| Discount | Offer description | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| Free delivery | Free Next-Day Delivery on Most Orders Over $35 | Dec 19, 2026 |
| Points back | Easy Rewards: Free Points Program with 2X Categories | Dec 19, 2026 |
| Points back | Earn Rewards for Recycling Ink & Toner Cartridges | Dec 19, 2026 |
Staples does not run one return window, and treating it as if it did is how people lose money here. Office supplies have no deadline at all, while a laptop or a desk gets fourteen days counted from the day it arrives. Which aisle a product belongs to decides more than any code does, because the deadline travels with the category and never with the promotion. Running underneath all of it is Easy Rewards, a free points account that converts into whole dollars off whether or not a promotion is live.
None of this depends on a promotion running, and the exclusions are the part worth reading before you count on a balance.
| Lever | What it gives you | The condition written into it |
|---|---|---|
| Earning | 1 point for every $1 spent on qualifying purchases, in stores, online, in the app and on phone orders | A free account, identified at the register or signed in online |
| Redemption | 200 points provide $1 to redeem toward qualifying purchases, in whole-dollar increments only | Redemption happens at the register or at online checkout, against qualifying purchases only |
| What earns nothing | Gift cards, phone cards, postage stamps, clearance items, taxes, shipping fees, protection and service plans, travel services, direct mail services and promotional products | These are carved out of qualifying spend, so a basket can earn far less than its total |
Office supplies can go back at any time for a full refund, with no deadline whatsoever. Unopened, unexpired ink and toner can also go back at any time, but a cartridge that has been opened or has passed its date cannot be refunded. Technology and business machines sit at 14 days from the date of receipt, and furniture sits at the same 14 days. Boxed software is a three-way split: unopened, it returns at any time; opened, it can only be exchanged for the same title; downloadable, it is never returnable. AppleCare+ bought at Staples can be cancelled there within 30 days. Own-brand goods follow their category rather than the brand, so Staples brand office products inherit the no-deadline rule while Staples brand technology and furniture inherit the fourteen days.
The documented traps are all on the way out. First, proof: without a receipt and without a lookup, the return is eligible only for an in-store credit at the lowest selling price within the previous 30 days, and valid government identification is required — on a product that has been discounted since you bought it, that gap is the whole discount. Second, bundles: when a promotion gave you free ink with a printer and you keep the ink, the promotional value is deducted from the refund. Third, points: Easy Rewards points are subject to forfeiture or adjustment when a qualifying purchase is returned, and the points earned on that item are debited from the account. Before blaming a code, check which of these three is actually shrinking the number.
The two-week clock on technology, business machines and furniture runs from the date the product is received, not from the day it is unwrapped or handed over. A printer or a desk bought comfortably in advance can be out of window before anyone opens the box, which makes early buying an expensive habit in exactly those aisles. The reverse is also true and less well known: paper, filing and breakroom supplies carry no deadline at all, and sealed, unexpired cartridges behave the same way, so those can be stocked whenever the price is right. The planning rule that falls out of the policy is to buy the deadline-free aisles early and the fourteen-day aisles late.
| Staples | Target | |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday supplies | No deadline at all | 90 days on most items it sells |
| Own-brand goods | Office products keep the no-deadline rule; technology and furniture sit at 14 days | 365 days on Target brand items with a receipt |
| Technology and furniture | 14 days from the date of receipt | Electronics and limited time offer collections carry separate windows, stated on the product page |
| What loyalty changes | Nothing: Easy Rewards pays in points, not in days | An extra 30 days with a membership or the store card |
| Never returnable | Opened or expired cartridges, downloadable software | Gift cards, trading cards, digital downloads and open breast pumps |
When Staples is the wrong shop: if the basket is a laptop or a television, the fourteen-day clock is the binding constraint and it is worth reading what Best Buy prints on your receipt before committing to it. If it is a family restock of everyday goods, Target publishes a far longer standard window on the things it sells itself. For a straight cartridge reorder it is still worth checking the price at Amazon before checkout. Staples wins on the opposite profile: the boring restock of paper, filing and breakroom supplies, where the deadline is simply absent.
Build the basket on staples.com, open the cart and enter the code in the coupon field before you pay. If it will not apply, read the message in the coupon window rather than retyping the code: it normally names the reason, and signing in first resolves the most common one.
Not on a fixed date. Points stay alive as long as the account stays active, and an account counts as active if it earns or redeems at least one point within an 18-month period. An account that has been dormant for longer than that has to start again from zero.
Yes. Purchases made online can be returned to a physical store, which is usually faster than arranging a carrier collection and lets an associate confirm on the spot which category window applies to the item.
A valid government issued photo identification card, and the name on it has to match the name on the member account. Points are applied at the register in whole-dollar increments, so a balance that has not reached the next dollar cannot be split.
Yes. Members receive points per recycled ink or toner cartridge, up to the maximum number displayed in the member dashboard each month. Points for recycled cartridges can take up to 60 business days to be issued, so they will not show up on the same visit.