[Expired] Staples: No Purchase Fee On $200 Visa Gift Cards (2/23-2/29); Stack With Amex Offer or Chase Offer

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• Anybody had issue using these vgc cards? I bought one today. Checked balance online, it's $200. But I cannot use it on any online purchase. All declined. I have not tried in store purchase yet. This vgc is issued by NetBank.

  • Here is an update: this morning I tried again and the card is working now. As I suspected, it took a couple days to activate the card. This is the first time for me that the activation is not instant. I normally buy vgc from grocery store or OfficeMax, and it was always instantly usable. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

  • Used mine online at State Farm earlier today. Registered it first though.

    • Awesome)

      • I might have lucked out, who knows. Hope it's not a problem with the other ones. I'd hate to fall into that trouble so many had with the mastercards earlier.

  • I assume you mean MetaBank.

    • Yes, metabank. Sorry. It was auto correction by the input.

  • @guest_924390 Did you register them for using online ?

    • I did not registere at first. I then registered and tried again, still does not work.

      • @guest_924390 . Hmm, this is alarming. Some possibilities: 1) you tried using it on a foreign website; 2) it was not declined, but your order did not process - have you checked the transactions, is there a hold posted ? 3) something is wrong with the card/Metabank. You can try loading a few bucks to your amazon GC balance with this card. That would be a more definitive test. Oh, option 4) you did not input the card numbers correctly when trying to pay.

        • I did not use it on foreign websites. I did double check the card numbers. There was no hold on the card. I may wait a few days to see if it will work. If I go back to Staples and ask for a refund, would they allow that?

        • @guest_924390 No, they will not take back your card in-store. The first step would be to call the number on the back of your GC and ask them to look into your issue.

        • Thanks.

  • purchased today, loaded to BB with no issue.

    • Thanks. I have bought the same vgc (metabank) before at the grocery stores and can use it immediately without problems. This issue seems to be the same as last Staples mgc online deal.

• So all 4 of my Chase Buisness cards had the $30 off $100.
  I have the Ink cash, ink unlimited, Southwest performance, and Buisness checking. Went to the Park City Staples store and got 2 $200 visa cards and asked the lady if I could do a $100 on each card. She was cool. Did $100 on each.
  So $400 for $120 back plus $5 ink cash $1.5 ink unlimited $1 for the rest. So a grand total of $271.50!

  • Did you ask if you could buy one $200 Visa card with each of your four Chase cards? That would maximize your rewards.

    • No... $100 on IU+SW, $100 on checking+CIC. Any additional should be on CIC.

      • He failed to maximize the UR points on the Ink Cash card.

        • How so? He had to spend $100 on each card. Think $120 cash back and 850 UR (500 +150+100=100) points worked pretty darn good for him.

        • If he had spent $200 on the Ink Cash, that purchase alone would have generated 1,000 UR points. Opportunity lost.

        • Lol I dont want $600 in Visa Gift cards dude. I Missed out on $5 lol not having to spend $600. I maximized the 4 cards with spending the least on gift cards. You had to put $100 on each card to get the $30 and my ink card gave me an additional 500 UR points. Cost me $271.50 for $400. I call that a slick-deal.

        • I lost out on more. Accidentally charged $100 to my freedom. So not only did 'lose' out on $5 (vs CIC), I have to make another trip to use up the offer on the CIP. (CIP+CIC)

        • But then he'd have to buy another one. He had 4 cards with the $30 offer. For his purchase of 2 x $200 Visa cards, if he put $200 on the CIC, yes he'd get 1K UR points instead of 500 but he'd lose $30 (and 100 UR) on the card that had the offer. (99% sure my math is right on that. :))

          If he bought more, of course you use the CIC exclusively, but for the two cards, he maximized it.

        • What’s wrong with buying another card? Yes, he maximized two gift cards, but he could have maximized three! Missed opportunity! “But then he’d have to buy another one.” Heaven forbid!

