[POLL] How much is your time worth? What to do when the store doesn’t have exactly what you want

This week Staples is (once again) giving away free money (through today).

Combined with the Chase Ink card that gives 5x on money spent at office supply stores, this is a great deal.  Staples typically sells $100 and $200 gift cards, so there are several different options

Option 1 – 2 $200 cards

Best option (if you can find them) is 2 $200 cards.  There’s a $6.95 activation fee on both, so it’s a money maker of $6.10, plus if you’re paying with the Chase Ink, that’s 2000 Chase points

Option 2 – 1 $200 and 1 $100 cards

You can also get a $200 and a $100 card for $300 total.  Your out of pocket will be slightly less, since the $100 cards only have an activation fee of $5.95, making it a moneymaker of $7.10, but you only get 1500 Chase points (when paying for the Ink)

Option 3 – 3 $100 cards

If your store is out of $200 cards (probably likely), you can get the $100 ones. There’s a $5.95 activation fee on all 3, so it’s still a slight money maker, plus if you’re paying with the Chase Ink, that’s 1500 Chase points

What I did

I live in a fairly major city (Cincinnati) that has several different Staples stores near me.  I have 2 within about 2-3 miles of me, including one that I literally pass by a Staples store every day on my way to / from work.  Normally I would just stop by that one, but the last time I did, they had a sign saying that “Gift Cards are not able to be activated at this time”.

On Wednesday, I was in the area of the other nearby Staples store and so I thought I would stop by.  Unfortunately for me, they did not have any $200 Visa gift cards.  So I was left with a dilemma about what to do.  Because this deal is limited to 1 per household, do I take the guaranteed deal now, or try to come back later at this (or the other) Staples store?  Or just bag the promotion entirely?

After I left the store, I thought this would be an interesting question for a larger audience.  What would you do?  Taking the 3 $100 gift cards means no additional time, and 1500 Chase Ultimate Rewards points plus about $2 money maker.

Going to another store would cost me a few extra minutes, but if they had the $200 gift cards, that would be an additional 500 Ultimate Rewards points plus an additional $5.  Of course, I then run the risk that they might not have any $200 gift cards either, in which case I’d have spent extra time for no additional value.

So what would you do?

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