was a “huge” “no-brainer”… You mean I could have potentially used my Ink for deals like this and got 75,000 URs instead of a free night at Hilton that expires in a year? …lol smh
Do you really want to be buying 75 $200 cards, 8 per day for 10 days?
Sure. As FM says, it’s “easy 5x”, right?
8 was not honored today. But if that’s Staples goal then the end must be near. The stores are deserted.
Deserted of people or cards?
People. Plenty of cards on Sunday and Monday.
Does anyone know if you can split tender at staples? I have a bunch of chase offers at staples on different cards (10% or 20% back, up to $10).
Yes they can. I did the same thing to use up my Chase offers too. The cashier kept asking to see the cards I was using to make sure they were mine, but other than that it worked just fine.
Hello,
I purchased 14 – $200 Visa GC at Staples in July (9 one day and 5 another day). The first thing I did was register them online with MetaCard and created a pin. Within a few days I took10 of them to purchase GC’s at 2 brick & mortar stores that I make online purchases at for my business.I didn’t want the hassle of using the Visa GC’s online at those 2 stores.
With the remaining 4 GC’s, I went to use 2 of them and both were declined. I went back to the MetaBank site, checked my balance on all 4, and 2 of them were drained. One had 20 $10 purchases for Google Play, and the other had 10 $10 purchases at Google Plan and $100 at Best Buy. I reported this to MetaBank with all the info they asked for, and I am awaiting a reply from them.
Thank You!
It’s easy to hack when the cards hang out at the rack. Don’t buy those cards in the public. My stores usually lock the cards at the front desk and I ask to buy. After I am out of stores, I register PIN and drain them right away. Don’t let them sit for a single day. You buy what you can drain. Metabank should be able to resolve the chargeback. It’s a hassle.
Okay, I’ll have to ask about that next time as I didn’t see anything behind the counter. They have all of the cards on a spinner rack and I take the ones from the middle of the Visa stack. Obviously that didn’t work. I did file the dispute with MetaBank but they said it can take up to 90 days. I was wondering if I should file a dispute with my CIC card too. Do you think I should? If Metabank doesn’t do anything at the 90 day mark, it may be too late to then file a dispute with Chase.
Getting turned down for qty of 8. Only allowed 5.
The deal starts Sunday.
Was turned down buying 6 today Sunday 8/21 even though the printed advert stated 8. Manager likely Poorly informed
Does any know if these cards work when purchasing virtual Visa gift cards through gift cards.com?
Yes
Kind of random but during Covid I took out an EIDL loan for my small business. I received an email from SBA that the repayment options are ACH or Debit Card. I bought a bunch of prepaid cards last week to try it out and sure enough, they all posted just fine. This makes for a super easy way to liquidate my cards and get a ton of points since I need to pay this loan back anyway. WIN/WIN
I’m tempted to finally try this. Has anyone been able to use these gift cards with Curve and/or Plastiq
Gift cards stopped working with Plastiq a couple of years ago. I haven’t tried using them with Curve because I value having Curve for real life use, so I haven’t wanted to step that far out of bounds. I doubt it would work.
Unable to buy money orders using these cards at my local Albertsons/Safeway any longer. Never had problems until the last 2 weeks.
Anyone have similar or know what’s going on?
Specifically the Mastercard ones or the other Visa ones?
both
Damn, that’d be crushing if true. I’ll have to test after picking some more up on Sunday.
Pls post back here your results. With staples now allowing $1600/ day would love to buy these.
DP.. tried 3 different Meta bank Visa, at two different Shaw’s in Mass. all failed. The register seems to be programs to reject them.
Never mind…. Read the comments below
My daughter is going abroad for 10 months and I am wondering if I sent her with these prepaid cards if she would be able to use them at an ATM to take out Euros. Anyone have experience with this?
Most GCs that I’m aware of specifically state they only work in the US. No foreign transactions.
I bought a lot on the sale a couple weeks ago and liquidated over a week’s period. I had no issues with any being drained.
I actually prefer the MCs to the VCs now because they are easier to liquidate
Can you please elaborate on why MC are easier to liquidate than VC? Thanks!
July 2nd?
Staples is offering $200 Mastercard Gift Cards with no purchase fee through Saturday, July 2nd.
The only Staples in my city of over 1 million people is closing in August. Went inside today and found out they don’t sell gift cards any more.
