Update 4/9/19: $300 denominations are back now as well.
Update 4/7/19: Visa gift cards are back, although the $300 denominations are still out of stock for now. This therefore looks like it was just a temporary issue rather than permanent.
Following Greg’s recent post about the top 3 ways to earn uncapped profit buying Visa gift cards, a reader gave us the heads up that both Visa and Mastercard gift cards have been out of stock on Staples.com all week.
Sure enough, each of these cards on the Staples website displays a message stating ‘This item is out of stock for delivery’.
The $300 Visa gift cards in particular were popular with some MSers who have Chase Ink Plus or Ink Cash credit cards, despite them coming with an $8.95 activation fee. That’s because those credit cards earn 5x/5% at office supply stores, so it was still a profitable venture. The largest denomination sold in-store is $200, so being able to buy $300 cards from the comfort of your couch was attractive to some.
It’s not clear yet whether this is just a temporary supplier issue or if it’s a permanent change. The fact that they’ve not removed the Visa and Mastercard listings suggests it’s a temporary issue, although it might presage some kind of other change – perhaps limits on how many can be bought or higher activation fees.
That’s all speculation though, as it might be days or weeks before we know anything either way. We’ll keep checking each day and will let you know if and when these cards make a return to the Staples website.