        • As he points out, he didn't want that many cards. I don't like to have too many around either, I have no ways to liquidate in my area so I get it. I have to use for organic spend and I don't have many expenses that I don't already get 5% on. I was only pointing out that he maximized his profit with what he had.

        • This Guy worried about me missing $5 so much lol. I could have bought $2000 worth of cards on my ink cash and get $100(10,000 UR) but I dont want that many stinking Visa gift cards.

• Sweet, I just got $10 back on $100 spent in Staples on both my Chase Ink Cash and Chase Ink Preferred. This would imply I will score $ 20 back and 600 Ultimate Rewards Points if I split into two cards.

• *sigh* Sometimes I REALLY wish there weren't such tight velocity limits on deals like this primarily from the perspective of being able to leave my reluctant Player 2 out of the whole game... I feel terrible having to ask for her help knowing the near-literal pain and suffering she experiences with MS purchases and unloads! And it definitely doesn't help that the Chase offers ended up on her cards. 🙄

• My staples was out of gift cards on second day. The new manager at this store moved from a different store 5 miles away and last time that store when he was there was out on the second day too. I suspect the manager is holding back. Worth filing an FTC complaint for bait and switch?

  • Really? Drive 5 miles and check out his old store. Seems you are jumping to conclusions on this one. Good luck.

    • I hit both the stores every time. Whichever store the manager is at runs out on the second day. The cashier double-checks with the manager before saying we have run out. I think the manager tells them not to sell the cards.

• I'm new to this. Could someone let me know if purchasing VGC from Staples is recognized as eligible PURCHASE by AMEX CC that towards the minimum spending requirement of their welcome bonus? Thanks!

  • https://www.doctorofcredit.com/is-it-safe-to-manufacture-spend-to-meet-the-signup-bonus-spend-requirement/

  • No gift cards are eligible purchases toward Amex welcome bonus. And Staples sends L3 data so Amex knows exactly what you buy.

    • Wow, I had to google L3 data and learned new knowledge! Thanks. I used to buy store GC from Trader Joe and it was recognized as eligible purchase toward Amex welcome bonus. So my understanding is that the difference here is merchants, that Trader Joe's doesn't send L3 data and Staples does, is that right?

      • Not necessarily. TJ's may provide L3, but is currently such small potatoes that AMEX isn't cracking down yet. Or it may not provide L3 data. MS on Amex is trial and error at this point.

• Lucked out with two stores allowing me to split tender. Always cashier dependent.

  • That's so interesting. I've never had a problem with it. I even had a new cashier yesterday who had to call the manager over to show him how to split-tender and there was no issue.

    • Have three stores in my area, and the responses range from "on gift cards? absolutely not" to "sure how many ways".. some will let me buy multiple, others are sticklers for one, complete crapshoot going to staples

  • In my experience splitting tender at Staples is not an issue, unlike buying multiple VGCs with this promo.

  • Yep, I got one to allow me to split tender today. 👍🏿

• Teller wouldn’t allow split transactions. He said Never for GiftCards! Lol okay I’ll take a visa and gas card then. My local staples enforce one per visit for sure.

• Dang. Dropped by my local reliable Staples only to find that they are still out of VGCs from the last deal. Looks like I am not the only one. ) :

  • Score! Went back yesterday just to see if they re-stocked and they sure did! I know they will go fast.

• Heads up - Staples is still available on Payce (paycepays.com) for 5% cashback, up to $5.

  • @guest_915159 , thanks for mentioning that, would have forgot to re-activate my offer there.

    That said, what is your experience with them actually paying out balances?

    (I started using them in early December, and so far all my tracked Earnings stay in the "pending" stage. So zero cashback yet... :( )

    • Don't expect much. Almost never track for me. Payout is 50-50 at best!

      • Do you usually see the transaction as pending for a while and then it goes poof when it's supposed to become payable? Or does it just not show up in your Payce history at all?

    • My December purchases for VGC's at Staples & OD are also still pending, but I did get to cash out about $60 from some gift cards I bought in summer 2019 so fingers crossed their tracking system let's us keep the cash again!