Staples: FREE Backpack, 1¢ items, + Lots More!

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Staples is at it again this week with great savings on back to school items! Beginning Sunday, July 25th, you can score some great deals. Keep in mind that unless otherwise mentioned, all of the deals below are valid for in-store purchases only.

Extreme Deals valid Sunday, July 25th through Wednesday, July 28th ONLY
* Staples Multi-Purpose Paper 500 sheets 1¢ after Easy Rebate (Limit 2 rebates per household)
* BIC Round Stik Ballpoint Pens 8 pack 1¢ (Limit 2 per household; must make minimum $5 purchase)

Weekly Deals (valid 7/25-7/31)

* Buy any backpack and Get 100% back in a Staples gift card
(Limit 1 rebate per household; this offer is valid in-store, online or by phone)

* Zebra Sarasa Retractable Gel Pens 5 pack $4.99 – $4.74 Easy Rebate = 25¢
(Limit 1 rebate per household)

* All Avery Heavy Duty View Binders Buy 2 Get 1 Free

* All Post-It Pop Up Notes 6 pack and Pop-Up Dispensers $6

All of these deals below are a limit of 2 per customer:
* Staples Hype! Pen-Style Assorted Highlighters 6 pack 25¢
* Really Useful Box 0.14 liter 25¢
* Scotch Shipping Tape with Dispenser $1 with in-ad coupon
* Ticonderoga #2 Pencils 12 pack $1 with in-ad coupon
* Scotch Magic Invisible Tape 3 pack $1 with in-ad coupon
* Staples Jumbo Glue Stick 2 pack $2 with in-ad coupon
* Double-Sided Dry Erase Board and Calendar $2 with in-ad coupon
* School Tool Kit $4 with in-ad coupon
* Westcott 8 inch Economy Scissors 3 pack $4 with in-ad coupon
* Pentel Wow! Retractable Ballpoint Pens 18 pack $4 with in-ad coupon

Moneymaking Deal Scenario (if your local Staples accepts competitor’s coupons):
Buy 1 High Sierra Sport Loop Day Backpack $39.99 (based on online price)
Buy 2 BIC Round Stik Ballpoint Pens 8 pack 1¢ each
Buy 1 Zebra Sarasa Retractable Gel Pens 5 pack $4.99
Buy 2 Staples Hype! Pen-Style Assorted Highlighters 6 pack 25¢ each
Buy 2 Really Useful Box 0.14 liter 25¢ each
Buy 1 Scotch Shipping Tape with Dispenser $1 with in-ad coupon
Buy 2 Ticonderoga #2 Pencils 12 pack $1 each with in-ad coupon
Buy 1 Scotch Magic Invisible Tape 3 pack $1 with in-ad coupon
Total $50
Use the $10/$50 Office Depot coupon found here
Pay $40
Submit for the Backpack rebate and get back a $39.99 Staples Gift card
Submit for $4.74 Zebra Sarasa Retractable Gel Pens Easy Rebate
Final Cost FREE + $4.75 moneymaker! Yay! 😀

**Remember that Staples Easy Rebates are just that, easy! Go on over here to read more about them. Basically you’ll be able to submit all your info online. You won’t even have to mail anything in– the best part in my opinion! You’ll receive your rebates within 4-6 weeks after submitting them!

Do you have a HUGE stockpile of Back to School items?! If so, you may want to consider donating some of these items! Through September 18th, you can donate school supplies to Do Something 101 via collection bins at all Staples store across the country.

Do you have any creative uses for Back to School items?! Check out this email from reader, Lisa, to learn how she puts her back to school supplies to use…

I buy as many of the plastic slider pencil cases that so many places have for either free of 25¢.  They fit 5 matchbox cars into them almost perfectly.  I then throw the box into my diaper bag or purse and always have a small toy to distract my kids at the doctor’s office or while waiting elsewhere. I also buy the slider index card boxes to keep flashcards or other card games in.  The cardboard boxes that these games usually come in don’t last too long, so I put them in the plastic cases for better wear and tear.

