First stop was MyPoints.com where I get points for every dollar I spend. They have this great offer with Office Depot that when you spend $50-$99.99 you get 500 points, $100 - $199.99 you get 1000 points, $200 - $399.99 you get 2000 points and anything over $400 you get 5,000 points. Compared this to the usual 2 points per $ for other office supply stores linked on their website and the points add up quickly. Using their link to Office Depot I started shopping. While shopping I came across a rebate for the two Hard drives that I needed, giving me a rebate total of $73.00. Yes, I'll need to spend a few minutes completing a form and spend some money on postage, but for $73 I'm willing to sacrifice a few minutes, two envelopes and two stamps!
As I was shopping I noticed that Office Depot has a customer loyalty program called "Office Depot Advantage" where your spending is recorded and you can earn up to $50 in credit rewards each quarter plus there are additional offers available to members. It doesn't matter whether your purchases are in the store, on the phone or online, your spending accumulates as long as you give them your membership card or number at time of purchase. If you spend $200 to $299 you get a $20 reward, $300-$499 you get a $30 reward and when you spend over $500 you get a $50 reward. I quickly signed up for it and at check out I entered my new "Office Depot Advantage" membership number in the payment and billing area, to ensure my purchase went towards my quarterly pending.
After checking out with my Citibank American Airlines credit card where I get 1 mile per $ spent, Office Depot asked me if I had a school that I would like to donate 5% of our spending to. This was only available for a short time, as it was the beginning of the school year. I entered the name and address of the school and clicked submit.
So here is a summary of my shopping experience:
Total Charge: $434.
MyPoints:5000 points which will give me about $35 in gift cards (when you reach 6000 points you could get a $50 gift card!)
Office Depot: $432 which will give me a $30 credit reward.
$73 in rebates.
Free shipping (which is normal for Office Depot when you spend over $50)
American Airlines: 434 miles.
Donations: $20.
That's a heart pounding $138 in savings, $20 to a local school and a few miles towards my free trip around the world!
I was grinning from ear to ear. Just think if I had gone to the store I would have spent $434, maybe got the information for the rebate and the 434 miles for putting it on our credit card. Purchasing technology items online from Office Depot, Buy.com and CompUSA has so many advantages including offers from the reward sites; finding out about rebates; and free shipping, not to mention saving money on gasoline.
Overall, I had a really good night of shopping. Online shopping can be more then an expense if you plan your trip carefully.
Entire article written by Gaika Blue, a Quampha.com contributing author.
