The Offer
- Use the promotional code “51520” and receive a discount of $5 when you spend $50 or more at Staples.
The Fine Print
- Valid until December 24th, 2014
- Valid online only
- Limit one coupon code per customer
- Not valid on the following purchases:
- Amazon Kindle®
- Apple® products, Beats™ products
- Bose® products
- Canon® ink
- Epson® ink and toner
- HP ink and toner
- Roku® products
- SquareTrade® warranties
- Staples Industrial purchases
- Steelcase® products
- custom printing orders placed online services
- promotional products
- Gift cards
Our Verdict
Whilst the fine print excludes gift cards, the coupon applies fine and works when ordering them. You should be able to get around the limit of one coupon code per user by using guest checkout and incognito mode in chrome.
[Read: Best credit cards for office supply store purchases]
Your best bet would be to use a Visa business card that earns 5% cashback/points on office supply stores and can be enrolled in Visa Savings Edge. Here is the profitability of doing this:
- Purchase $200 Visa gift card which comes with a $6.95 activation fee (-$206.95)
- Apply promotional code and receive $5 off (+$5)
- Use a credit card that is enrolled in Visa Savings Edge to get 1% statement credit (+$2.0195)
- Use a credit card that earns 5% cash back on office supply stores (+$10.0975)
In the end you’ll be making a profit of $10.167 per gift card.
A lot of people are reporting that they’ve had issues with similar deals in the past which has lead to their account being shut down and their IPs banned. I’ve never personally experienced this and have purchased a lot of Visa gift cards using similar promotional codes, but it’s something you should be aware of especially considering the fine print specifically excludes promo codes.
Hat tip to tommythe from fatwallet who posted this deal two days ago, thanks to DansDeals for making me aware of it
