Gear Up for Back-to-School with August PowerPerks

31 Jul 2012

The Author

Social media has always been a passion for Mary, and she loves being able to use that love to help PerkStreet fans and customers improve their lives. She works on the PerkStreet social media team, and working with customers makes her happy because she likes knowing she's helping people win.

Mary enjoys photography, a hobby she shares with her dad. Hockey and lacrosse are her favorite sports. Follow her on Twitter @marymallard

Gear Up for Back-to-School with August PowerPerks

Mary Mallard 35 Comments

PerkStreet August PowerPerks Back to School

August. It signals the close of the all-too-fleeting sunshine and relaxation of summer. But that doesn’t mean you have to start stressing about back-to-school shopping. The key to keeping your sanity is to make the most of the last month of summer while also preparing for the upcoming fall season before the anxiety kicks in. With this month’s PowerPerks, you’ll earn up to 5% cash back while getting ahead of your fall to-dos, and hopefully you’ll be able to relax a bit as well.

Barnes & Noble®

There are still plenty of relaxing days ahead, and that means enough time to work in that summer reading you were hoping to accomplish. With Barnes & Noble® and BN.com taking home over 30% of the PowerPerks voting this month, it seems there are lots of PerkStreeters out there hoping to make this happen. (Either that, or you’ve just started worrying about your kids’ summer reading lists and have planned an emergency trip to the book store.) Now is the perfect time to snag that best seller you’ve had your eye on or check off some titles on the school summer reading list, while grabbing up to 5% cash back on the purchase. And remember: Barnes & Noble has a lot more than just books. Road trips coming up? Get some travel games. Online and in-store purchases qualify.

OfficeMax®

Summer may not be over yet, but it’s a good time to start stocking up on school supplies. OfficeMax® and OfficeMax.com are the perfect destinations for back-to-school essentials for kids of all ages. Whether you have elementary-aged kids or are sending your “little ones” off to college, you can find everything you need in one place. But let’s not forget you! OfficeMax is currently running a sale on furniture for a limited time, and they have some great prices on computers, tablets and hardware accessories, if you’ve been needing an upgrade. Make an OfficeMax purchase this month and you’ll be getting up to 5% back on your purchases, whether it’s for you or your kids. Online and in-store purchases qualify.

Details: PowerPerks bonus perks limited to $5,000 in spend every calendar year. Unless specific stores are named, qualifying purchases are determined by Merchant Category Codes. To redeem a perk as a statement credit requires 2 perks per each $20 redemption, thereby reducing your effective cash back rate. In addition, statement credits are redeemed in $20 increments. All other reward redemption options require no additional perks. For example, a $20 statement credit will require $22 in perks. A $40 statement credit requires $44 in perks, etc. Non-PIN debit card purchases will earn 5% cash back in August at the following retailers: Barnes and Noble®, BN.com®, Office Max®, OfficeMax.com®

Mary Mallard 35 Comments

Ooo2

There should be power perks for OLIVE GARDEN
Skeeps

No Office Max or Barnes and Noble where I live QQ
http://twitter.com/Gr4ck3L Grackel

Our office max is running a sale through the 4th for 20% off. Awesome and even more savings!
http://www.facebook.com/jeffsasse Jeff Sasse

Can always order off of BN.com. Good luck!
Bjame8

Only TWO this month???? Wish we had more…Like when you give us five to choose from. Loved Outback last month.
Jesi Steiber

I was hoping for somewhere I could do back to school clothes shopping! But do appreciate the B&N as well.
Amiablejak

BN
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=179200955 Kali Fouty Wolken

I rarely have PowerPerks match what places I use so I’m thrilled that B&N is a part of this month’s PowerPerks!
Tolina Butler

My husband and I go to Barnes and Nobles every weekend!! Perks here we come!!
http://dailyperk.perkstreet.com/ PerkStreet Mary

Hi Bjame8 and Ooo2,

We try to mix up our PowerPerks selection every month, but we try to keep it diverse — including offering larger retailers, like we did this month. When we offer 5% at larger retailers, we often have to limit the variety a little bit, but we take our aggregate customer behavior into account when we pick these.

I hope this explains the process a little more clearly.

-Mary
Mary Mallard
PerkStreet Financial
Debrakay22

Not all people have kids That are going back to school What about perks for us
Test

Wow. Garbage and Garbage. Awesome job Perkstreet. Just when I thought you couldn’t outdo yourselves you prove me wrong.
BarbaraL

crap office max charges triple in some cases of Walmart and with Amazon free shipping in many cases, who needs Barnes & Noble. You suck.
http://Twitter.com/KylePs80 Kyle Psaty

Test and BarbaraL,
Please remember to vote for these categories come the middle of the month if you’re really dissatisfied with them. This is why PowerPerks are selected democratically!

-Kyle

Kyle Psaty
PerkStreet
http://Twitter.com/KylePs80 Kyle Psaty

Awesome news, Tolina! Thanks for weighing in with a positive reaction. We’re glad to please you with this month’s PowerPerks.