Went to my local Staples today and the manager said store policy is only $500 in GC purchases. I showed her the ad showing 5-$200 GC per day and she said she would not allow it and it’s always been $500. Told her I have been buying $1000 worth for years and she said I must be mistaken. The register rang $1000 worth without fees but she cancelled the transaction only allowing $500.
fill out survey and complain
go slaviša 🙂
She’s confusing the limit with their policy of needing manager approval of any purchase over $500 in gift cards. Ask her to call any nearby stores and talk to their respective managers and you should be good.
Not much luck with Staple in Bellevue, WA either Visa or MC gift card purchase as the store claimed there are out of stock. I think its Staple gimmick to have you go to buy theirs more lucrative merchandise !!
Completely new to this game, so may be silly question. I need to finish the large CapOne Venture X new card spending bonus and the photo on this post shows a MC “debit” card. Can you buy these cards and get cash from an ATM? Fees associated with this? Thanks
No, you can’t get cash from an ATM. Some of us use them to buy money orders and deposit those (similar idea), but the ability to do that is very regional (many places are hard coded not to accept them for that purpose or cashiers may think they shouldn’t, etc) and there are a lot of things to know before you get into that (i.e. some banks will close your account for depositing many money orders, you don’t want to deposit them in a bank that issues credit cards that you want to have in case they shut you down for the posits, etc). There’s a lot more detail in this post that you should read if you intend to try this and you should go slow and start by testing what works in your area before you get stuck with a stack of gift cards you can’t liquidate: https://frequentmiler.com/manufactured-spending-complete-guide/
Other people buy these to use them for daily spend (effectively getting “5x everywhere”) or to buy things for resale, but then that involves tracking leftover balances, which may or may not be your idea of a good time.
Also, note that the Mastercards have been subject to fraud in the past. I’m not aware of recent issues, but I still make sure to liquidate Mastercards the day I purchase them. You might be better off waiting for another fee-free Visa Gift Card promotion to dip your toes into this (though, again, I haven’t heard of issues with fraud on these in quite a while now, I just caution you because it would suck for your introduction to this to be a headache with a card that gets drained before you try to use it).
Thanks Nick, this kind of feedback/information is what makes the site so valuable. Keep up the good work
Purchase x8 $200 MCGC, no activation fee, at Staples 2/2/23. How can I drain these cards? Was_Mart won’t accept for MO. Draft King;s won’t accept since I’m in WA state.
What options do I have to drain these cards?
So I would be remiss not to start with saying that’s a question you should generally ask / answer before you buy cards because you probably don’t want to be stuck with cards you can’t liquidate. I always recommend starting with one or two if you don’t know what works in your area rather than getting $1600 in without a plan + a backup plan for when the plan unexpectedly stops working.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of help for you since I don’t know your local options. Look for other places that sell MOs (lots of grocery stores do). You can obviously use them to pay some types of bills that require a debit card. If you have no options in your area, consider bringing the cards on a trip to another area.
I disagree to start small as jumped own the x5 with Ink card and normally if I wasn’t;t simultaneously pursuing CC SUBs or traveling I’d have more expenses.. My x8 purchase as I made $80.00 cash or more on UR points with Chase Ink Cash card x5 points. I knew before buying my are WM was a dead option for MOs as is Kroger.
I might lake a spring break trip to LV/CA. which would eat some of it.
I have plan just your’re just not asking Fall back I can use for grocery, gas, etc purchases as the GC’s are good till 3/31 since I’ve already made min $80.00.
MY request was merely if other knew new ideas which you don’t seem to have which si ok.
I also can possibly use a friend in Oregon to load for his account at a casino get payback then transfer to me but I haven’t asked anyone as I’m trying to see what others might do.
Hi Yul, I’m in wa state as well and some of the options you’re talking about aren’t completely dead. Without knowing how you’re trying liquidate them let me give you a couple ideas: many stores will work for these cards with a $99 or less swipe but not above, including some of the options that you mentioned above. Some WM, Kroger, SW and Albertsons will take them as well. Don’t ask if they do. Just try a swipe on a small MO and see happens. Small towns/suburbs are going to be easier than SeaTac. Get involved with Frequent Miler Insiders in closed setting and ask for local help. These are tricky now and VERY regionally, store and sometime cashier-dependent. It will involve probing your local area and getting to know other folks as well.
You hit on big problem on feedback we don’t have good comprehension about others areas. I’ve already tested WM, KR, and GC is dead for Seattle. In fact I tested WM today again.
Now if you want to buy Everyday GCs then great you cannot in Seattle region but can 50 mies away in Olympia. These will mostly likely work at WM but not available in Seattle region I’ve already researched contacting OD/OM stores with 35 miles. WM MOs work in a region 50 miles away from Seattle.
