(Update: Back Again) Dosh: Earn 2% Cashback At Staples.com ($5 Max Per Day)

Update: 5/21/21: At some point in the last couple of months Staples.com returned to Dosh, so you can earn 2% cashback on online purchases again.

Update 3/11/21: Staples seems to have been removed from Dosh again. It’s returned in the past, so hopefully its removal isn’t a permanent adjustment. h/t EW

Update 10/24/20: Staples had disappeared from the Dosh app for the past week, but it’s back again at 2%. h/t EW

Update 9/25/20: EW has pointed out that the cashback rate has been reduced to 2%. While that’s obviously bad news, this is apparently still a better option than trying a shopping portal for certain purchases.

Update 9/11/20: Reader EW has spotted a negative change in the terms of Dosh’s offer for Staples. In the past, you only had to pay with a card linked in the app. The terms now state that you have to tap the ‘Shop’ button in the app and pay with a Dosh-linked card.

EW has confirmed that a transaction didn’t track where he paid with a Dosh-linked card and didn’t click through from the app. A subsequent transaction where he did click through from the app did track.

That therefore makes Dosh far less useful because it means you can no longer stack it with earnings from a shopping portal and Dosh has a limit of $5 cashback per day from Staples. It could still be your best option, but that’ll depend on how much other portals are offering and how much you’ll be spending.

For example, the best cashback rate through a shopping portal at the time of updating this post is 3% via TopCashback. If you were to spend less than $166.67, you’d do better clicking through from Dosh. Spending more than that would mean you’d do better clicking through from TopCashback as you wouldn’t be capped at $5 cashback.

Update 7/24/20: Back to 6%.

Update 7/23/20: Dosh has increased the rate to 15% for July 23, 2020 only. The cashback limit is sadly still only $5 per day, so that means you’ll max this out when spending $33.33.

Update 7/19/20: The rate has been increased to 6%. The cashback limit is still $5 per day, so you’ll max it out when spending $83.33.

Update 6/30/20: The cashback rate has been increased to 4%. With a cashback limit of $5 per day, you’ll max this out when spending $125.

Update 5/19/20: The rate has been reduced further to 2%.

Update 4/7/20: Dosh has also added terms excluding gift card purchases from cashback; whether or not that’s enforced is another matter. I had a gift card purchase track earlier, but we’ll have to wait and see if that becomes payable. h/t reader Paul.

Update 4/7/20: Cashback rate has been lowered from 5% to 3%, with the maximum amount reduced from $20 per day to $5 per day.

The Deal

• Earn 5% 3% 2% 6% 2% cashback at Staples.com when using the Shop button in the Dosh app and paying with a card linked in the app.
• My Dosh referral link (we’ll both get $5 if you use it).

Key Terms

• Maximum cashback of $20 $5 per day.
• Valid only when you use the Shop button to open Staples from Dosh and checkout using your Dosh-connected card.
• Gift cards are excluded from cash back offer.
• Cashback will be deposited to your account within 30 days.

Tips & Ideas

Well hello there! This has the potential to be a sweet deal provided gift card purchases track correctly. With a limit of $20 per day, you’ll max this out when spending $400 with a card linked in the Dosh app.

Pay with a Chase Ink Plus or Ink Cash card to earn 5x/5%, or with a card that has the Staples Amex Offer loaded to it.

Staples sells $300 Visa gift cards with an $8.95 activation fee. That’s too high for my tastes normally, but if you buy a couple of those every day you’d make a $2.10 profit per day while racking up 3,090 Ultimate Rewards or $30.90 per order on top.

I can’t imagine this will last long; if it does, I’m sure Dosh will have to put in place some kind of tracking as to whether gift cards were purchased as this could get costly. For now though, have at it.