Do you have any unique or clever ideas that you would like to share?! Let us know!

(Thanks, Mojo Savings, The Thrifty Thumb, Chi-Town Cheapskate, and A Few Shortcuts!)

Join The Discussion

Comments 57

  1. nancy

    Hi ,
    I have a question about staples.
    A few weeks ago , I used my rebates ($26.??) to buy back to school stuff with and in that was realm of paper that if you buy one you get a rebate on it too.
    I saw my purchase posted on staples but no rebate back.
    do they let you buy and pay for your items with rebates that can allow yout to get a rebate back ?
    Like above , just one of the items I would have gotten a rebate back on. Thanks

    • mary

      Unfortunately, as i was told when I questioned my Duracell rebate, items you used rewards on will not receive another reward. He said it was written somewhere. I think it’s WRONG because it is a rebate technically they offer 🙁
      mary

      • silvia

        The same thing happened to me and I went on the live chat they have. I questioned the fact that before I bought the duracell I asked the cashier if I would get my rewards and she said I would. So when they told me about the policy I told them I felt the cashier either lied to me or was not trained to know her store policy they then offered me as a one time courtesy my $19.00 refund. And I just received it yesterday!!! So they should have done the same for you.

    • silvia

      I have used rewards on rebates and have received the rebates but not on rewards items. I hope this helps

  2. ChaCha mommy

    The pencil case idea is brilliant!!

  3. Ash

    Hi,

    Can anyone please help me in selecting a printer just for printing coupons alone. I don’t need any other features such as copier or scanner but please help me find one. Thanks in advance!

    • Tilla

      target usually sells a printer for around 24 dollars-29 dollars…these work great for coupon printage, be advised if you plant to print hundreds upon hundreds of coupons, ink will get expensive

    • Shelly T.

      Invest in a mono laser printer(will print in black only). Office Depot usually has really good deals on them. I print tons of coupons and we only have to replace our ink about once a year. Good Luck!

      • Barb

        There is a post on Hip2Save about printers. I read through all 200+ comments! I concluded that Brother had the most positive reviews, and hardly any negatives. So I just bought Brother HL-2170W at Staples and love it so far! It’s wireless so I can print from 2 laptops easily. Put it on toner save mode, so the toner should last a LONG time. This printer is onsale at Staples this week for 89.99…down from 149.99!

        • freida

          Plus there is a 20% off coupon

  4. Sandra

    I am a teacher so buying school supplies early is a must! I always have a few on hand for students that maybe couldn’t afford the many items on the list (and yes, I know there are SO many items, right? Does each kindergartener really use 8 gluesticks a year? Yes + the 60+ I buy as extras!). I use extra pencil box cases for game containers or loose puzzle pieces from a box that got destroyed. You can cut the top of the puzzle box and glue or tape it on the pencil box case for an easy label. I also use the cases for homemade games like “BANG!” to practice the 100 site words we learn each year. We also use the cheap folders for yearly portfolios and assessments, the cheap notebooks for journals and poetry journals, and the binders and “safe work keepers” to keep drifting eyes on their own paper. So many uses for the cheap school supplies! I LOVE IT! Thanks for the info of specials, I am always able to score great deals!

    • savysaver

      Eight glue sticks, for a Kindergarten student, sounds realistic…how about 20 per student and then a disclaimer that more will be needed throughout the year!

  5. Stacy

    Just want to double-check that the paper rebate is a different rebate than the one offered a couple weeks ago?

    • Lachelle

      I asked an employee that once and usually they are different (if not you can just return the item if you don’t get the rebate); I was told as long as the code is different it is a different rebate.