I brought up the Draft King’s as it is viable option but NOT in Washington. DK allows GCs…..but the partner casino is Seattle only allows CASH to be loaded.
SO I think I do n=know market very well and these general comments do not apply about nobody tracks this information. Just getting general comments not knowing my area then I’m repeating what’s already documented in many groups on FT, TPG, etc.
So I am not going to drive 100 RT to buy GCs and then look for a WM in that region. I’ve heard posters in Tenn(Nashville) are still successful doing MS…not Seattle it’s dead. It’s been dead over 3 years.
So I’m seeking NEW ideas not the old general ideas used 5 years ago. Instead of WM, KR, ALberson’s, Safeway which checked in my area I mentioned a new idea that would have worked except Washington state law forbids online gaming with apps.
Now FMN has a new Data Point to use GCs…yes it works but the tip check with partner casino if the app can be used online in your state.
Have a several fall back ideas.but don’t want to use friends in a different state. This MSGC fell into my alp….not a great deal versus SUBs I’m simultaneously chasing….but a deal I wanted too explore. I diid not as assumed in the initial post have no plan. Due to my Chase Ink Cash card x5 I made a minimum $80.00 and will be higher depending on how my redemption plan goes.
So somebody should be tracking the regions where the redemption advice your providing works…NOT Seattle but your correct in areas outside but not convenient for me to test.
Thanks.
I think that sounds like a great idea, you should try and find some other folks in FMI or one of your other groups to start searching out and tracking DP’s in various areas so that the labor and the results are shared.
I’m not certain what you mean by “Seattle” when you say things are dead, but I can let you know there’s plenty of opportunity in Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Federal Way, Tukwila, Issaquah, Kent, Bothell etc that is still very alive.
Nick. Sorry for the ridiculous question I’m going to ask, but it’s because I’m Brazilian and I still don’t understand what strategy you guys use so much to buy credit card gift cards.
For example. In this case, you will spend the 200 dollars and then take this gift and go to a store to spend the 200. But isn’t that the same thing as taking your normal card and going to the store? What do you get by doing this? I believe that in this case just anticipate a card expense to try to reach a bonus sooner, but I think the best is in those cases where the purchase of the gift card has a massive discount %, am I right?
Its to take it to a store that doesn’t typically earn 5x points.
Some stores don’t accept Amex. If you have to do a min. Spend with Amex. This is another avenue to meet your min. Spend
Is there an alternative to Dosh that pays out on in store gift card purchases? I saw that Payce lists both Staples an Office Depot for in store purchases. Anybody have experience with Payce?
What do you mean by this? I was just going to get one and use it to pay things like doctor, dentist, etc…
“Note that Mastercard gift cards have been subject to a higher rate of problems than Visa gift cards in the past. I haven’t kept up with recent data points on that, but if you buy these, I recommend using them as soon as you can”
Has anyone tried using MC GCs for simplymiles or AAshopping portal?
It should work, but not sure why you would
Staples must be getting desperate. Between Visa and MC it’s like the 8th time in 17 weeks.
it is better to register the visa/mc gift card under your name and change the pin, what are your thoughts on this?
If you plan on using it anytime later than half hour after purchase, then absolutely.
Bought 2 cards but had issues with activation on 2nd one, so was unable to get a receipt per store. Called card company who said it was never activated and has $0 balance while other one was fine. Bank said both were charged for full amount. What chances are that I win when open my claim?
I guess the moral of the story is if you can’t get an activation receipt, don’t leave the store until resolved! Thanks for the warning.
Staples should be able to resolve this for you. Will take a while.
Nick,
We had a MC GC drain on us about 2 months ago. Same scenario as you mentioned with it being declined at the register, and then drain. Fortunately there was only $48.11 left on the card. We were able to get a replacement card sent to us for that amount, but it did take several weeks.
Does staples take paypal. Thinking og buying 3 $200 gift cards with chase freedom using paypal to get 5x Q4.
Found out this morning that my Central Florida Staples has pulled all the $200 MCGCs. The kid clerk told me the store manager informed him this store will no longer be selling the $200s, just the other lower denoms. Reason stated: too many problems with the activations. The ad does say “subject to availability” so there’s the out for the store.
Haven’t been able to redeem MC online for about 2 months now, only in-person. About 3 different times with 12 different cards. Visa still works fine online.
more (not as) easy (as visa gift cards) 5x…
P. 11, not 10. Thanks!
Is there anyway you can send me from last May the offer from Hilton/American Express in that you earn 12x points at supermarkets for May, June and July 2020 with all those points going to lifetime status? I need that with it’s terms and conditions, having bit of a war with AMXP getting some points I earned posted. It would be a great help, thanks.
