Reselling Staples Purchases Part 3

Reselling Staples Purchases Part 1
Reselling Staples Purchases Part 2
Reselling Staples Purchases Part 3

Mail In Rebates

Staples has a fairly painless online submission process for your rebates (my shopping trip included three types: check, Visa gift card, Staples gift card).

Step 1: Visit http://stapleseasyrebates.com as soon as you get home from making your purchases (so you don’t forget/lose your receipt).

Reselling Staples Purchases

 

Step 2: Click on “In a Store” and enter your “Easy Rebate ID” which you will find at the very bottom of your receipt.  I was impressed that all the rebates on my receipts had the same Easy Rebate ID, meaning I only had to enter the ID once and it pulled up all of the rebates associated with my items.

Reselling Staples Products

Step 3: Enter all of your contact info and submit your rebate.

Step 4: In a few days, return to the website and click on “Track a Rebate”.  This will show you all the rebates that are being processed.  Note: If you purchase two of the same items that are both eligible for the rebate, don’t be surprised if it only shows one to start.  Once the rebate processes, you will see both items listed.  In my example below, the “Rebate Offer” line has been changed to “Updated FH for $120” from the original $60 because I purchased two of the Laminators.  It takes a (long) while to process, but you can check the progress on the website.

Reselling Staples Purchases

 

Step 5: Get paid.  My first rebate (the $20 Staples card for the Keurig) came 4 weeks later.  The rest of the rebates come in a couple of days after that.

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Staples Rewards

Assuming you have given your Staples Rewards number at check out (you can print a barcoded membership card that the cashier can scan), your rewards will automatically be applied to your account.

Like the rebates, the Rewards will take some time to show up in your account.  The website states that it can take 3 weeks AFTER the reporting month has closed.  So if you make a purchase on the first of the month it could take up to 8 weeks to post to your account.

My purchases never showed up in my account so I ended up chatting with one of the customer service reps online.  A a few days later the purchases showed up in my account history with correct Rewards listed.

Once your Rewards post, you can go in and print your Rewards voucher.  Rewards expire the last day of the month after you receive the Reward.  If you are issued the Reward on June 18, it would expire July 31.

Word of Warning

Staples reserves the right to revoke your Rewards at any time for any reason.  From the website:

Abuse of the Program, including failure to follow or any attempts to circumvent Program policies and procedures or these Terms, or other improper conduct as determined by Staples in its sole discretion, is strictly forbidden. Abuse may result in cancellation of the Member’s account, future disqualification from Program participation, forfeiture of some or all Rewards and Recycling Rewards accrued, cancellation of previously issued but unused Rewards and Recycling Rewards and liability for past amounts of Rewards and Recycling Rewards redeemed. In addition, Staples reserves the right to take appropriate legal action as it deems necessary or desirable. The sale, barter or transfer of Rewards and Recycling Rewards, except by Staples, is expressly prohibited.

While it doesn’t say reselling products purchased at Staples is a violation (although reselling your Rewards is a violation), it would be within Staples’ rights to cancel your account for any reason they see fit.

I have tried to research this process as best I can, but do not take this as gospel.  Refer to Staples’ website and please let me know if there are errors in my posts.

I am not a financial expert; there may be tax repercussions for reselling products.  Try it at your own risk.

Conclusion

Reselling products as a way to manufacture spend on a credit card and even turn a profit is possible but risky.  If your item doesn’t sell, if it gets returned, if you run into problems with rebates or Rewards, you could be out money.  It also is very time consuming.

My experience only ended up netting me $350 in spend towards my credit card required minimum.  It would be much easier to churn a gift card or three.  However, if you pay attention and jump on special deals, you might be able to meet your minimum spend while making some money at the same time.

 

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