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The Offer
Direct link to offer ( p7)
- Staples is offering no purchase fees on $200 Mastercard gift cards at Staples stores.
The Fine Print
- Valid December 1st until December 7th
Our Verdict
Use a card that earns at a high rate on office supply stores. There is also an amex offer for 35% back at office supply stores. Keep in mind the issues with Mastercard gift cards currently.
Hat tip to GC Galore
Good News! My dispute cases with BHN were resolved in my favor. Just got the email seconds ago.
you may want to reach out to Blackhawk Network again to check on the status of your dispute. I just did and they informed me that my disputes were deficient a written explanation of the incidents and voided receipts.
I had already informed them that there were no receipts produced as a result of the “NOT AUTHORIZED” transactions. Additionally, I had already explained through the forms and through conversation with their phone agents the circumstances behind the failed transactions. Nevertheless, they created new requirements for this dispute. Also, they told me that they had attempted to reach out to me about these deficiencies, but I have no record of this. In fact, every interaction I have had with their dispute department has been at my initiation.
I get the feeling I am getting the run-around.
Link to FTC complaint assistant:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#crnt&panel1-1
Loaded all $200s to gobank w/o issue
How do you load the cards to gobank? Can you do it directly, or do you need to get MOs first?
is the problem with draining the entire balance limited to buying MOs, or is it any transaction?
i use the visa GCs to pay utility bills, and occasionally, to pay music teachers (sending money via paypal). but these MCs make me nervous.
Used 2 MCGC on plastiq to pay tuition. Processed already.
My store allowed $2000. I did 2 transactions of $1000. Kinda wishing I added a candy bar to make it an odd amount. Liquidating via Plastiq.
liquidating via platistiq….. Very interesting. How does one accomplish this?
You just register an account and use the credit card & prepaid cards (giftcard) to pay for bills like tuition, rent, phone bills, etc. Usually, Plastiq charges a fee for credit card and prepaid cards (giftcard) but when referred, there is a waiver of fees for new member’s second $500 transfer (referral code if interested: 1320109).
In my experience, Visa giftcards are more restrictive on Plastiq as the most common visa cards are explicitly prohibited in the plastiq policy but some are possible (never tried since the rep told me no). I usually buy Mastercard giftcards (2 times- $200 per) to send tuition payment and ONCE sent $200 to pay my Discover credit card bill (surprised it worked because everyone said no but I don’t want to risk my account getting shut down so I will only send tuition from now on). Let me know if you dare and it works with no repercussion.
Plastiq makes sense if you have enough fee waivers unless you are willing to pay the 2% fee to transfer which is a debate if you are willing to pay that difference for credit card points or cash back.
*Update. Just tried to use a visa giftcard on plastiq to pay tuition and it actually accepted the card!!! However, the Amex giftcard did not but it may be due to me activating a few minutes before trying to use or the several attempted submission prior to submission. I will update if the Visa gc actually went through to tuition since the rep told me no before.
Update*** visa gc has a $5 fee, Mastercard $3 fee, and simon mall vcgc $2.50 fee. *** not 100% sure about the mcgc fee but certain about the other two. Only noticed due to the contrast
My store only allow 1 card per day and most time I pick something useful at clearance section for less than $1 to mix it up with my purchase even though my Amex can see what I buy.
Went to Staples and only allowed one, no coupon print out for me. Went across street and used it and bought a $199 money order from a grocery store (they don’t allow split payment).
Does this MCGC have a default pin like VGC? Is it the last 4 digits of the card? Or did you have to set one up to purchase MO? Thx
Yes, I don’t have time to reset or change pin, I always use last 4# unless comes with pin number slip. In this case at Staples, both VGC and mcgc default last 4 or maybe any 4# of 1st time you use.
My local Staples store limited me to one card, but there was a $10 off $10 purchase coupon printed on the receipt. I believe you have to use your Staples Rewards number to get this type of coupon. The best I’ve seen in the past is $10 off a $20 purchase.
No.
just buy paper towels or anything else you might need for the house. free is free 😀
Does this MCGC have a default pin like VGC? Is it the last 4 digits of the card? Or did you have to set one up to purchase MO? Thx
Saying it again – Credit card benefits like price, return, and warranty protection get gutted. These deals are around ~1-2 weeks a month. Zero AF and 5% OSS back cards are everywhere.
It’s harder to argue base opportunity cost is still 2%.
passing on this as not worth dealing with funds being phantom drained. to EVERYONE doing it leave a small balance on each card just in case
What does it mean to be phantom drained. I have like 10 of these and never had a problem
In the post you can see a link for the “issues with Mastercard gift cards”
It seems to be a problem if trying to buy MO with it at some places. Personally, I drain them at places like Costco for gift cards since I don’t have another avenue. I didn’t have any issues with a single use doing it.
The best way to use these gift cards is just to spend them all at once. Pay your phone/cable bill (you can overpay if you want) or buy a gift card for a store that you shop at.
So I have a prepaid Mastercard gift card from a rebate that can get 5% cash back from retailers and Staples is one of them. Exclusions do say purchases of gift cards with this prepaid card will not qualify for 5% cash back. But do they really know I bought a $200 Mastercard from Staples and not give the cash back? The prepaid card can be accessed from myprepaidcenter.com in case anyone was wondering about what kind of card I have.
Just used the small leftovers today from a 5% MC back from buying VGC at Staples. To answer your question, yes, it works at Staples when I used to buy VGC 2 weeks ago. May take few days for the 5% show up.
Could you please share which prepaid MC gives 5% cash back at staples? TIA.
Most of the rebate cards I’ve gotten have the 5% back feature. A recent one I got from a GM rebate for example.