OfficeMax & Office Depot Expand Awesome Rewards Program… With A Catch

A bit over a year ago OfficeMax and Office Depot began testing a new loyalty program called Rewards Everything. This new program, which was only available to residents in select markets, offers 2% back in store credit on everything they sold. And by everything, they mean everything. Right down to including gift cards.

I was fortunate enough to get a Rewards Everything account during the trial phase and I can vouch for the fact that it is truly as good as advertised. I’ve earned 2% store credit on all my office supplies, gift cards, printing, you name it. And I couldn’t be happier. I don’t think I’ve stepped foot in a Staples in over a year. Which is probably the point.

This program was so good that a few in our community wondered if it was sustainable. Could they really afford to pay 2% back in store credit on things like gift cards which presumably already have razor thin margins? Well, apparently the answer is kind of sort of not really.

OfficeMax and Office Depot Rewards Everything expanded on July 1

On July 1, OfficeMax and Office Depot rolled out Rewards Everything to customers across the United States. Customers with an existing loyalty account were automatically converted to the new program. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that they have put a cap in place for how many rewards you can earn on gift cards and stamps. Specifically, you can only earn rewards on the first $200 of third party gift cards, $50 on OfficeMax gift cards, and and $75 in stamps per quarter. That’s obviously a huge downgrade to the program and a real bummer.

At any rate, the benefits of Rewards Everything include:

Standard Benefits

• 2% back in rewards on everything. And we mean everything.
• All rewards paid out. Whether you earn $100 or a penny, you get rewarded.
• Member-only savings including Rewards Member Pricing and Bonus Rewards.
• Redeem rewards instantly at checkout. In-store, at officedepot.com and on the go.

VIP Benefits:

• 5% back in rewards on ink, toner, paper and print & copy services.
• Free delivery with no minimum purchase. (Most furniture, oversized and special order items excluded.)

My experience with Rewards Everything

I’ve been a member of Rewards Everything pretty much since the inception of the program. During that time, I’ve received 2% back on a plethora of gift card purchases, regular office supplies, printing, and even shipping. Basically everything, just as the name states. Occasionally I’ve forgotten to give them my rewards number at check-out, but even then all is not lost as you can still enter your information on the website so long as you have the receipt.

The rewards pay out once per quarter, and you have the rest of that quarter to use them (or lose them). I haven’t figured out the best uses for the rewards — I’ve never tried to use rewards to buy gift cards — so I typically buy postage stamps, cleaning supplies, or other items that we’ll probably need sooner or later.

So in other words, I don’t value the 2% store credit as “cash back,” but it’s still a really good deal. Here’s a sample of how it posts to my account.

Sadly I won’t be able to earn that many rewards from Amazon gift cards in a single quarter going forward….

Bottom line

I was a huge fan of the Rewards Everything program by Office Max and Office Depot and have been enrolled in the program since its inception over a year ago. I’m glad that the program was generally successful and is being rolled out to everyone… I just wish they had actually rolled out the program that they tested. But I guess it just wasn’t sustainable.

So if you weren’t part of the trail, this is probably a good thing. For the rest of us…. well, I probably won’t be that loyal to OfficeMax and Office Depot anymore.

How do you feel about the new Rewards Everything program?