Save $15 When You Purchase two $50 Visa gift cards and a $15 iTunes gift card OM B&M

Not sure if this is a repost, but OfficeMax is currently giving away a free $15 iTune gift card when you buy two $50 Visa gift cards. It's on this week's ad.

B&M Only.

Link

Any activation fees on the Visa cards?

Rambler said: Any activation fees on the Visa cards?

Gift cards are for the full value.
When fees come in is when you buy those pre paid visa, like blue dot.

yesidonoitall said: Rambler said: Any activation fees on the Visa cards?


Gift cards are for the full value.
When fees come in is when you buy those pre paid visa, like blue dot.

But what's the difference between pre-paid visa and pre-paid visa with the worlds 'gift card' on the front?

If there's no activation fee...worth getting as many as they let you.

ciscoopa said: yesidonoitall said: Rambler said: Any activation fees on the Visa cards?


Gift cards are for the full value.
When fees come in is when you buy those pre paid visa, like blue dot.

But what's the difference between pre-paid visa and pre-paid visa with the worlds 'gift card' on the front?

If there's no activation fee...worth getting as many as they let you.

Pre paid Visa is when you load money on the card.
Usually not for free.
And you pay for the card, even WalMart has them with their name on it.
Blue dot is another

IMO
No fees on a Visa gift card
the card will have $50 use
(there could be when not used in a timely manner)

vickh said: can you use a OM GC to buy the visa GC?

Gift cards are same as cash.

vickh said: yesidonoitall said: vickh said: can you use a OM GC to buy the visa GC?


Gift cards are same as cash.

how about recycle ink carts?

OK, what about them?

.0vickh said: yesidonoitall said:

how about recycle ink carts?


OK, what about them?

can we` use them to pay for the visa GCs

Since OD and Staples do not give instant cash for empty ink returns, I doubt OM does.

Ok, just a theory, But won't I get hit with sales tax twice. Once when I buy the cards, and another time when I spend them. In Minnesota that works out to be almost $7 bucks per $100. So $15 gift card doesn't sound so great to me. Am I wrong?

milkteagirl said: There was always an activation fee of 4.95-6.95 on the visa gift cards that they sell at grocery stores such as safeway. I am sure since the cover look of the cards is the same that we would get charge on it too. The dollar amount fluctuates based on the value of the gift card (in this case $50). As the gift cards go up in value, the fee goes up. My guess since $50 is one of the lower increments you can get (the lowest is $25), it's probably the 4.95 charge (per card) meaning in theory you are only getting a 5 dollar itunes card. i say great if you are going to office max anyways, not so good if you are just making that extra trip.

The gift cards I see at safeway are just that, no Visa on them.
If I buy a Shell gift card for $50 I get $50 in gas.
Sears, $50 in merchandise etc.
Why someone would buy a card that right off loses them $5.00 or whatever makes no senses.

So has anyone tried this yet?

When/where do you pay the $4.95 fee - at purchase, in addition to the $50, or is the value on the card actually $45.05?

Well I guess 5 bucks is 5 bucks, worth it if your making a trip to OM anyway. I don't get the double tax though, so you paid tax for the cards then again for whatever you purchased with the cards? And I guess the activation fees make sense to cover admin expenses, but I always thought these cards made enough money on the "float".

racheysdad said: Well I guess 5 bucks is 5 bucks, worth it if your making a trip to OM anyway. I don't get the double tax though, so you paid tax for the cards then again for whatever you purchased with the cards? And I guess the activation fees make sense to cover admin expenses, but I always thought these cards made enough money on the "float".

No tax when you use them, they are like cash, deducted after the tax is on the current buy.

yesidonoitall said: racheysdad said: Well I guess 5 bucks is 5 bucks, worth it if your making a trip to OM anyway. I don't get the double tax though, so you paid tax for the cards then again for whatever you purchased with the cards? And I guess the activation fees make sense to cover admin expenses, but I always thought these cards made enough money on the "float".

No tax when you use them, they are like cash, deducted after the tax is on the current buy.

So if I bring an item up to the register at Best Buy, they total it up with tax, I present the visa card for payment, and then they will deduct out the tax after seeing the payment type? Wow interesting, seems easier to just not tax the card at initial purchase. At least it's not double tax, thanks for the info.

I don't think there's tax on the $50 on the card, rather, it's the "service fees" that are taxable on the initial purchase.

You'll pay sales tax like you normally would for any subsequent purchases using the card like any pre-paid debit card.

I guess it could vary from state to state- but in most I've done business with on the east coast, that's how it'll work.

thom0975 said: I don't think there's tax on the $50 on the card, rather, it's the "service fees" that are taxable on the initial purchase.

You'll pay sales tax like you normally would for any subsequent purchases using the card like any pre-paid debit card.

I guess it could vary from state to state- but in most I've done business with on the east coast, that's how it'll work.

This post is exactly correct. There is so much misinformation in this thread. I work in the industry, so I'll try to clear it up.

1. Visa Gift Cards have activation fees. In fact, all gift cards that run over financial networks have activation fees. Visa, American Express , and Mastercard. If they didn't, there would be no incentive to sell them. The retailer that you're buying them from gets paid a portion of the activation fee.

2. There are no sales tax charged on the purchase of gift cards. Ever. Salex tax is paid on the redemption if you buy something that get changed tax.

3. Prepaid financial cards, like the ones from Green Dot (not blue dot) are not gift cards. These also have activation fees. When you purchase them, you have to register the card which means you provide you name and address to the provider and they print out an actual Visa or Mastercard with your name on it and send it to you. Then you can use it like a credit card, except the funds are prepaid and you pay a fee every time you reload it.

jcantanixon said: yesidonoitall said:


The gift cards I see at safeway are just that, no Visa on them.
If I buy a Shell gift card for $50 I get $50 in gas.
Sears, $50 in merchandise etc.
Why someone would buy a card that right off loses them $5.00 or whatever makes no senses.

Because it's a GIFT card. You're paying the extra fee for the added convenience of the recipient being able to be use the card anywhere, like cash. If you buy someone a $50 Sears card, they have to use it at Sears.

The cards at safeway are for a specific store. No fee.

racheysdad said: Well I guess 5 bucks is 5 bucks, worth it if your making a trip to OM anyway. I don't get the double tax though, so you paid tax for the cards then again for whatever you purchased with the cards? And I guess the activation fees make sense to cover admin expenses, but I always thought these cards made enough money on the "float".

As some of the other posts kind of explained, I was not charged tax on these. The reason my total was $109.90 was due to the service charge BS from the Visa cards ($4.95 * 2).

madberg said: OK - I just got some. As promised, $109.90 per set.

Now, I once thought I found a good way to use the dregs that are always left on these things. But now I can't remember what I came up with.

How do you efficiently use the $1.32 left on a card without being a royal pain at the grocery store? I thought I saw a website or something where I could split a payment into several parts and use exactly what was left, but I just can remember how I did that.

I usually apply it to my T-Mobile bill. I can specify whatever amount I want to pay. In fact, I just applied a partial payment of $24.xx from a $50 prepaid debit card that I got as a rebate. Once or twice I've done $1-2 payments just so I wouldn't waste what was leftover on the card. Not sure what other people do, but I find cell phone bills to be the easiest.