It's odd that they don't accept them online, but I was just surprised they even have gift cards. I guess every store has to carry them now, but if I just imagine receiving a Staples card... "Gee... thanks, now I can get that three ring binder and paper I always wanted".

If they made them that easy to use, instead of lose, people would actually redeem them. Think of all the money they'd lose on what's nearly a pure-profit sale!

but Staples rewards (10% back on paper/ink) work for in-store and online.... theres a barcode for in store, and theres a code if you want to use it online...

I've been in a Staples store once. Went looking for a printer, digital camera, and paper shredder last Black Friday (2007). The cameras were insanely expensive, the printers were crap, and the selection of paper shredders (of all things) was woefully inadequate. The store also seemed extremely unorganized. I haven't been to one since.

I don't know about anybody else, but I don't think of Staples as a store that specializes in technology. They might sell some "technology", but I think of them as an office supply store, a go-to destination for manila folders and dry erase markers; not so much for computers and such. And yeah, it gets grey when you think about phones or fax machines, but still, not so much a tech place to me.

@azzy: I'd go bat-shit crazy! I have an office-supply addiction.

they seem to be more about office supplies then "technology", just my 2 cents.

I'm guessing they don't have cards with PIN numbers, like many other stores do(Target has a scratch off lotto ticket type thing over theirs, so if you find it in the store scratched off, you don't buy it). So to avoid theft, they don't let you use them online, so someone can't just guess a number, or go to Staples and copy the numbers off the first three $100 gift cards, then wait a week and try using the number assuming the card has been activated.

Staples is like first class on the airlines. All the money is made from businesses in a hurry, based on very little price sensitivity. Sure, consumers can sometimes find deals, but usually it's a dumb choice.

But sometimes if you want a laser printer for $50 and don't mind 6 mail-in rebates, it can be a good source.

Dunder-Mifflin accepts gift cards at its website. Take THAT Staples!

@MissTicklebritches: Well I guess I know what I'm getting you next year :)

Puma does this also. I have a puma gift card that can only be used in-store but whatever you buy online can be returned to any of their stores.

"I said it was just so strange that Staples, a company that sells technology, hadn't figured out how to do something that Gap and Home Depot had no problem doing."

I don't think the problem is they can'r do this logistically. They just don't want to.

@Tues_SteveDave: that's exactly what i was thinking. I believe Home Depot had this specific issue a while back.

more bs. they know why they don't accept them, and they don't care.

Last time I checked (about 12 months ago), Home Depot didnt accept gift cards online either.

staples specializes in technology?

I always thought they specialized in...well, staples.

I got hit with the same thing but there is a workaround. Use the Staples.com kiosk in the store, buy anything you want from staples.com and it will print out an order slip. Take it to the cashier up front and you can pay for it with your Staples gift card -- presto, you've used a Staples gift card for Staples.com items.

Of course, if you don't make the $50 minimum you will be charged shipping fees.. so its not exactly the same and does require a trip to the store.

@MissTicklebritches: You mean I'm not the only one who has this strange affliction? Wow.

You know, they have a pill for that. Oh, wait, highlighters are on sale? I'M THERE!!

"I said it was just so strange that Staples, a company that sells technology, hadn't figured out how to do something that Gap and Home Depot had no problem doing."

Actually, Home Depot _doesn't_ take gift cards online, only in store.

@wickedpixel: Here you go consumerist, just do a find & replace on "Home Depot" and replace with "Staples" and you have a ready-made post for tomorrow!
[consumerist.com]

@sleze69: Is Dunder-Mifflin Infinity still online? ;-)

@wickedpixel: That's some nice detective work there, wickedpixel!

Besides the cellphone camera card theft trick, maybe Staples just thinks that you're more likely to be talked into more upsell when you're in-store.

In reality, I've never been able to pin down a skittish, red-shirted teen long enough to find corkboards, let alone have them *gasp* try to sell me stuff.

@MissTicklebritches: OMGWTFCOMPOSITIONBOOKS! NEW PENS! LEGAL PADS!

Some girls window-shop at the mall. I go to office supply stores and ogle the Sharpies.

@azzy: Office supply store gift cards is not that weird. You want weird? A medical imaging company in Orlando, Drew Medical, (think MRI, CAT scans, and X-rays) was selling gift cards for their services.

So go ahead, give the gift of diagnostic medical testing to that special someone. Maybe like the Grinch you can PROVE their heart is three sizes too small.

@azzy: My weakness is mechanical pencils. I go to the aisle and gaze at them in awe, taking in the subtleties of each one. But I don't think I would ask for a gift card so I could get some.

Let's remember that Staples was the company that built 2 separate web sites to sell the same basic stuff -- one for businesses and one for consumers.

@Drew5764: I used to work at CompUSA, who also did not accept credit cards over the internet. There was a simple reason that people would go to the store and write down a bunch of numbers, then type them in to see if they worked for a couple days, bingo, free sales.

