Turnover Tuesdays - iPads on Sale at Sears

Disclaimer: I receive a referral commission for the following link(s) and I greatly appreciate supporting the site:  Amazon, Discover

Update 3: This ipad is sold by a 3rd party seller at Sears.  I got the discover deals confirmation but there is a comment that SYW points don't work on 3rd party vendors.  I don't have enough experience to confirm.  Be aware. 
 This would negate the last 20% of the deal. Still a great deal without it. 


Update 2: HT - Reader DC on Twitter.  Really want to kill this deal?  Buy Junk on Kmart for 100% Shop Your Way Rewards with Coupons and use rewards to buy the iPads.  Discover Deals is 10% at Kmart as well.

Here are the steps for review

1. Buy eGift cards with Discover Card at Sears through Discover Deals (15%)
2. Buy Junk at Kmart with eGift Cards at Kmart through Discover Deals (25%)
3. Buy iPads with SYW points at Sears through Discover Deals (35%)

35% now and 35% later. 70% total if you can find enough junk.

Only thing to keep in mind is that SYW points seem to post only when the item is picked up in store or when it is shipped so hopefully you don't miss out on the iPads. 

Here is more information from Frequent Miler on buying 100% SYP items to increase your Discover Deals cashback.



Update:  this deal is still available and just incredible!  Frequent Miler and Miles Whip tweeted that Discover Deals has increased their portal payout on Sears purchases to 10% from 5%!  That means you will get an extra 5% when you buy the gift card and an extra 5% when you buy the merchandise.  That's 10% extra which turns into 20% extra in 13 statements.  Unbelievable!

You are earning an extra $135.07 now and $135.07 after 13 months!  That's a return of $513.92 after 13 months for 3 iPads!  36.8%! Run, Run, Run!

I already got my confirmation email from Discover earlier this week.  I wish I would have waited.  Jump on this!

For those who are not familiar, I started a series a while back called Turnover Tuesdays. Every Tuesday I like to highlight one item that I have resold. This will include profitable and non profitable sales. I hope that there is always something to learn.

Week 1 - First attempt at reselling
Week 2 - My second straight fail
Week 3 - My iPad mini collection
Week 4 - Bed Bath and Beyond
Week 5 - An iPad Idea for Your Staples Gift Card Collection

Week 6 - An iPad idea for Manufactured Spending
Week 7 - The Great iPad Deal that Wasn't
Week 8 - Lenovo iPads
Week 9 - iPads at Staples
Week 10 - Loving that Groupon iPad Deal

Often I talk about finished deals, but when there is something available currently, I try to discuss that deal so that you can have a chance to get in on it.

The Item - iPad Air 2 16GB Silver or Gold at Sears 

Sears online is normally pretty slim pickings when it comes to reselling, but right now they are having an ok sale on iPads.

If you can find an ok sale at Sears, Discover it can turn it into a fantastic deal.  So, let's get to work.


iPad Air 2 16GB Gold -   $435
iPad Air 2 16GB Silver -  $435

I didn't see space gray available.

Let's assume we are buying 3 since Discover 5% rotating categories is limited to $1,500 in spending per quarter.

If you buy 3 iPads, your total would be $1,305.  With tax my price is $1,396.35 but your price will depend on where you live.

That's $465.45 per iPad after taxes.

Credit Card Points 

As pointed out by Frequent Miler, you can buy Sears eGift Cards through Shop Discover and earn 5% from the rotating categories for the gift cards and earn 5% in shopping portal points.  Then, when you go back to buy the merchandise and pay with the gift card, you can earn shopping portal points again.

In my scenario, I bought 2 $500 eGift Card and one $396.35 eGift Card to cover the purchases exactly.

Expect a phone call from Sears to verify the purchase. 

Credit Card earnings -  $69.82 from the 5% rotating categories

Shopping Portal

As mentioned above, you will earn 5% from Discover for buying the eGift cards and then 5% when you buy the merchandise (make sure you go back to the portal both times) with the eGift Cards.


Total portal earnings - $135.07 ($69.82 + $65.25 - not sure if portal will pay 5% on taxes as well) or $139.64

Loyalty Points - Shop Your Way Points

You will earn 13,050 Shop Your Way points, which is worth $13.05 towards future purchases.

Fulfillment by Amazon Fees

These iPads can be sold for about $440 with about ~$30 in fees, including shipping.  That's $90 in fees for 3 of them.

The Haul  

Total is ~$1,230 from the sales.

$1,230 is worse than the $1,396.35 by ~$166.35 or over 11.9% just on the sale.  That's terrible, but it gets better.

Here is how the numbers work
Cash = -$166
Credit Card Points = $69.82
Portal Points = $135.07
Loyalty points = $13.05 in Shop Your Way Points.


When you combine the credit card cash and portal cash, you earn an additional $204.89.

Your takehome is now $38.89 or a return of 2.8%.  That's still not great, but let's do much, much better.


If your Discover it is enrolled in the Discover Doubling promotion, all the money you earn from Discover is doubled after 13 statements.  That means your $204.89 earns you another $204.89 after 13 statements.


Your takehome is now $243.78 or a return of 17.4%!  Not too shabby!

The problem is that you have to wait until the 13th statement to get your real payday.





If you don't have a Discover it, you won't be able to participate in this sale.  I recommend getting a Discover it as there is likely to be a sale like this in the future in the quarter and next quarter as well (most likely including all online shopping).

If you don't have a Discover card, please consider signing up from my referral link.  We will each get $50 (after your first purchase) which will be doubled after 13 months.