Staples is offering a rebate on MasterCard gift card purchases this week:   Buy $300 or more of MasterCard gift cards at Staples stores from July 12 through July 18 to receive a $15 Staples gift card after easy rebate.    There is only one rebate per household.

If you can find MasterCard gift cards in the $200 denominations, $15 would be more than the fees you would incur for purchasing $300 of MasterCard gift cards so you would be earning some extra profit. Unfortunately, this rebate is not as good as Staples usual easy rebates on gift cards.  Staples usually offers a $20 Visa prepaid gift card or a $20 Staples gift card.  This is only a rebate for a $15 Staples gift card so there is less profit.

MasterCard gift cards can be used as pin enabled “debit cards”.  I have not loaded these in a few months at Walmart, but in my experience they are a bit trickier to use at the register at Walmart to load Bluebird (have to hit change payment button really quick). I have had no issues at the Walmart kiosk.

How Much Can You Earn?

How much points you earn depends on the credit card you will use.  The best cards to use cards that earn 5% in office supply stores. The amount of money you earn will depend on what gift card denominations you purchase.   Staples offers MasterCard gift cards in $100 and $200 denominations with fees of $5.95 and $6.95 respectively.  Ideally, your local Staples will carry $200 MasterCard gift cards because with $100 gift cards the rebate is less than the fees. Below is a breakdown of how much money and how many points you can earn depending on which denominations you choose.

Option 1: Two (2) $200 MasterCard gift cards

• In my opinion this is the best option and would earn the maximum number of points.
• Fees equal $13.90 so you would net a profit of $1.10 after rebate.
• If you use a card that earns 5% at office supply stores you will earn 2,069 points, if you use a typical 1% credit card you will earn 414 miles/points.

Option 2: One (1) $200 MasterCard gift card + one (1) $100 MasterCard gift card

• This would be the best option if you want to earn most profit.  You will earn slightly less points than option number 1.
• Fees equal $12.90 so you would net a profit of $2.10 after rebate.
• If you use a card that earns 5% at office supply stores you will earn 1,564 points, if you use a typical 1% credit card you will earn 313 points.

Option 3: Three (3) $100 MasterCard Gift cards -Worst Option

• This option might be your only choice if your Staples store does not stock or has run out of $200 gift cards. It is the worse option as it has the highest amount of fees and the fees are less than the rebate.
• Fees equal $17.85 so you would not earn a profit.  You would incur fees of $2.85 after rebate.
• If you use a card that earns 5% at office supply stores you will earn 1,589 points, if you use a typical 1% credit card you will earn 318 points.
• Personally, I would skip this option 3 if not using a 5% card.  Unless using a card that earns 5%, it would probably be better to find $500 gift cards at a grocery store to meet minimum spending requirements on credit cards.

How Do Staples Rebates Work? For anyone unfamiliar with the Staples Easy Rebates process here is how it works:

1. Buy at least $300 in MasterCard gift cards using your credit card at a Staples store.  The cashier will hand you a rebate form with your receipt.  There is only one rebate per household so you could use the address of a friend or family member to earn more than one rebate.
2. Complete and submit your rebate form.  I like to do mine online at stapleseasyrebates.com and it only takes a minute or two.
3. A few weeks later you will receive your $15 Staples gift card by mail.