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Reselling: Staples
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Finding product to resell can be a real challenge, especially when you don’t know where to look. So, to make that process easier, I’ve been putting together store specific reselling guides like this one. You can check out my previous store guide (Kohl’s) here.
Staples is very similar to Kohl’s in the sense that they both have generous rewards programs, portals, and coupons. All three of those traits make for a very resale friendly store. In fact, I’d say it’s probably my favorite store to source from. Why, you ask? We’ll get to that in a minute.
If you’re new to reselling or want a refresher, you can check out my reselling guides here.
Coupons
Staples releases new coupons to the masses every Sunday. These coupons can vary from 25% off of a certain product to $5 off a $25 purchase. It’s pretty random, but almost every week there’s something good. You can view their coupons at staples.com/coupons.
These coupons usually come with a mile long disclaimer list, so it’s important to look that over before planning a purchase around it. For example, the $75 off a PC regularly priced $529 or more specifically excludes clearance PCs. That’s a bummer, because that coupon would work best on clearance items. In fact, based on a quick search it’s the only thing that coupon would work well on.
In addition to the weekly coupons, there are also much more valuable coupons such as $30 off $60, $25 off $75, $10 off $50, and $5 off $25 that Staples sends out periodically. There’s no real rhyme or reason as to who, what, where, when, or why they send these out, but there is an easy way to obtain them; eBay.
You can search eBay at any time and find multiple Staples coupons costing $5-$15. That may seem like a lot for a coupon, but spending $15 to save $30 is a no brainer. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a coupon expiring relatively soon that the seller wants to get rid of ASAP. Those tend to be the cheapest, because of the time crunch. That’s why I usually wait until right before I’m ready to purchase my items at Staples, before buying a coupon.
You can get a $10 off $50 coupon by signing up for Staples’ newsletter. There have been reports on Slickdeals, that Gmail emails do not work for this coupon, so you might need to make a new email for this coupon. You can also usually get $5 off $25 by signing up for their text alerts. Only sign-up if you see the flyer in store though, because that deal changes often.
Notes
- Most coupons cannot be combined. Occasionally, you’ll find exceptions to this rule, but not often.
- You can use two coupons on an order as long as they don’t overlap. For example, you can have one coupon take $25 off a tablet and another coupon take $50 off a computer, but you cannot have a coupon for $25 off a tablet and 25% off your order.
- As “A Passerby” pointed out in the comments, there have been reports of people’s accounts being blacklisted by Staples for using too many coupons.
Staples Rewards
Staples Rewards is one of the most generous store-specific rewards programs out there. They offer up to 5% back in rewards on almost all purchases. It’s a pretty sweet deal. To get 5% back, you need be a Premier member, which just means you need to spend $1,000 annually. That shouldn’t be very hard though, considering the resale opportunities.
Reward Dollars
You can earn rewards by making purchases at Staples and by recycling ink. Those rewards usually expire 2-6 months after you earn them, so you’ll want to plan on using them pretty quick. They can be used on basically anything in the store, except for gift cards.
Notes
- You can use as many rewards coupons on an order as you like.
- The order has to cost more than the amount the rewards coupon(s) are for.
- Rewards coupons are applied before tax, which saves you some money.
- Rewards coupons can be applied with coupons.
Portals
Staples is not only generous with their rewards program and coupons, but also with their portal offerings. Commonly, you can find a portal offering 5% cash back or more!
Notes
- Portals do not pay out on redeemed rewards coupons.
- Shop Discover, does not always track purchases made with non-Discover cards, so I’d suggest using a different portal if you have an Ink card.
- Portals do not pay out for Visa or MasterCard gift cards.
FAR Items
Staples sells FAR (Free After Rebate) items throughout the year that can be resold for a small profit. The process works like this:
- First, you buy a FAR item.
- Second, you fill out an online form.
- Third, you receive your refund check or rebate card.
It’s that easy.
Notes
- It takes about 2-4 weeks to receive your rebate, so you will need to float the money for a while.
- FAR items are limited to 1 or 2 per household, so they’re not very scalable.
- These items are good at turning rewards into cash.
Notes
- Ink cards give 5X points on all Staples purchases, so I highly suggest using them when purchasing product from Staples.
- Visa SavingsEdge gives you 1% cash back on all Staples purchases over $200. This can add a little extra profit to your reselling.
- Staples will match any major retailer’s price, including Amazon. Occasionally, they’ll even let you use a coupon on top of the price match, but that is YMMV.
- Stapling is a great way to compliment your Staples reselling.
Conclusion
Staples is well-known for being overpriced, but when you combine coupons, Staples Rewards, portals, and an Ink card you can really come out on top. So, if you’re thinking about getting into reselling or expanding your reselling horizons, Staples is the store to shop.
If you have any Staples tips I missed, please leave them in the comments.
