havent seen a thread yet but staples starts penny sales tmrw..fyi..pencil top erasers, notecards and pens
Aren't they not really penny sales anymore? Don't you have to like spend a minimum or something? I remember this being a hot topic on the board last year because the rules changed?
The ad says "1¢ each, with $5 minimum purchase. Limit 2 per customer. While supplies last. In store only. Minimum spend does not include tax or cost of any extreme deal item." Usually they allow teachers to purchase more than the minimum. Last year, yes, they did institute a policy change requiring customers to pay the regular price for items above the 2-item limit and the discount came later in the form of coupons to the store.
Even though the penny sales are not as good of a deal as they used to be, I will still be stopping by to pick up 2 packs of copy paper for 1 cent each after rebate. The school runs out of copy paper at the end of the year most times, or I can use it in my printer at home. For what its worth, when you buy the copy paper, that counts as your $5 minimum purchase, even though it will be free eventually.
When I was in Staples a week or so ago, they were trying to get me to purchase a discount card for $10... something about I wouldn't be able to get sale prices without it? But why would I spend $10 to get a card when I already have their rewards card? It was confusing and fishy.
They've done that for several years. Its like a drug discount card at a pharmacy. They had a 20% off coupon today which I used on Brother Toner (some other brands were excluded). Then, picked up penny stuff.
I think the price of the discount card varies depending on how much you spend. Because I got it today for $4...I think...lol. I was in there just to buy a few things for summer school and I know I'll be back for a big purchase closer to school so I was like oh what the heck. Oh and it expires in Sept. but it's 15% of your purchases (aside from ink and toner and a few other things) I think it'll be worth it.
The discount card is $10 regardless of how much you spend. It's good for 15% off on just about everything. And you can only use it once a day. They had a couple of other things on sale this week, too...I picked up a few pairs of adult scissors for $1, regularly $12. Office Max still has a teacher limit of 20 per customer, but today when I tried to go in to get the penny glue and paper, they told me that they needed additional confirmation besides my teacher card that I'm a teacher. I don't have a district ID so they told me that I need to bring a copy of my certification every time I shop there...seriously?!
I truly miss those penny sales "back in the day" before they got all weird, lol. My first year teaching (2008) I got so much great stuff for a penny! I still have a few notebooks and packs of filler paper from that first year. Yes, the multiple trips were a hassle and the cashiers hated it, but it was a Godsend for us teachers!
I haven't bought anything for my new classroom yet but you guys prompted me to start looking at ads. Anyone buy some of the $1 white board markers from office max? It says limit 1 per customer. Do they let teachers buy more? I will probably use a ton of those.
I have such a love/hate relationship with these penny sales. I've always loved back-to-school shopping, but I know that it means my summer is quickly dwindling to an end. My plan is to hit up Wal-Mart for the folders and get them to price-match, but to go to Staples for the $1 scissors and $0.01 note cards. Westcott scissors are great, I have several of them in my classroom!
I got a bunch of 2 packs for $1 in Target last year- in their $1 section. They also had mini erasers. I don't know about Office Max, but try Target if you still need.
So they're not budging on the limits, then? Not even for teachers? I used to stock my whole class for like 5 bucks. :lol: I'd go one day and get 25 glues, the next day get 25 pencil packs, the next day get 25 packs of paper....and so on. OHHH, NOSTALGIA! :|
Walmart and Walgreens started clearing their shelves for back to school two weeks ago... only two weeks after school got out. Gah!
I didn't read the ad carefully enough. I was disappointed to see that the copy paper was not on rebate, but Staples rewards as well. Blah. So I walked out empty-handed.
I went today. They let me get 25 packs of the notecards for a penny each. I didn't have to pay the regular price and get the difference back in rewards like last year. Office Max said that teachers can get twice the limit.
WHAAA-AAAAT? Bogus. I got 2 of each thing. I asked the guy nicely and he fed me some line about putting in a teacher code that doesn't exist this year. :|
I had to go out today so I got some stuff. Was interesting because it was the first time I bought school supplies since I graduated high school. (did everything on computer in college) I got 2 packs of the 4pk expo markers for $1 at office max. I got 4 pairs of $1 scissors at staples. Along with a $3 stapler and then 2 each of the penny pens and note cards. I thought all in all it was a good deal. Was kind of exciting to finally get to buy stuff for my own classroom.
