Office Max 10 Tips and Tricks, how to get Hot Deals

[bman46]

Great information. Thanks a lot.

 

[Zedtom]

Great post, waraey. I hate to admit this, but I used to work at a store in a strip mall adjacent to an Office Max. We would regularly dive into their dumpster to salvage office supplies.

We would often find office furniture and other items that only needed a few minor repairs to be usable. I've got a carton of Post-it notes and other items in my basement.

Sadly, they moved their trash container into their loading area, and the fun was over.

 

[vtqanh]

no Office Max where I live

 

[hifi]

o what, norton antivirus 2003 was sliced? i just bought a systemworks 2003 for $9, hope it works fine

 

[Melectricus]

Thank you.......as I copy/paste for future reference. I have no doubt some of these gems will save me $$.

 

[beekeeper]

Great post. Thanks for the information.

I do have a few questions? How many of the loss-leader items does an OM store typically stock in advance of a sale? For instance, I've found locally, that if there is a good deal on a hard drive, I might get one if I'm one of the first few people through the front door on Sunday. Otherwise I don't even bother trying. Do employees sometimes buy them all in advance? Are there times that OM doesn't send any? Is OM's new owner going to cut all the promotions?

 

[tophman]

The OfficeMax in my area is closing too. That stinks. Now I can't pricematch to staples and vice versa.

 

[LukFilm]

Originally posted by: waraey

Originally posted by: zaku
question: is it true that i can only purchase items that are in stock? for ex. the 2410 last week. eventually i was able to track one down, but at my local store i was told i can not put an order in at the $149 price because they don't have it in stock. whats the real policy?

The reason for this is because if you look at the ad, it said while supplies last. On ad items that say this, they dont have to order it for you as it is a promotion used to limit quantity on hand, not really to make OfficeMax the green. They dont have to, and it wont let them order the item at that price ususally.

They let me order 40 of HP 2410 for $149.99 from a warehouse that had 50 of them coming in.

 

[Rupster]

really great post - i pass an office max on my way to and from work. I'll definately be checkting to see if they are out of my ink...

 

[Yo2]

everything is very true - but to post all this information in this combination - you must hate OM

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

I scored a new desk for my office and a credenza for under $300 - and they look great

Thanks OM!!!

 

[Norton]

7. Manager Fixer

Not getting what you want? The cashier tell you ?No?.
Ask to speak to the manager, or associate manager. At stores like my local one if you throw a big enough fit and insist you are right the manager will give you what you want just to hush you up. This works best with a big line.

waraey is this really a good idea to perpetuate? I guess you don't get yelled at enough by customers? Yes it can work to get that one deal but then you are remembered by everyone involved. Not for the better either.

10. Items slated for in-store destruction.

When an item is recalled, or needs to be sent back to the vendor. The item price is dropped to 1 cent and all the items are pulled from the shelves and are marked to be sent back to the vendor, or destroyed in the store. The items however are not always pulled for some reason, and when the item is taken to the register it will ring up for a penny. If you see this, buy them all because if the cashier is paying attention they will remove the rest of them. Recently rang up several pens for a penny, and Norton antivirus 2003 was just destroyed in store along with other Norton 2003 items (dumpster full of sliced CD's).

Be careful with this waraey, people are fired over selling destroy items.


I'm a deal hunter 110% but I have to say if you worked under me waraey and I knew you posted this, you wouldn't have a job.

 

[russw]

Originally posted by: waraeyA lot of times u can get a better deal out of rainchecks, if the instant price is marked down, then weeks later when they finally get some it will be on ad again with possibly better rebates, and they should match that instant price on the raincheck.

Example... I'm holding rainchecks for the Pacific Digital 8x DVD burner for $79 and $69. Are you saying with the $79 raincheck OM will currently sell it to me OTD for the raincheck price (or even for the current $69 AR price) with rebates too?? If so, doesn't this really cut into their "bottom line" if lots of customers are doing it?

...russ

 

[weepul]

wow. awesome post. thanks!

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[KenSr]

bump

 

[Devistater]

Sweet post! I'm going to have to check this out. I wonder if they'd do the same thing for the triple ink pack, 1 black 2 color HP 57/58 carts. No one has that but costo

 

[alokkola]

Great compilation post
ThanX OP

 

[waraey]

Originally posted by: russw

Originally posted by: waraeyA lot of times u can get a better deal out of rainchecks, if the instant price is marked down, then weeks later when they finally get some it will be on ad again with possibly better rebates, and they should match that instant price on the raincheck.

Example... I'm holding rainchecks for the Pacific Digital 8x DVD burner for $79 and $69. Are you saying with the $79 raincheck OM will currently sell it to me OTD for the raincheck price (or even for the current $69 AR price) with rebates too?? If so, doesn't this really cut into their "bottom line" if lots of customers are doing it?

...russ

You have to look at what the instant price was when u got the raincheck, not the after rebates price. Sometimes they have like a 10 or 20 instant with a smaller rebate, but most of the time it is just a larger rebate

 

[usernamemax20charact]

This can also be applied at the other office supply stores -- staples, office depot -- since their policies almost mirror one another. I remember when Staples first came out with their ink in-stock policy. A week later, Office Depot and Office Max had the same offer.

 

[usernamemax20charact]

Originally posted by: iamme
question about the ink guarantee: does that apply to dot matrix printer ink as well?

my parent's business uses dot matrix printers and sometimes they aren't in stock.

It should, as long as the item is stocked in-store and doesn't require a special order or something. The fine print says that the cartridge has to be a normally stocked item.

Also, I've had stores substitute two singles to avoid the $10 deduction when they were out of the twin packs and when they were out of single's, they would open the twin packs and sell them to me individually, again to avoid the $10 discount.

 

[LoverBoyJ]

Nice!! good to know this information!!

 

[kof]

Okay - here's a flame on this GREAT post!
Guys and gals - stop asking where the flamers are!!

 

[Devistater]

Originally posted by: usernamemax20charact

Also, I've had stores substitute two singles to avoid the $10 deduction when they were out of the twin packs and when they were out of single's, they would open the twin packs and sell them to me individually, again to avoid the $10 discount.

That sucks, because without the $10 discount I think its cheaper to get them at Costco. AND Costo has a triple pack which saves even more.

Originally posted by: LukFilm

They let me order 40 of HP 2410 for $149.99 from a warehouse that had 50 of them coming in.

Dang man! For yourself or for ebay? (How many of the 150 on ebay right now are yours? ) I wish I would have had the guts to try to order a bunch like that.