Off the subject but still as annoying as those gift cards. A few years ago I dropped my license in the store by accident near the register and did not realize it until a few days later when I needed it. This meant 2 hours in line at the DMV and about $70 to replace it. Three months later I get a call saying that they (Staples) had my license and that I could pick it up. I went to the store and they said every three months they call people who lost things to come and reclaim them. I thanked them for letting me finally know what happened to it, but it would have done me a whole lot more good and saved me money, stress and time if they just called me the same day they found it, considering that I was in their computer system, they had my license and I lived about a mile away from them.

The Home Depot does not accept their gift cards online. Lowe's does. I think it is customer dis-service to not accept, when the e-commerce technology exists all over the place. Seems like a purposeful choice to NOT accept them, yes? Well, no soup for you home depot!

@Drew5764:

That's why most places have a pin code or additional key codes under the place where you have to scratch off... Without all of it, you can't use it at all...

I just bought Target gift cards and while the whole number is visible, to check the balance or use it, you need the secret pin.

I hope people aren't buying already scratched gift cards!

@loueloui: ah see now, i work in the industry and a lot of the people i encounter through my job are trying to save a significant portion of their income each year towards medically recommended annual MRI's for their neurological condition. i would bet that a hefty percentage of them wouldn't turn down a gift card towards an MRI.
when your insurance only covers it as a diagnostic tool and then once you are diagnosed, never covers it again, you'd be looking for alternatives too

"I said it was just so strange that Staples, a company that sells technology, hadn't figured out how to do something that Gap and Home Depot had no problem doing."

I don't think that's true... I recently received a Home Depot gift card, and it explicitly says that you can't use it online (and the website confirms it, and a call to their web customer support confirmed that). This was only three months back, so I doubt their policy has changed since then.

Since I doubt I can paste URLs in comments here, go to Home Depot, click "Gift Cards", click "Gift Card Faqs", and read the last FAQ: "Can I use a Gift Card to purchase my online order?" "No, currently The Home Depot does not accept Gift Cards as payment online. "

@snowburnt: Actually at my local Staples you can't even go in and buy a box of staples. Minimum is a shrinkwrapped bundle of SIX boxes. This is why people steal stuff from work.

@MissTicklebritches:

Me too. I thought I was the only one.

I get them at the flea market. One time I found seven of those plastic inboxes that stack for a dollar each. SCORE!!!

@larrymac808:

I got a scanner and a hard drive there. Couldn't find what I wanted at Circuit City, and the hard drive was on sale. I didn't want to go to Best Barf.

I really didn't know that Staples HAD gift cards. If I had, I would have asked for one for Christmas and waited to buy the scanner.

I don't know, but I must ask, what in the world is the use of that stupid Easy Button? WHY would anyone BUY this product? This is the useless junk that we Americans are known for buying. Staples has a huge bin full of this plastic poop.

Apparently, the proceeds to go the Boys & Girls Club charity. What irony though, that while you help a charity, you both waste plastic, and help create more junk to fill up our landfills? It's a dumb stupid button made of plastic, and it's useless! Why not just add $1 to your total purchase at Staples instead? Or make a USEFUL product that helps charity? Ever heard of a calendar? A calculator? Frankly, I'd rather spend more money on something useful, if it helps charity.

I really mean this as a sincere question, and not to be a snide jerk: why would anyone buy or give a Staples gift card in the first place? I mean, I'll go to a Staples store sometimes when I need something, but it's hard for me to think of a store where I'd be less likely to find a fun gift for myself. (Although the rubber band balls they sell there can be pretty fun.)

@Cafezinha: You just described me. Maybe we should form a support group.

@Aveek Datta: Thanks for the tip, I might try that. I got stuck with one because I returned a Christmas gift from staples.com (with shipping invoice). Yeah, I returned an online purchase and was refunded with funds I cannot use online, makes perfect sense.

@azzy:
... don't forget that all returns/exchanges are processed these days as giftcards

@proskills:
think you meant gift cards

@loueloui: Next you know somebody will have a gift card for prostate exams.

@Russ Savage:

Staples realizes Gift Cards are a bad deal...

@catastrophegirl: My partner worked for a medical supply company that also owned a chain of MRI clinics. One of their benefits was that each employee got one free MRI per year, though it did have to be prescribed for a doctor so you couldn't do it just for fun. Coincidentally, he did have the opportunity to take advantage of that benefit and it saved us a few hundred bucks.

@TruthAndTheory:
yeah really! i always wondered too what that stupid easy button was for and who in their right mind would buy one.

Why would anyone buy or give a Staples gift card? Staples also sells furniture and other electronics too. Staples may not have a big diverse line of electronics like Best Buy or Circuit City, but we do sell more than just printers. Also, the easy button is just a NOVELTY item like most people buy that doesn't do anything. It doesn't do anything at all, and it's not supposed to. Apparently some of you missed the commercials with the easy button.

I found this out the hard way when I bought $200 in Staples gift cards (at discount) to use online. Turned out I couldn't and the closest Staples was 45 minutes away.... I finally went to visit friends and ended up buying giftcards for other stores at Staples to get rid of them. I won't really deal with them now, unless I can cost them money....