-Kyle
Me

Gesh Stop with the bad attitudes! These are better perks than I have seen for a long time. There rarely is something I can use. I will probably use both of these. Thank You Perks
Thebigshow613

Listen you schmucks there is no such thing as a free lunch. Stop wanting everything for nothing or next to it! You should just be happy you are part of a bank that offers rewards and cash back not all of them do it so quit whining!!!
Mike B

While most of the Perks aren’t places that I shop at, I do like them. Please keep doing them. I am sad the some people use such vulgar language.
Cardiac_2k

I agree with bigshow…. and I am happy to see the Barnes & Noble perk
Rmlindop

I’m sorry to read so many negative comments. If you vote, you can talk about it. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. I wonder if these will be the same people who complain in November. Thanks, PerkStreet!
Pris

Love the perks this month!
GreatTVdude

Name calling isn’t the answer. It is nice to have rewards, but rewards that don’t apply to you aren’t rewards at all. I don’t have kids, nor am I in school. It’s not anything that benefits me so why should I get excited? That’s not whining, that expressing my opinion. Don’t be a bully.
Cinnymonster

The extra perks can’t always apply for everyone! Get real! I live in a Podunk cow town and can’t get to most of these stores in one month. But I’m earning perks none the less and I am grateful!
DB

Wow, I am really disgusted by the negative comments! I love Perk Street! You know what? If you don’t like the Power Perks, go bank somewhere else where they have better Power Perks. What? There isn’t another bank that offers Power Perks?! Quit your complaining and be happy you bank at a place that really strives at making a better bank for it’s customers. Sheesh! The nerve of some people!
Ulivint

You guys who get mad at PS when you don’t like the power perks they offer: Really? Maybe it’s time for you to take your business to one of the other banks that have really good 5% rebates. …oh, wait! No other bank comes to mind at the moment…
ward

If you don’t have something nice to say…. We use the Power perks when they are useful and consider it a bonus and don’t when they aren’t. I’m not sure where all the hostility is coming from. Still beats the heck out of any account I’ve had in the past.
Carter

Different monthly perks are like opening a different surprise Christmas/birthday present every month! I might not use them but it’s sure fun to see what is next. Thanks for the little extra, Perkstreet!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Karen-Coffelt/100000501200615 Karen Coffelt

Why would you have to have kids to take advantage of this months perks? Barnes & Noble and OfficeMax both have much more than just back to school supplies. Personally I think 5% cash back at both of these places is a big bonus. I don’t shop at either one very often, but I will this month.
Annie Walker

Wait a second, you don’t have kids so you don’t read books? You don’t buy magazines? You don’t enjoy coffee at the Barnes & Noble Cafe? You don’t buy any sort of office supplies? I know you can take most of those type of things from your employer for free but don’t you buy toner for your printer? Every perk won’t appeal to everyone but to say “I don’t have kids, so I’d never go to Barnes & Noble or Office Max” is a bit much.
Annie Walker

Yeah… what about perks for illiterate people who don’t buy books and don’t have jobs so they don’t use office supplies…
GreatTVdude

AND I disagree. Also the answer to your many unnecessary questions is “No, I don’t.” I don’t buy office supplies, ink or toner (I keep everything electronically). Even if I did, I wouldn’t shop at these places, they’re way over-priced.

I have the right to my opinion and you have the right to yours, but trying to act like you know me, that’s a bit much.
http://Twitter.com/KylePs80 Kyle Psaty

Hey guys, let’s keep it civil, please. These arguments and complaints over the months have made it clear that we can do better when it comes to PowerPerks. For everyone. Our pursuit of better PowerPerks has led us to a new system, where we make PowerPerk offers on a per-customer basis. Ideally, this will help GreatTVdude and others like him get bonus rewards that apply to them. Will it be perfect? Probably not. But we believe it will be better. The beta customers already receiving the new kind of PowerPerks have been really excited with their individualized offers. Read more about new PowerPerks here: http://dailyperk.perkstreet.com/sneak-preview-powerperks-2-0-is-comingcatcust/

At the end of the day, we want these to be better. You want them to be better, and we’re hoping to make them better before October. We hope you enjoy the new system.

-Kyle
http://Twitter.com/KylePs80 Kyle Psaty

Barbara,
Let’s be adults here. We’re not offering these to be jerks. And we’re real people sitting on the other side of the computer. Civility is always appreciated. All the same, I understand that it can be frustrating when the tide doesn’t feel like it’s turning your way. We’ll be replacing these democratically selected PowerPerks with individually customized PowerPerks very soon. This means you won’t have to feel like your lone vote in the polls isn’t working for you. Will the new PowerPerks be perfect? Nope. But we hope they’ll be better — for customers feeling the way you feel, especially.

-Kyle
http://Twitter.com/KylePs80 Kyle Psaty

Please guys. Let’s pretend like we’re all sitting together when we have these discussions. Keeping things respectful is the least we can do for one another.

Here’s more about the new PowerPerks, which we hope will feel less disappointing: http://dailyperk.perkstreet.com/sneak-preview-powerperks-2-0-is-comingcatcust/

-Kyle
GreatTVdude

I am very excited for the changes! I did say that when they were revealed on the blog.

I just don’t appreciate it when people try to tell me what to like or try to convince me that something applies to me when they can’t even say my name. Where I come from, if you don’t like something, you say it because things are done to make it better. PerkStreet heard people like myself says something and made it better. Had nothing been said, nothing may have been done. People who tell other people to “shut up” because they disagree don’t know what they are doing. While something might be great for them, it’s OK that other people express their dissatisfaction of it. That’s how things get better.

The rule of thumb for me is that if someone tries to tell me what to believe, I will reply to them. They can be happy about something, and that’s great if they are, but there’s no reason why people who aren’t happy about something should be forced to be quiet. Plus, it’s silly, because I don’t think I ever bashed PerkStreet (which I love, btw) in the process. I just said the perks didn’t apply to me, and they didn’t. There’s nothing wrong with that.

The Author

Barnes & Noble®

OfficeMax®

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