I often share with my friends how I like purchasing $25 eBay gift cards from Staples online using my AMEX Business Gold (ABG) card, getting that $20 per month Office Supply credit as part of the benefits of owning the card. I find the eBay eGift card the most reasonable gift card purchase at Staples Online. Purchasing these cards is what significantly helps makes the $375 AF of the ABG justifiable. I find the eBay eGift cards as good as cash as I am frugal and usually only buy necessities from eBay, at great discounts to boot.
I currently get 12 to 17% discounts on Amazon, Walmart and Sam’s Club gift cards via the Pepper app, so I am not excited to use this ABG monthly credit for those store cards at Staples. However one doesn’t find eBay gift cards on Pepper — and often at only 5% discounts at best from other stores.
Today I was needing a replacement Logitech mouse as the one I have is squirrelly. Amazon was wanting $14.99 for it but also an additional $6.99 in shipping for some reason — despite having way over $35 in the shopping cart; (I won’t pay for an annual Amazon Prime membership.) Walmart was wanting $19.99 for the mouse. Well I found it on eBay for $12.99 with free shipping.
So I proceeded to purchase this mouse using my $25 eBay eGift card I recently acquired from Staples Online using my ABG.
Several of my friends say there isn’t really anything useful on eBay and they just resort to buying everything from Amazon and Walmart. I don’t agree with that as I often find incredible deals on eBay for everyday necessities like this replacement mouse I needed. I can easily go through these $25 eBay gift cards and they are what make the annual fees of the ABG tolerable. (I won’t waste the monthly ABG credit on overpriced items from Staples — they often charge two to three times as much for the same office supplies which could be purchased elsewhere.)
A few weeks back I needed to replace a specific tea kettle we have here — we’re picky about this and like a certain Paul Revere tea kettle. This particular tea kettle is worth around $25 but found a nice one for $14.99 with free shipping on eBay. You can’t buy these tea kettles new anymore. We also used the gift card for this.
Any time I need to buy something I usually check the big three first: Amazon, Walmart & eBay and buy from whichever has the best price.
The ABG office supply credit doesn’t have to be a throw away credit, where people often pay two to three times as much for items at an office supply store just to use the credit. The ABG AF can be rationalized from a frugal perspective by smartly using these Office Supply credits to where they are as good as cash. It can be used to buy say eBay gift cards. And in turn the eBay gift cards can be used to buy necessities at better discounts than anywhere else. Additionally, it’s really easy to acquire these eBay eGift cards via Staples Online, without even having to leave home; they are purchased online and the card number is then emailed to you later.
I pay for items on eBay often getting them up to half off — especially with auctions — versus paying up to three times as much for an item at Staples; this results in an up to six times (600%) the value as compared to Staples utilizing this ABG credit.
Additional Thoughts
I write the eBay gift card numbers on blank 110 lb index card stock; I cut the index stock down using an impromptu jig — using two credit cards to setup the jig — on my paper cutter and use a corner round punch. (I have been into crafting greeting cards and stuff in the past so have these tools laying around.)
I can probably fit 10 numbers on one card. This makes the acquisition and use of these eGift cards manageable. I write the numbers in pen but the cash value in pencil. I then erase the value after use deducting the purchase amount to arrive at a new resulting balance — then pencil that new figure in.
See image below. (I can fit another 10 card numbers on the flip side, for 20 total.)
Recent Ebay Purchases Log
11/13/2024. Bought a rebuilt brake booster for my car for around $100 from eBay. It’s $300+ locally at auto parts stores. Used up the entirety of my eBay gift card balances of $30.60 — gift cards I had acquired from Staples using ABG credit.
11/7/2024. Bought an OEM replacement remote for my TV for $9.99 from eBay. Walmart had wanted $24.99 for it. Saved quite a bit of money there. Used eBay gift card, which I had gotten from Staples with ABG credit.
interesting about buying gift cards on the Staples website for a credit. i wonder what other gift cards you can get there.
I have always been a little nervous about using e-bay for some reason. It seemed to be all the rage and then suddenly it seemed sketchy. But thank you for vouching for it. I’m going to give it a try and see what I can find!