Staples keeps on giving

This deal is good until April 7.

Eventually I hope to write a post or two that is not about Staples, but as long as they keep giving us freebies I might as well keep writing about them!

Did you buy 10 copies of the Free after Rebate Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus last week?  A reader tipped me off that the same deal is back this week, but with a new rebate number.  This means that you can buy another 10 copies of the same software for free!  I know, it sounds improbable, but I called Staples to check.  The rep who answered confirmed immediately that as long as it was a new rebate number I could go ahead and order 10 more copies.  I asked him if he was really, really sure and so he put me on hold while he talked with the rebate center.  When he returned, he said that the rebate center had confirmed the same thing.  He even gave me the rebate center rep name and number in case anything goes wrong.

The idea here is to go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall to Staples.com. Once there, buy 10 copies of this “Free After Rebate” downloadable software product for $35 each. You will get 2 points per dollar from the Ultimate Rewards Mall and another 5 points per dollar if you pay with your Chase Ink card, or another 1 point per dollar if you pay with a standard point earning credit card. This means that you will earn 2,450 Free Ultimate Rewards points with your Ink card or 1,050 points with another card. See Preparing for Miles for more info about the Ink and other cards.

Staples has an amazingly easy “Easy Rebate” system. Once you purchase the software, they send you a rebate link via email. You click the link, fill out a little bit of info and you’re done. Note that you will have to wait a while, though. It may take as much as 6 to 8 weeks to receive your check.

Here are the steps to follow:

Step 1: Go to Staples via the Ultimate Rewards Mall:

Step 2: Add up to ten copies of “Trend Micro Titanium Antivirus + 2012 (1-User)” to your cart:

TIP: Search for item 368658

Step 3: Check out

TIP 1: If you have a Chase Ink card that gives 5X for office supplies, use it!

TIP 2: Your state may charge sales tax. If you know someone in a state that doesn’t charge sales tax for downloadable internet orders (CA, NH, etc.), then set their address as the delivery address and no tax will be charged. This is a download only purchase anyway, so nothing will really be delivered. I picked “deliver to store” and picked a store in New Hampshire. Of course, there won’t really be anything to pick up.

Step 4: Submit Easy Rebates

You will receive an email from Staples with a link in it for submitting the rebate form. It’s easy!

TIP 1: Even though you bought 10 copies, you only have to fill out one rebate form. Note that it can take 6 to 8 weeks (or longer) to get your rebate.

TIP 2: The software rebate can be changed from a Visa gift card to a check! See screen shots (taken from a prior order):

Q&A:

Per Household Limit

• Q: How do you know that we can buy 10? I don’t see that restriction anywhere
  
• A: See “Can I really buy 10” for a walkthrough of how to find that information.
  

Per Household Limit, Question 2

• Q: Can I buy 10 copies for every friend I know?
  
• A: I don’t recommend it. I know at least one person who tried to buy two sets of 10 that way, but Staples did not approve the second set of rebates. I don’t know how they figured it out.
  

Status = Researching

• Q: The status of my order says “researching”. What’s up with that?
  
• A: Staples needs to verify your order. Sometimes this happens if you have the wrong email address or phone number on file. Simply give them a call or do an online chat with them to verify the information they need. Once that is done, they’ll confirm the order.
  

Promotional Items

• Q: The Staples’ Terms and Conditions in the Ultimate Rewards Mall says that promotional items are excluded. Aren’t these free after rebate items “promotional”?
  
• A: I’ve done this many times now, and my Ultimate Rewards points posted quickly each time. So, either these items are not considered promotional, or Staples doesn’t enforce that restriction.
  

Do I have to use a Chase credit card?

• Q: If I go through the Ultimate Rewards Mall to Staples, do I have to pay with a Chase credit card in order to get bonus points from the mall?
• A: No, you can use any credit card.  For details and information about risks involved please see Ultimate Question.

Number of Rebate Forms

• Q: I bought 10 copies of the software. Does that mean I have to fill out the rebate form 10 times.
  
• A: Nope. If you buy multiple copies of a single item in one transaction, you only need to fill out the rebate form once. Really. I promise.
  

Rebate Time

• Q: How long will it take for my rebate to arrive?
  
• A: The Staples web site says to expect 6 to 8 weeks. My first rebates arrived after about 5 weeks so it looks like Staples’ estimate is fairly accurate.
  

Number of Checks

• Q: I bought 10 copies of the software. Will I receive 10 small checks or one big check?
  
• A: One big check.
  

Download

• Q: Do I have to download this software so that I can qualify for the rebate?
  
• A: No! I didn’t download any of the software I bought, but the first rebates processed successfully.

Do Good

• Q: I don’t need this software.  Is there someone I can send the license keys to that could make good use of this stuff?
  
• A: You can check with your local schools or libraries.  Reader Ajit, for example, says he has been using the software to help a school in India.  In case you want to contribute to his non-profit work:

Please send license keys to: info@shantibhavanonline.org
And please put ‘Staples License Key’ in the title. Our non-profit has been profiled in the New York Times, ABC World News, the Discovery Channel and so on–we do some good work with very underprivileged kids in India, and free software like this is definitely helpful!

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.