Gift Cards at Staples: The Complete List of Brands, Fees & Where to Buy (2026)

If you are standing in a Staples aisle right now squinting at a gift card rack, or you have a staples.com gift card tab open and no idea where to start, you are in the right place. Staples runs one of the deeper gift card assortments of any office supply retailer, which is both the good news and the confusing part. Here is the real rundown on what is sold, what it costs, and what the fine print actually says.

Which Gift Cards Does Staples Sell?

Staples carries its own branded gift cards plus a broad marketplace of third-party and specialty cards. The selection splits between physical racks inside stores and a much larger online gift card section on staples.com, and the two do not always match. Assortment rotates, so treat any list as a starting point rather than a guarantee.

Staples Brand Gift Cards

The Staples card itself is the simplest option. It works at Staples U.S. stores and on staples.com for merchandise and many services, including print and marketing and shipping. You can reload value at any U.S. Staples store, and the card has no activation fee, no dormancy fee, and no expiration date. If you want to know what is left on one before you hand it over, our guide to checking a Staples gift card balance walks through the card number and PIN process.

Dining, Food Delivery, and Restaurants

This is usually the fattest section of the rack. Verified and repeatedly listed brands include Starbucks, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Subway, Dunkin', Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, The Cheesecake Factory, Blaze Pizza, El Pollo Loco, Bonefish Grill, Carrabba's, Buca di Beppo, and Boston Market. You will also see cards from the Brinker group (Chili's and siblings) and the Darden group (Olive Garden, LongHorn, and others), plus DoorDash or Grubhub-style delivery and multi-brand dining cards. If you are gifting a restaurant card to someone who eats out constantly, our El Pollo Loco balance guide shows how the smaller chains handle balance checks, which works the same way for most of these brands.

Entertainment, Streaming, and Gaming

Expect Netflix, AMC, GameStop, Apple, Google Play, PlayStation, Xbox and Xbox Game Pass, Roblox, Regal, and Alamo Drafthouse, with Hulu and Sling appearing on older lists. Netflix cards in particular get bought as gifts a lot, and if you are handing one to a teenager, our Netflix gift card balance page covers exactly how the credit applies to a subscription. Our Google Play balance guide covers the app store equivalent if the recipient is more of an Android person.

Retail, Apparel, and Department Stores

This category runs deep: Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack, Macy's, Kohl's, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Aerie, American Eagle, Athleta, Nike, Under Armour, Lululemon, Victoria's Secret and PINK, Foot Locker, Belk, Boscov's, Wayfair, and Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and HomeGoods on older listings. Our Victoria's Secret and PINK balance guide is handy if you are gifting one of those, since the card works across both storefronts.

Home Improvement, Auto, Pets, Grocery, and Outdoor

Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace, AutoZone, Petco, PetSmart, Chewy, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Academy Sports, Shell gas cards, and various grocery and florist options turn up here. Dick's Sporting Goods appears on older lists. Multi-brand cards from Blackhawk and One4All-style "swap" programs also live in this space, sometimes combining merchants like The Cheesecake Factory, Macy's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Outback, Nordstrom Rack, Grubhub, Athleta, Sephora, Bath & Body Works, and Panera on a single card. If you land on one of those, our One4all gift card balance guide explains how to see what is loaded.

Travel, Leisure, and Prepaid Visa/Mastercard

Travel options have included Airbnb, Amtrak, Delta and Southwest on older lists, Atlantis Bahamas, and Spa Finder. Alongside those, Staples sells open-loop prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards, which are a different animal entirely and carry their own fee structure, covered below.

Denominations, Fees, and Purchase Limits

Staples brand cards come in common fixed amounts including $10, $25, $50, $75, $100, and $150, with variable load generally running $5 to $500 in whole-dollar increments either in store or online. Some outside eGift sellers allow loads starting around $3. Corporate and bulk buyers can request custom amounts through Staples' corporate and education gift card teams, which also handle volume pricing and invoicing.

Third-party physical cards ordered online often show a price a dollar or two above face value, since a secure, trackable shipping component gets baked in. A $50 card might list at $51.99. eGift versions of those same cards are typically sold at face value with electronic delivery.

Prepaid Visa and Mastercard cards are where fees actually appear. These normally carry an activation or purchase fee, frequently in the $5.95 to $8.95 range depending on denomination and issuer, with $200 cards often running about $6.95 to $7.95. Staples regularly runs promotions waiving that fee on fixed $200 Visa and Mastercard cards, usually in store and sometimes online, often with a published limit around nine cards per customer per day. Store enforcement of that limit varies, and variable-load prepaid cards may or may not qualify for the waiver depending on the promotion.

