Another potential Staples deal - Here they go again...

Just yesterday, I wrote here about me ordering a Brother Color Laser Printer from Staples.

Here is this week's Staples "Sneak Peek" at this coming week's circular. I'm not sure if it's just back-to-school, the industry is hurting, or if Staples if trying to get a head start (or all of the above and more).

Here's the potential deal: Buy any Backpack and get 100% back in Staples Rewards. It applies to both in-store and on-line purchases. There are only 23 backpacks listed when searched on their website. I'm not sure how this compares with in-store inventory and selection options.

Example for discussion:

The best overall deal may be one of the Wenger backpacks (such as this one) but the sale price may expire by this Sunday when the next circular kicks in. Even though, buying the highest-priced backpack may get you the best deal from a monetary perspective, don't buy it just because it's a deal. Buy it because you need the item. You will still need to pay taxes on the purchase price.

You could look at ebay to see what the real "market" price for this item. It is actually around $65 (with free shipping).

Here's the theoretical breakdown:

• Buy a backpack for about $90. Pay about $9 in taxes.
• Receive the $90 in Staples Rewards in October.
• Staples Rewards is not a check that can be cashed, but needs to be spent at a Staples store or on-line (sort of like a gift card). You need to still spend $90 on something at Staples. I'm not sure what the markup is for an Office Supply store, but if we use 40 percent as an estimate, Staples would make a gross profit of about $36.

Bottom line, you would spend about $99 to get at least $189 in products, or you could pay $65 on ebay and just get that one item.

If you have kids and "need" a backpack, you may just end up getting one of the $24.99 models.

Oh, and they also have some offers for mechanical pencils, retractable gel pens, and highlighters, all free after rebates (still need to pay taxes).