  6. Mitch

    How does one resist a free backpack? Even if I don’t use it, its free! Yay! Thanks
    http://www.gaynycdad.com

  7. Carrie

    Remember the case of paper and a ream for like $20 posted on here maybe in June. I just got the $12 VISA prepaid card from Staples about a week ago and the $5 rebate check this week. All of those stemming from the Case of paper + 1 ream that was posted on here back in June and it made the that purchase come out to only $3 give or take a little. Very impressed! 🙂 Thought only CVS pulled cool deals. Now Staples? 🙂

    • Barb

      I know, this has been my first week doing Staples and I love it! Last week I used the $50/$200 coupon to buy rebate items, a brand new laser jet printer I have wanted (to print coupons), and an extra toner cartridge. Overall so happy with the deal I got! I’ll be going back!

      • shannon

        is that coupon still available? i would like to get a new printer so i think i could rack up 200$

  8. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    We purchase the backpacks and fill them with back to school supplies and then donate to the school for a kid/family that can’t afford these items.
    We also stock up on the great deals and drop off bags of pens and pencils to the school for their use. With the massive cut backs in our state they are greatful for the extras and it cost us very little.

  9. JL

    I was at Staples last week and the have a donation box on the way out for schools supplies. I have no school age children but needed some ink so I got the limit in the 1 cent deals and donated on my way back to the car. Super easy.

    • Collin (Mrs. Hip)

      One year I got sparkly, soft pencil bags and filled them with fun erasers and stuff from Target’s 90% back to school and used them as goodie bags for my daughter’s art themed bday party. I also stock up on supplies to have for bday gifts (we put a craft box together and personalize the plastic box with paint pens) and stocking stuffers for Christmas since that is when we tend to need more markers, clay, etc.

      • Kasey

        Great ideas! Thanks for sharing, as it always seems I need birthday present ideas. 🙂

  10. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    i received a rebate debit visa card months ago (don’t remember what i bought to get this rebate card)… my question is – can i use this card to buy a backpack and get a 100% money back on the price of the backpack.

    • SAHMinCambridge

      I know in the past we can’t “roll” rebates, using one staples rebate to pay for another and getting that rebate. But, I’m not sure how they would know since it’s a visa debit card?

  11. Catherine B

    @ Ash: Wal-Mart has the Canon Pixma MX320 printer for $49. It is a home office printer/scanner/fax/copier perfect for printing coupons! The ink cartridge refills are not as costly as the other brands either!! Hope this helps

  12. Mel

    Sandra- LOVE the ideas and LOVE Staples, as I am a teacher as well and spend so much money on school supplies! I usually buy for Christmas and B-day gifts as well. I also use a lot of school supplies for candy alternatives for my treat-or-treaters. My dad thought I was crazy- boy did his opinion change when he saw the kids pick pencils over KitKats!!!

  13. Rachel

    Regarding using the Office Depot coupon at Staples: I tried that last week and they told me they wouldn’t accept it if my total AFTER REBATES wasn’t over $10. I had two reams of copy paper and a package of photo paper totaling $19.97 (plus a few other things to get me to $25), but it was only about $5.00 after rebates. They said that if they accepted the coupon, the rebates wouldn’t print. So you can’t use that competitor’s coupon to “make money” at Staples.

    • leslie

      I have used the coupon and done it several times. i think it just depends on your store.

    • Brea

      Rachel,
      2 weeks ago I was told a similar thing. They said I couldn’t use a coupon if I was getting rebates back. They didn’t give any $10 amount. I called 1-800-STAPLES and asked if that was true. In fact, they were pretty appalled at the store’s behavior. They said no it wasn’t true. I called the Office of the President and got the same answer, and was given a $10/$10 coupon for my trouble. This last week I came prepared with the Office of the President’s phone # programmed in my phone to call at the check stand if I had any trouble. I didn’t have any problem last week. Office of the President- 800-338-0252. I don’t think it’s right for a manager to go against a corporate policy. So, if your manager wants to try, be very nice, but don’t let them push you around.

  14. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    Can I use the Durcell cash reward for the bookbag?

  15. Toni R

    Too bad the cheapest back pack is $40.