Does anyone else have the issue of these mastercard GCs being recognized as credit cards (not debit) by certain websites? Example: trying to use to pay tuition (the site has credit card fee of 2.75%, debit card fee of 0.5%) and it recognizes the MC GC as a credit card. The site otherwise works fine with Visa GCs. I registered the MC GC and it did not help.
So the problems with the MC GC do not affect the Visa GC?
also, is that the Walmart issue, or is there another/other issue/s?
The problem that has happened with MCGCs was fraud (the cards getting drained shortly after purchase). That hasn’t been a widespread issue with VGCs from Staples.
Walmart is a totally separate thing.
Great!
i just started trying GC’s in the last 2-3 months. Apparently I waited until the worse possible time to do so.
Thanks for the response!
That is really fascinating, You are an overly professional blogger.
Did anyone use Venmo to liquidate?
I just got five 200$ mc from Staples. In the past I used to do bill pay to a visa or mastercard at Walmart for 1.50 and liquidate all cards (they allowed a max of 4)…
Tried to pay a friend via VENMO after registering the card online and also adding the card in VENMO but it was declined (Tried again after some time and again it was DECLINED) …
Called MCGift CardHolder Services 1-877-322-4710
They checked the reason for DENIAL and said that VENMO was trying to use the card as a Money Order/ Money Transfer.
Asked the rep on the phone if this will work at WALMART for Bill-Pay if swiped as a Debit card. He said that “As long as it is not processed as a Money transfer or Money Order I should be able to use it at WALMART”
So next will try at WALMART for Bill-Pay if that is still working and will post.
Any luck with using it as bill pay at walmart swiping as debit?
Hello everyone! I’ve been bored lately and I decided to get back into the MS game ;). How are you guys liquidating GCs these days?
Thanks so much! Have a great weekend.
lol, much harder nowadays; staples mcgc loading @ WM now doesn’t work
For the most part, just burning them for heat. That’s about it for MC MS these days.
[…] No-fee Mastercards: Via Frequent Miler, Staples is once again offering no-fee Mastercard gift cards starting on Sunday. This is a great […]
wonderful post.
I’ve been able to make several run to Office Depot and Staples in the last couple weeks and rack up on these. I am, of course, using my Chase ink cash. Does anyone ever worry that Chase will look at it as too much? I’m not doing an a enormous amount but I have been pretty lucky to get some
If only I had a good liquidation option.
Went to a WM store today to try a Visa and get a Money Order. Lady asked what I was using. I said debit. she asked to see it. Said I could not use it. Two different stores said the same thing.
Think it’s already a while that Walmart stopped gift cards as debit cards
This is very much variable based on location and sometimes even based on cashier. Worth trying a different time (when a different cashier is working) and/or a different store. In some areas, it is next to impossible and in others it is still easy. YMMV.
Is there any chance of the manufactured spending industry getting a bailout? LOL
+1 for not leaving the house to go on a MS run at the moment. Good thing I still have 26 $200 Visa’s from the last go around at OM/OD. Right now liquidation is the hard part. Don’t even think a run to wally world is worth it. I’m thinking whatever easy points I have right now are what I’ll have for a while. It’s not like I’ll be burning much in the near future anyway (although, I did literately just book a ticket to NZ today with some AA miles for next year).
Please stay home. Please be smart. Please, let’s not have these kinds of posts. Thanks.
don’t folks go out 2-3 times per wk for necessities or basic essentials? a trip to staples is like 1 to the supermarket or WM, right? have to try our best to keep the distance
I usually like such deals, but at this moment, I think it is a fool’s game. Let’s do the math: your trip will earn about 200×5%x1.75 (my UR pt value)= $17.5, but if you, for god forbidden, got caught by the virus, your lose $??, for worst case, $??? (help me to fill in the dollar value of your life, will you? No, for simplicity, you don’t need to count your family member’s lives here). After carefully assessment, you conclude: (1) a big deal! Yeh, go ahead and good luck; (2) no, not worthy the risk and my life is worth more than $17.5. Then stay home.
Today is the only date of this week that I went out for necessary grocery supply (no next go-out plan for the next 1-2 weeks). I wore disposable glove and face mask. When I was back, instead of a welcome hug, my wife stopped me when I opened the car door and sprayed disinfectant literally all around my body and then I took a shower and wash all the clothes while my wife cleaned my car and all the grocery packages. Overdone? Yeh, probably. But I would rather over do it than regret. Still your life, your decision.
