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In 2021 the Staples teacher discount morphed into what they’re now calling Staples Classroom Rewards. But don’t worry, it’s another way to save money (if you’re a teacher) and to donate rewards to your kids’ teachers (if you’re a parent). Spoiler alert: anyone can earn 5% back on purchases and still donate to a teacher. So in essence, this is a Staples teacher discount still.
It’s a little confusing because the new program sort of blends the Staples teacher discount with the Staples rewards program. But the good news is that if you’re used to the old Staples teacher discount, this is more user-friendly. For one, no more receipts! You don’t need to do anything with receipts to take advantage of the program. Let’s dive in.
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What is the Staples teacher discount?
OK, there are two angles to the Staples Classroom Rewards program. Both benefit teachers. First, let’s cover the Staples teacher discount for teachers. Download the Staples Connect app and sign in. Teachers, every time you shop, you’ll earn up to 5% back on purchases. Designate yourself as the teacher you’d like to donate to in the app, and then you can donate up to 10% to your own classroom.
For parents and non-teachers, it’s similar except they select a teacher to donate the 10% to. So everyone earns up to 5% back at Staples, and everyone can donate 10% to a teacher.
How do teachers receive their Staples Classroom Rewards?
You can use your rewards in $5 increments, so as soon as you have at least $5 to cash in, here’s how to do it:
- Open the Staples Connect app.
- Navigate to your available rewards and tap “Give Now.”
- Find your school and then yourself as the teacher.
- Select the amount you want to donate to your classroom, and the app will generate a barcode.
- Show this barcode to the cashier at checkout.
Do Staples teacher discount rewards expire?
Classroom Rewards are good for 180 days from the last donation date. So you can save up the rewards for up to six months before you need to spend them. This means you can earn over the summer too!
Can I earn rewards on anything I buy at Staples?
Almost anything. The biggest exception is that the program doesn’t cover purchases you make at Staples.com. The only exception is 1-hour pickup. If you shop online and opt for in-store pickup, you can earn Classroom Rewards for the purchase. Otherwise, you have to be shopping in the store. Additionally, you can’t earn rewards on purchases like gift cards, postage, or prepaid phone cards.
What’s the max I can earn as a teacher?
You’re able to rack up $1,000 every 180 days. So up to $2,000 per year!
Staples offers extra rewards during Teacher Appreciation Week.
In 2022 Staples offered an additional 20% off school supplies to teachers from April 30 – May 6. In 2021 they offered this extra discount during Back-to-School season, so keep your eyes open in the spring and again at the end of summer.
Related: Freebies for Teachers
Other Top Tips for Shopping at Staples
1. Staples price matches and offers a 10% discount on top of the competitor’s price.
Yep, it’s true. But there are a few stipulations. Like with any price matching situation, the item has to be identical in every way. But on top of that, the competitor must have both a brick-and-mortar and an online store. The only exception to this is Amazon. They’ll match Amazon’s price (but not third-party sellers). Also, you can’t get a competitor’s price (+10% extra savings) during special sales events like back to school or Black Friday.
2. Earn money when you recycle your ink cartridges or paper.
If you’ve spent $50 on ink or toner in the last six months, you can exchange your old used cartridges for $2 each.
Earn $5 back when you recycle or shred your paper in store. You can earn a $5 Store Bonus when you recycle eligible items like adapters and cables, computers, tablets, monitors, keyboards and mice, printers, scanners, fax machines, mobile phones, digital cameras, ink and toner cartridges, rechargeable batteries, shredding, and SodaStream CO2 cylinders. The recycling reward is limited to once per customer per calendar month.
3. Shop Staples on Sundays — that’s when they do storewide markdowns.
In order to get first dibs on newly discounted items, shop on Sundays. Discounted inventory gets picked over fast!
