I love it when businesses get into discount wars. The consumer always wins! Right now, OfficeMax and Staples are competing to see who can give away the most stuff (or at least, who can give the best “member rewards”). Both are offering a plethora of “free after rewards” items. For example, if you spend $6.99 on a featured item, you’ll then get a reward check for $6.99 that’s good for any purchases in the store (so this is really only beneficial if you were planning on buying office supplies anyway, because the item is “free” in the sense that you get store credit in the amount of the purchase price). You may be familiar with similar drug store programs: CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens all have similar programs with rewards known as Extra Care Bucks, Single Check Rebates, and Register Rewards.

Staples is currently offering small binder clips ($3.39), letter-size heavyweight manila file folders ($8.00), 100-count pack of letter-size envelopes ($7.99), 5-pack retractable gel pens ($3.99), 6-pack perforated notepads ($7.99), and a 6-pack of Bankers boxes ($9.99) for free after rewards. Staples has a limit of 1 per household for each item.

OfficeMax is currently offering a case of copy paper ($34.99 – limit 2), a 12-pack of Sharpies ($5.99 – limit 3), and a 50-count pack of letter-size envelopes ($3.99 – limit 3) for free after rewards.

Both stores’ deals are good through January 16. For both stores, you’ll have to be a member of their rewards program to get the deal. Sign up for OfficeMax’s reward program at their website (select “MaxPerks Rewards for Business” – it doesn’t actually matter if you own a business or not) and sign up for Staples’ reward program at the Staples website (select “Sign Up Now”). As an added plus, both sites offer free shipping for any purchase over $50, so you could potentially get all of this stuff for free without even leaving the house.