BOGO..MGC+Corona
Yeah, seems to me to be a bit irresponsible to make this an in-store-only (in-person-only) deal, even though all the prior similar ones have been as well. Or maybe I am just still sour about there being no Staples stores within 60 miles of here despite being in a metro of 1.5M+ people.
Does the PIN on these Metabank Mastercards default to the last 4 digits of the card number like the Visas?
Can you still use MCGC with plastiq for Mortgage/Auto payments – Haven’t played with GC – but IIRC something changed with MGCG/ VGC or was it just that the lower fees before changed – looking to use up a stash off FFD
TIA
[…] $200 fee-free Mastercard: Via Frequent Miler, Staples has another great deal next week on a fee-free Mastercard. If you have a card that earns […]
I bought 2 $200 gc today and went to Walmart to get a money order. It didn’t work. Also, I linked it with dosh, mileage plus shopping and Rakuten, but as of right now I didn’t receive any confirmation saying the deal went though. Do you guys think it counts as MS on Amex cards? I have a bonvoy biz.
Mastercards don’t work at WM. Need to find a grocery store.
I got confirmation from Dosh on my purchase today.
I wouldn’t buy these to meet the welcome bonus or a spending bonus with Amex, but for regular soend outside of those situations it’s line likely fine.
MC’s do indeed work at WM. Just not easily. I understand not wanting to walk someone through a process that is very finicky…but I just used a MC at WM yesterday
Good point. Gabriel is right — they do work, it’s just not simple (as it is with Visa GCs). Much easier to find a grocery store than draw attention to your GCs at WM.
Is there a cap on dosh cashback? I bought vgc from office depot last few days and almost every transaction went through as cash back?
Have a couple amex staples 40-10 offers, wondering if the cashier would let me split the $200 to 5 cards with $40 each, lol
Yes, you can do that.
Hey, Nick! The current Office Depot / Officemax VGC deal isn’t on your “Current Deals” page. Just FYI…
Thanks for warning people about the fraud problem, which I experienced myself. But I believe that was mainly with U.S. Bank-issued cards. I’ve not seen widespread reports of problems with MetaBank-issued cards. I’ve used hundreds of MetaBank Visa GCs and more recently several MasterCard GCs with no problem. This looks to be (99% certain) a MetaBank, not U.S.-Bank, whose GCs I haven’t seen at Staples in some time now.
The link in the article to the Office Depot / Office Max deal is from April as are most of the comments to this article. Was this just a bad cut and paste jib????
Yes, and I just made a trip to Office Depot and embarrassed myself because there was no such deal going on… #sad
[…] you stocked up on last week’s fee-free Mastercard deal at Staples, this could be an easy way to liquidate those gift cards from the comfort of home, albeit at a […]
[…] transfer bonus. With nearly two months before it expires, there is plenty of time to hit up that fee-free Mastercard Gift Card deal at Staples this week or your other favorite way of increasing credit card spend in order to build up some more […]
With $200 Meta MCGCs, do you still need to do the “Change Payment” method at WM? Or was that just a USB MCGC thing?
That’s a MC thing at WMT. Always have a backup Visa ready because if you miss the button the first time, it won’t appear again.
“What’s more, the ad does not mention a limit per customer or transaction.”
Except the ad does specifically state “Limit 1 per customer”.
Whoops — I did have that later in the post, but my mistake in that first paragraph. Fixed, thanks!
As always, YMMV on enforcement. It’ll be interesting to see if that last promo affects others like this moving forward.
YMMV on enforcement, indeed, but my experience is that Staples stores are becoming stricter on this. One store that used to let me buy 20 fee-free now enforces the limit of 1.
[…] is $60 to get this bonus. Still, that might be worthwhile in conjunction with next week’s fee-free Mastercard gift cards if you do not have a card that earns a better return on office supply purchases and/or are looking […]
I have a chase offer for 10% off Staples purchase. Will it work for gift card purchases?
It probably will, but only on a single purchase.
Also check the maximum cashback on that. I’m not sure about the latest offer, but past offers have been capped at $6 cash back
Add card to Dosh – 3% on Staples I believe (probably a $5 limit)
Isn’t Dosh for Staples online only?
That comment was from 2 years ago. In the past, there have been times when Dosh had Staples for in-store.
Oddly enough, I noticed that after pressed post. Could not figure out how to delete.
Do you think this would stack with AMEX offer of 10% off staples purchases?
Yes.