Staples: No Activation Fee on $200 Mastercard Gift Cards (3/24-3/30)

Update 3/21/24: Deal is back from 3/24 – 3/30 (ht GC Galore)

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • Staples stores will be selling $200 Mastercard gift cards with the $6.95 activation fee waived.

The Fine Print

  • Limit 8 per customer per day; check with your local store to see their rules
  • In-store only

Our Verdict

As always remember to use a card that earns at a high rate on office supply store purchases. Or stack with a Chase  Offer or use your Amex Business Gold for the $20 office supply credit.

Update History:

  • Update 2/22/24: Deal is back from 2/25 – 3/2
  • Update 1/25/24: Deal is coming back for 1/28 – 2/3 (ht GCGalore)
  • Update 12/28/23: Deal is coming back soon for 12/31 – 1/6. Limit 8. (ht kawnipi)
  • Update 12/3/23: Deal is back this week 12/3 – 12/9. Limit 8. (ht Emi S)
  • Update 11/2/23: Deal is coming back for the week of 11/5 – 11/11. Limit 8. (ht kawnipi)
  • Update 10/5/23: Deal is back 10/8 – 10/14
  • Update 9/7@3: Deal is back for 9/10 – 9/16. Limit 8 this time. (ht captduk)
  • Update 8/10/23: Deal is coming back soon for 8/13 – 8/19. Back down to a maximum of 5 cards this time. (ht kawnipi)
  • Update 7/13/23: Deal is back from 7/16 – 7/22
  • Update 6/18/21: Deal is back and valid 6/18 – 6/24 (ht GCG). Stack with Chase Offer for 10% back.
  • Update 5/18/21: Deal is back and valid 5/21 – 5/27
  • Update 4/20/23: Deal is back and valid 4/23 – 4/29.
  • Update 3/23/23: Deal is back and valid until 3/26 – 4/1.
  • Update 2/23/23: Back until 2/26 – 3/4.
  • Update 1/26/23: Deal will be back and valid until 1/29 – 2/4 with a max of 8 this time. (ht kawnipi)
  • Update 7/14/22: Deal is back, valid from 7/17 until 7/23
  • Update 12/1/22: Deal is back and valid until 12/4 – 12/10. Hat tip to GC Galore
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TDD
TDD (@guest_1821083)
March 27, 2024 22:13

Man, I went over to my local Staples and was lucky to find 5 cards. But, sh!t, there were probably 5 or 6 full racks of $200 cards just completely cleaned out.

2girls1boy
2girls1boy (@guest_1820790)
March 27, 2024 16:25

I had 2 visa gift cards compromised and 1 mastercard. I’m in the process of filing the dispute. I would recommend draining them quickly. All my fraud happened around March 12th. Just be aware. I’ve not had any trouble for 2 years when I started buying these but now i’ve got 3 cards with issues. MC was registered. Visa was not.

NOVA
NOVA (@guest_1820555)
March 27, 2024 09:58

Assuming this doesn’t work on the variable 20-200 cards like it does at OD

Northernva
Northernva (@guest_1820287)
March 26, 2024 20:34

Was able to purchase 5 vgc cards at local staples. This is after not finding any 200 vgc or mc card for months at local staples or OD.

Northernva
Northernva (@guest_1820288)
March 26, 2024 20:35

I meant i was was able to purchase mc cards today.

Anayansi
Anayansi (@guest_1819483)
March 25, 2024 14:10

Can MCGC also be used for student loan payments and go towards a minimum spend? I know VCG can go toward a minimum spend and be used for loans if you call.

Churny McChurn
Churny McChurn (@guest_1821331)
March 28, 2024 09:50

Be the DP you want to see!

Anayansi
Anayansi (@guest_1819481)
March 25, 2024 14:06

Can you also use MCGC to pay off your student loans and count toward a minumum spend? I know you can do it with VCG, but just wanted to make sure.

Larry
Larry (@guest_1819472)
March 25, 2024 13:55

Are there any specific problems with MCGC vs VCG in connecting them to PayPal and paying bills? Any specific issues?

Novacat05
Novacat05 (@guest_1819507)
March 25, 2024 15:16

I never had any luck with MCGCs. VGCs always worked for PayPal bill pay.

You are lucky if your provider is still listed, PayPal removed a TON of providers/companies from the service recently. I hit it hard for years, with 5 figure total spend, $200 at a time to get 5% off prop taxes and electric/gas bills. Didn’t really have any issues.