    • NB

      My Staples has backpacks for less than $40. There is a sign w/ addl percentage off the different brands with examples of the prices on the tags and then w/ the discount.

      • Vicki

        mine had kid’s Jansports for $12.99 before the 25% off…

  16. Kim

    How long does it take to get a rebate back from Staples? I purchased the Hammermill paper along with the duracell batteries and I have not received a rebate.

    • Shirley

      Kim-I got my paper rebate last week. It usually takes about a month from my experience.

      • Kim

        Thank you! I submitted the rebate online. I went on the website to track my rebate and they do not have my email registered in their data base. They also mentioned a number you receive in your email after you submit for the rebate. I must have completed the information incorrectly. I’ll know better next time

  17. SAHMinCambridge

    If you want the backpack deal in-store, get there quickly, like NOW! We were at the store when it opened this morning, there were so many people waiting, all for backpacks. Cashiers in the store had already picked their own backpacks and were trying some on! After the one we picked up there was only one left, and that’s at 10:30 am! Great deal, thanks for posting!!!

  18. Wendy

    Got all the deals today….

    I was able to get 25 pkgs of pen for 25 cents since I am a teacher…. (I am a lead teacher and often have large parent meeting with papers to fill out so those pens will be super handy since my pens often walk away from those meeting!)

    I teach so I often use most of my supplies, but if I have extras I give to the teachers I supervise. Also in May is teacher appreciation week and my son’s school has suggestions each week for goodies for the teacher and one day is always a school supply so I often can send in an entire basket of goodies for her! Also, my church sponsors a very low income school, and they do a back to school drive for them since most students do not bring any supplies…so I also dontate a lot there for just a little!

  19. Bethany C.

    I was so excited to hear about this moneymaking deal. My Staples store is kind of far away, so I called before I left to ask if they accepted competitor’s coupons. The manager I talked to said that he did but not if it was printed off the internet because it says “no photocopies/reproductions.” I looked at the coupon and it does say that. How do you go about getting a real copy of the coupon? Is this one legit?

  20. Debbie

    Here’s some info you may want to consider—
    This is the second time this has happened. Last week, I used the Office Depot coupon for $10 off of a $50 purchase. My purchase included rebate items. I noticed on my receipt that they do not make a manual adjustment to take $10 off of the bottom line. Instead, they take a few dollars off of each item. The “problem” is that when it comes to the rebate, I am told that we will only be rebated what it shows that we paid for that particular item. So, in effect, it negates the $10 coupon for each dollar that is taken off of a rebate item because you will only be rebated the reduced price of the rebate item.

    Today, when I went in the store, it was a mess. Very few backpacks for what is sure to be a big backpack week! Anyway, they had an instant coupon at the customer service desk that they handed me. It was $30 off of a $150 purchase. So, I shopped all of the sale items and purchased a backpack, finally getting my order to $150. Since it was a Staples coupon, I figured it would automatically take it off of the bottom line amount. It doesn’t. It shows that each item (including the backpack) has an additional reduction totalling the $30 off. So, the rebate that I receive for the backpack I purchased for $49.99 will be $8.02 less because it is shown as being reduced by that amount. I will only be rebated $41.97. It’s still a good deal, but it definitely affects the savings scenarios mentioned. The Zebra pens were also reduced which will affect that rebate. If you are using the Office Depot coupon, they have to manually enter the item-by-item reductions, so you may want to ask if they can reduce all items EXCEPT your rebate items to reach the $10 discount coupon.

    Please let me know if you guys are getting a different response, so I can suggest a different method of handling to the manager at my local Staples.

    • Deanna

      I went today and used the $10/$50 Office Depot Q and had no problems. It just took $10 off the balance at the end and didn’t reduce my backpack price or the Zebra pens, so i’ll get full rebates on them.

    • Kate

      I have this issue, too! At my staples, they ring in the Q as a “competitor price match” and subtract it off of an item. So my rebate for the backpack is what I paid for it after coupon. It even shows up as the reduced amount on the Staples Rebate tracker, so I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ll get…bummer. I guess if you were buying non-rebate items, you could have them subtract it off of those, but it’ll never turn out to be a money-maker.

