Officemax: Good prices, free delivery on orders over $50
Written: Jul 28 '03 (Updated Oct 13 '04)
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I own a Brother 5-in-1 Office Machine and a HP deskjet 3420. Both need ink cartridges and it was time to shop around for the best price. I found that Office Max had the cartridges for $2 less than Staples and the same or lower prices than other internet merchants. Plus, Officemax offers free shipping on orders over $50, so it was a done deal.
WEB SITE and VARIETY OF MERCHANDISE
Finding ink cartridges was very easy. You need to know the type of gadget (fax, ink jet, laser printer) you are shopping for, the model number and the manufacturer. Luckily for me, my gadgets had the model number right on their face where I could easily see the information I needed. After you make your selections, you are directed to the right cartridge and can add it to your cart. It was really pretty simple, even for a non-techie like me. They also guarantee that they will have the ink cartridge that you need in stock. As it turns out, mine were in stock, so no need to fall back on their guarantee.
After choosing my cartridges, I spent some more time shopping around the site. My biggest annoyance was the lack of product descriptions for many products. For example, I was looking for a new phone, but found that the site really didn't do a good job of explaining, or even identifying, the various features. I decided to postpone the phone search until I could do more research.
The site does have tons of office supplies: you will find a great amount of pens, paper, post-its and other consummable items. The office furniture was the yucky laminate stuff and the file cabinets were uninspired gray and beige metal: functional but boring and cheapy designs. The product line is very similar to their competitor Staples, although the prices seemed a little lower.
USUALLY THERE IS FREE SHIPPING OVER $50
Here is info from the web site on free shipping: OfficeMax.com offers free delivery for any orders within our trade area totaling $50 or more. Orders below $50 and orders outside our trade area will have delivery charges. Some items may have special delivery charges associated with them. Other orders are shipped via most efficient means.
SHIPPING
I bought my items on Friday morning. They were promised to be delivered on Monday . . . and they did show up on Monday. They were delivered in an Office Max truck - not by UPS. The delivery person knocked on the door and asked me to sign for the delivery which required me to open the box in front of him to check the contents. I asked him what would have happened if I wasn't home and he indicated that he would have left the box without a signature because I live in a nice enough neighborhood. I am not sure what the official policy on this is but if you are not home during business hours, it makes sense to find out if your neighborhood is up to snuff.
PACKAGING
The items were put in a box without any additional packing material. The cardboard shipping box was secured with tape and was slightly dented upon arrival although the contents were unharmed.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I did not have to speak to a human during my interaction with Office Max. I got an email acknowledging my purchase with a copy of my receipt. I also got an email indicating my items had shipped.
STEALS AND DEALS
I searched the web for coupon codes. I came across a few for $20 off $150 but couldn't find anything for a smaller order. When I signed up for their email promotions on the site, they sent me the same $20 off $150 coupon.
Office Max offers promotions and sometimes discounts for businesses and teachers. If you fit into either category, you should explore these programs. There is information on the site.
MY LIMITED EXPERIENCE WITH THE BUSINESS PERKS PROGRAM
Since I work out of my home, I tried to sign up for the Business perks program. I went through a link on the home screen that sent me to an area dedicated to the business perks program. Once there, I input all of my vital statistics. The computer then assigned me a rather long number, rather than a word I could easily remember, like, for example, my name. In any case, the number did not work on the shopping cart or checkout screens. I used the cut/paste functions so I am pretty sure I had the right number. Perhaps there is a lag before the number becomes active, but the computer didn't indicate that would be the case. I never got a follow up email about the Business Perks program or my log in number or id.
ANOTHER FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE
The web site has areas marketed toward certain businesses. I noticed one for real estate and another for law. Since, I practice law, I turned to the legal page. On it, you could request a quarterly email with information and products for lawyers. Upon entering my email address, name and business name, I got an error message. So, I guess I will not be receiving the specialized emails. This portion of the site had some products for lawyers but was not overly helpful.
PRICE
The homepage claims that Officemax offers a 115% price guarantee. In fact, I did find the lowest prices for the products I was buying on this site. The ink cartridges for my HP Inkjet were $17.99 each and the ink cartridges for my Brother 5 in one machine were $19.99. These prices were $2 less than what Staples charged.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
Officemax sells a lot of office supplies and if you know what you want, then you can find it here at a decent price. Shopping for electronics is hard because they don't offer a lot in their descriptions. Prices are good and delivery is generally free over $50. I recommend this site for general office supplies and those expensive ink cartridges.
DO YOU LIKE TO SHOP ON THE INTERNET? HERE ARE SOME MORE REVIEWS OF WEB STORES:
Clothing and Accessories: Talbots; The Gap; CWD Kids; Hanna Andersson; J. Jill; Tote Le Monde ; Blu Pyxie ; Miniboden; One Hanes Place; Nordstrom; Gymboree; Simple Shoes; Sierra Blue.
Clothing and Home Goods: Land’s End; Bluefly; Soft Surroundings; Garnet Hill; Sundance; L.L. Bean.
Home and Garden: Smith & Noble; Restoration Hardware; Gardener’s Supply Company; Unicahome; Homeclick; FaucetDirect; Gardens Alive; West Elm; Crate & Barrel; MyKnobs.
Books and Magazines: Amazon.com; ValueMags; Magazine Values; Dover Publications.
Office Supplies, Furniture and Services: Staples; Topdeq; Efax.
Electronics: HP Shopping; Buy.com.
Travel: Amtrak; Hotwire; Orbitz; Hotels.com.
Discount: Overstock.com; Target.
Photo Developing: Shutterfly; Snapfish.
Baby Stuff: Babystyle; Baby’s Here Birth Announcements; Baby Universe; SoZo.
Miscellaneous: 1-800 contacts; Movie Tickets.com; Drugstore.com.
Rebate Sites: Upromise; Ebates.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? ink jet cartridges
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