Larry
Larry (@guest_1819513)
March 25, 2024 15:28

So – MCGC cannot be connected to PayPal? What kind of problems have you encountered?

A M 🔗
A M 🔗 (@guest_1819461)
March 25, 2024 13:25

You can buy these with cash, right? Dumb question maybe, but I have a bunch of cash that I want to pay my insurance bill with

John
John (@guest_1819474)
March 25, 2024 13:57

That’s a shittychurning material. Actually I don’t even know what you would be churning that way.
Why not pay your bill with a credit card that you already have? Or better yet, why can’t you apply for a credit card with SUB and pay your bill with that?

These giftcards are for people who use them to get cash equivalent in manufactured spending or lower fees for services that would otherwise impose higher fees with credit cards, for example tax payments.

A M 🔗
A M 🔗 (@guest_1819476)
March 25, 2024 13:59

You’re right of course

I’m not churning, though. Just don’t have a bank account that takes cash deposits (only Fidelity debit card) to deposit the cash. That’s a dumb reason, I know. Still, I don’t use cash for everyday purchases so I want to get rid of it in a way that’s accessible to me at the momentb

Q
Q (@guest_1819553)
March 25, 2024 16:42

Echoing others, I would open a (nearly) fee free account at a local bank and just deposit the cash. It’s hard to bank 100% online.

Some (nearly) fee free accounts:

BMO Smart Advantage Checking (free)Wells Fargo Everyday Checking (min $500 in account to keep fee free)US Bank Gold Checking (free if you have any US bank credit card)Huntington Asterisks Free Checking (free)

John
John (@guest_1819712)
March 25, 2024 23:00

Time to hit that $300 Chase Checking promo then.

Bockrr
Bockrr (@guest_1820221)
March 26, 2024 19:17

Discover allows you to deposit cash at Walmart and Chime at Walgreens if you have or want either of those

Matt
Matt (@guest_1819486)
March 25, 2024 14:13

I wouldn’t this is shitty churning material. I have the Chase Ink Cash and using these to pay utilities, insurance, groceries, Target, Walmart, or anything I would normally charge that doesn’t have a good multiplier in my Chase trifecta setup gets covered. It really helps gets 5x on purchases that normally have no multiplier. Unfortunately the Chase trifecta, like every other ecosystem, isn’t perfect.

John
John (@guest_1819711)
March 25, 2024 22:58

Right, but A M wanted to buy these with actual cash, not ink cash.

Doggo
Doggo (@guest_1819503)
March 25, 2024 14:59

just deposit your cash to a bank account, pay the insurance bill with CC and pay the CC bill with the bank?

devin
devin (@guest_1819457)
March 25, 2024 13:22

Any data points on using MGC to pay taxes to the IRS?

John
John (@guest_1819477)
March 25, 2024 14:00

Not an answer to your question but I couldn’t even pay my taxes with CIC today at payusatax. Card error or some bullshit like that on the first page. Not even on the second page where it actually runs the card. Had to use paypal.
I don’t know what they are doing…

Celia 🔗
Celia 🔗 (@guest_1819574)
March 25, 2024 17:10

I run into issues periodically when using a biz card to pay my taxes. It’s hit or miss so I usually end up using PayPal as well.

Matt
Matt (@guest_1820700)
March 27, 2024 13:52

Yeah, that’s a longtime known issue. Chase business cards sometimes don’t work for tax payments. PayPal is the easy workaround.

Gerald
Gerald (@guest_1819494)
March 25, 2024 14:32

Since you’re restricted in the number of payments you can make, it’s better to use larger denominations. I use $500 VGCs. I don’t think I’ve ever tried MCGCs, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t work.

AM
AM (@guest_1819427)
March 25, 2024 11:41

Affirm.com is a great option for making purchases greater that $200. Affirm only accepts MGCs and not VGCs.

Doggo
Doggo (@guest_1819432)
March 25, 2024 11:49
  AM

So does it combine your MCGCs as some sort of virtual card you can use for online shopping and in store like apple pay but thru their app? Skimmed their website but didn’t see anything about fees? TIA

Alex
Alex (@guest_1819512)
March 25, 2024 15:28

Many online stores already offer Affirm option. You can install Affirm’s extension browser and it will automatically pup up. For stores that don’t offer Affirm you can get a Affirm virtual card for the specific amount you want. Affirm offers several payment option and there is always one without any fees. After you use the virtual card, you can pay the full amount with MCGCs.