      • Vicki

        Ashleigh, did your rebate receipt show the sale price of the backpack or the sale price minus $10?
        the regular receipt said that the $10 price match came off my backpack but the rebate receipt still shows it as 29.99! should i still expect to only get $19.99back? My store also confirmed that I “will still get the actual purchase price back” but that they have to do it as a price match on an item over $10….my only non rebate item was $9.99 (i could kick myself for not thinking of that)

  21. lisa

    I had the same problem at staples today. They took my coupon, but when I applied online for the rebate it showed $10 less than the backpack cost

    So the coupon got me nowhere. Still got a free backpack yeah

  22. Robin

    Same thing happened to me. They took the coupon with no problems, but when I did the rebate online, the rebate amout was $10 less that the cost of the backpack! If someone has a way around this, please post!

    • Deanna

      I used the $10Q and the rebate on line was for $39.74 which was what i paid for the backpack. It did mess me up since i didn’t know the backpacks were 25% and 50%off, just glad i realized it before i got to the check out line so i could get a more expensive bag.

  23. Kasey

    Thank you so much for these savings tips. My Staples took the Office Depot coupon so your deal worked great plus I picked up the penny copy paper after rebate too! This was my first time using the on-line rebates and they really are EASY! Thanks again!

  24. Ashleigh

    That happened to me too! I purchased the backpack and used the $10/$50 Q only to be rebated $10 less on the purchase price of the backpack. (Plus, I had specifically asked the cashier if I would get my full purchase price back and she assured me I would). I emailed Staples Customer Service (no phone number is available to call) and they sent an email back saying that they only refund the actual purchase price. I called the store and said it should not be doing that and to bring my receipt in and they will give me the $10 back.

    • v

      22.2.1
      Vicki says:
      July 27, 2010 at 3:23 pm EST
      Ashleigh, did your rebate receipt show the sale price of the backpack or the sale price minus $10?
      the regular receipt said that the $10 price match came off my backpack but the rebate receipt still shows it as 29.99! should i still expect to only get $19.99back? My store also confirmed that I “will still get the actual purchase price back” but that they have to do it as a price match on an item over $10….my only non rebate item was $9.99 (i could kick myself for not thinking of that)

  25. shannon

    if you buy items online and have shipped to store can you still submit for a rebate? im not exactly sure of a scenario yet, or if you can even do this but i was just wondering.

  26. krista

    I buy lotes of 24pk crayola crayons at walmart around back to school time for about 10cents and then use them for party bags for my 4 son’s birthday parties. They are Perfect! they are gender neutral, and coupled with an age appropriate coloring book or activity book and you have a very inexpensive guest gift without looking cheap.

  27. Lynette

    I’m new to the rebate gift card thing. If I buy the backpack and get the Staples gift card, I would need to spend that gift card at Staples, right? So I really am investing $40. It seems like I won’t be able to roll that into other rebates in the future from what I’m reading. Do I have the logic correct about the investment?

  28. Collin (Mrs. Hip)

    I have had so trouble getting the staples rewards like you would get from the backpacks if you use any kind of coupon. So just make sure you keep track of when you should get the rewards and if you don’t call them and they will send it to you. Makes me wonder how many I fogot about and didn’t call on.

  29. Sharon

    I filed for the backpack rebate online. I just got an email stating that my rebate had been canceled since I had returned the item. I did not return it!! My sis-in-law got the same email. All I ever get with Staples rebates are trouble. I should know by now not to shop there! Has anyone else gotten this email?

  30. Allyson

    Can some one please point out to me in the Staples ad where it says that you get 100% back in staples gift card. I just went to the store for the free back pack and all the ad says is 50% back in staples rewards when you buy any back pack. Even the store associate was unaware of the gift card deal. Did I miss something?

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