BOGO deals at Staples: doing the math

When I got an email from Staples this morning saying they were going to put some items online on BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free), part of me said "Woo-hoo, where's my credit card?" and the other part of me said "Whoa, Susie, Staples tends to inflate prices, so first do the math."  If you take nothing at all away from reading this blog, please at least take this:  before you jump at a great-sounding deal, you must do the math.

Here are the Staples BOGO deals (available online or via phone order only):

• Buy Charmin® Ultra Soft Bathroom Tissue Rolls, 2-Ply , 40/Case at $42.99, get Bounty® Basic Perforated Paper Towel Rolls, 1-Ply, 12/Case (priced at $11.99) free.
• Buy Balance Bar® Peanut Butter, 1.76 oz. 15/Box at $15.91, get one free.
• Buy one Solo Bistro Design Hot Drink Cups with Lids, 12 oz., 50/Pack at $6.99, get one free.
• Buy one Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes Lemon Fresh Scent 75/Tub at $5.99, get one free.
• Buy one Glade® with Oust® Air Sanitizer & Disinfectant. Citrus Scent, 12 oz. at $4.49 get one free.

Then I did some Googling (or rather, Swagbucking) and came up with the following comparative prices:

• The Charmin is available at Costco for $4.49 for a pack of 4 rolls.  Ten of these packs would be $44.90 vs. $42.99 at Staples.
• The Bounty Basic is available at Dollar Tree for $30 for a case of 30, or $1 each or the same price at Staples.
• The Balance Bars go for $14.65 at Costco vs $15.91 at Staples.
• The Solo Bistro Hot Cups go for $5.99 at Tiger Direct vs $6.99 at Staples.
• The Clorox Disinfecting Wipes 78 ct. go for 4 @ $15.60 or $3.90 each at Costco vs. $5.99 at Staples.
• While I couldn't find a price for a 12 oz. Glade with Oust, I did find this 13 oz. Glade for $4.99 at Costco.  This is a price of $0.38/oz. vs. $0.37/oz at Staples.

So it looks like all the deals are pretty well-priced except for the Clorox Wipes.  Those are going for almost 50% less at Costco.  While BOGO on this would still be somewhat of a deal, it's not a great deal.

So I decided to buy all of the BOGO deals except for the Clorox Wipes.  Staples was already out of stock on the Charmin, so that deal dropped off as well. Free delivery starts at $75 (before any discounts)  so I doubled up on the quantities of the Solo cups and the Glade to get to a pre-BOGO-discount total of $77.74.  After the BOGO discounts, the total (without tax) was half, or $38.87 and delivery was still free.

The cherry on top was that Shop at Home is having a "Wild Deal" on Staples today only, and are giving a whopping 10% cash back on all your purchases at Staples today.  Make sure you click through this link first before you place your order at Staples.  (Remember, you must be a member of Shop at Home and signed into your account to get your cash back. Not a member of Shop at Home yet?   It's free.  Click here to join and get $5 cash just for signing up and using their site to make a purchase within 30 days.)

So after your Shop at Home cash-back, free delivery, and BOGO coupons, you will get the $77.74 worth of stuff for $34.98,or a 55% discount.  Even with Staples' slightly inflated prices, this is a great deal.

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