There are a few hard ceilings worth knowing. Staples cannot process online gift card orders above $1,000, which is a federal anti-money-laundering rule rather than a Staples policy choice. Many individual online SKUs list a limit of five per customer. Purchases of physical cards online may add a small secure shipping fee, commonly around $1.99. Staples gift cards themselves max out around $500 per card, and official help text states that no more than five cards can be used in a single transaction, with no option to consolidate balances.

A couple of things you cannot do: use a Staples gift card to buy other gift cards, including more Staples cards, wireless or prepaid phone cards, or to make credit card payments. Gift cards also generally cannot be used as payment for other gift cards at checkout. Gift cards and phone cards are nonrefundable and nonreturnable under the Staples returns policy, and they cannot be redeemed for cash except where the law requires it. If you lose one, treat it like cash, because replacement only happens with valid proof of purchase and only up to the remaining balance.

In-Store vs. Online: What Is Different

Every Staples U.S. retail location sells the Staples brand card, and you can load a variable amount right at the register. Third-party cards live on the rotating rack near the front, and that rack is the volatile part. What is on it in one store may not be on the rack three miles away, and it changes with the season.

Online is where the assortment gets genuinely big. The staples.com gift card section functions as a marketplace with categories for Specialty Gift Cards, Multi-Brand Gift Cards, Visa and Mastercard prepaid cards, and Staples-branded cards, and the specialty side breaks down further into dining, entertainment, apparel, home improvement, health and beauty, travel, fitness, grocery, pet, and department store groupings. You can order physical cards or eGift cards, with eGifts typically arriving by email within minutes to 24 hours.

The practical takeaway: if you need a specific brand today, call the store or check the website before you drive over. If you are flexible or buying in bulk, online gives you far more options and lets you see exact denominations and limits before checkout.

Do You Earn Staples Easy Rewards on Gift Cards?

Short answer: no, not on the purchase. Staples Easy Rewards is free to join and earns 1 point per $1 spent on qualifying purchases across U.S. stores, staples.com, the app, by phone, and select third-party marketplaces, with members able to pick up to three bonus categories for 2x or more points. Points redeem at 200 points to $1 off qualifying purchases in whole-dollar increments, and they do not expire for members who stay active within an 18-month window.

Gift card purchases are explicitly excluded from qualifying purchases. You do not earn points for buying gift cards, and you cannot redeem points toward buying them. The same exclusion applies to items like postage stamps, prepaid phone cards, clearance merchandise, protection plans, and certain services.

Here is the upside, though. When someone actually spends a Staples gift card on eligible merchandise or services, that transaction earns points normally, exactly as if they had paid with cash or a credit card. So the card is a fine gift for a regular Staples shopper, it just will not generate rewards for the person who bought it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a Staples gift card to buy a Visa gift card or another store's card?

No. Staples gift cards cannot be used to purchase other gift cards, including additional Staples gift cards, wireless or prepaid phone cards, or to make credit card payments. In most cases gift cards also cannot serve as payment for other gift cards at checkout. Plan on using cash, credit, or debit for any gift card purchase.

Do Staples gift cards expire or charge a monthly fee?

No. Staples brand gift cards have no activation fees, no dormancy or service fees, and no expiration date, so the full purchased value stays put until it is spent. The fee picture changes once you get into third-party prepaid Visa and Mastercard cards, which normally carry an activation charge of roughly $5.95 to $8.95 unless a fee-waiver promotion is running.

How many Staples gift cards can I use in one transaction?

Official Staples help text states no more than five cards per single purchase, and balances cannot be consolidated onto one card. If you are working with more than five, you would need to split the purchase into multiple transactions. There is a separate ceiling on buying gift cards online, where orders cannot exceed $1,000 due to federal anti-money-laundering rules.

Is Staples discontinuing Amazon gift cards?

A 2024 store employee report indicated Staples would stop carrying Amazon gift cards in stores, and Amazon's current nationwide availability there could not be confirmed. Amazon did appear on 2023 brand lists and older where-to-buy roundups, so some locations may still have stock. Check your local rack or the website directly rather than assuming either way.

Can I reload a Staples gift card or add more money to it?

Yes. You can add value to a Staples gift card at any U.S. Staples store, which makes it a reasonable long-term option for someone who shops there regularly. Variable loads generally run $5 to $500 in whole-dollar increments. Cards ordered online may carry a small secure shipping fee, commonly cited around $1.99 for physical delivery.