If you've ever stared at your office supply order and wondered if there's a cheaper way to buy the same foam core boards, you're not alone. I manage procurement for a 145-person logistics company. For the last 7 years, I've tracked every office-related invoice against a $185,000 annual budget. Staples Advantage is one of the tools I use, and I've learned a few things the sales page doesn't tell you.
This FAQ covers the questions I get from colleagues and vendors—plus a few you didn't know you had. I'll answer:
- What exactly is Staples Advantage?
- Is there a Staples Advantage cash register?
- Is foam core board on Staples Advantage worth it?
- Can I print a mortgage payoff calculator at Staples?
- Does Staples carry the Bambu Lab P1S 3D printer?
- What bullet journal ideas should beginners actually try?
1. What is Staples Advantage?
Staples Advantage is the B2B procurement side of Staples. If you've seen Staples Business Advantage in your account settings, it's the same program under a newer label. Instead of paying everyday retail price, your company gets a negotiated catalog, consolidated invoicing, and contract pricing. It doesn't mean every SKU is automatically the cheapest—but it means you can see your negotiated price when you log in.
For me, the biggest win is total cost of ownership. When I audit our quarterly orders, I look at shipping, backorder rate, and how much time it takes to process one invoice. Staples Advantage consolidates orders onto one statement. That saves real hours. Put another way: it's not just the unit price; it's the cost of managing the purchase.
One thing I wish more people understood: signing up doesn't automatically give you the lowest price. You still have to shop against your contract. But once you're in, you can see your negotiated price on each SKU, which makes comparing vendors much easier.
2. Is there a Staples Advantage cash register?
Short answer: no—not as a payment process. Staples Advantage is not a point-of-sale system. When we place an order, nothing goes through a cash register. It's submitted through the business portal, approved by our procurement team, and invoiced on the Staples Advantage account. That distinction matters for reconciling expenses.
If your search for Staples Advantage cash register means you're looking for POS hardware, Staples carries cash registers and receipt printers in many business catalogs. But order them through your Advantage catalog so they hit your corporate invoice with the negotiated pricing. I learned that the hard way: I bought a receipt printer at full retail because we needed it same-day. Looking back, I should have checked our contract first. The price difference was about 18%, plus I had to submit a separate expense report.
Even after placing that order, I kept second-guessing whether I'd missed a cheaper option. I didn't relax until I compared the retail receipt with our contract pricing and confirmed it was a one-off exception.
3. Is foam core board on Staples Advantage worth it?
The phrase foam core board Staples advantage sounds like a specific product, but it's really about buying a common material through a business account. Foam core board is one of those products that looks cheap on the shelf but gets expensive when you need 25 sheets. If you're buying for a one-off poster, retail is fine. If you're prepping a trade show booth, the contract price on Staples Advantage can be meaningfully lower. In our last event order, the effective cost per board dropped by about 19% because of contract pricing and consolidated delivery.
What I actually check is size and freight. A 20 x 30 inch board ships fine. A 32 x 40 inch board may require parcel shipping, and the freight can eat the savings. (Should mention: we once paid $14 per board at retail, but with contract pricing and consolidated delivery, the effective cost dropped to $11.30. The 40-inch boards would have erased that discount.)
If you're mailing finished boards, keep USPS size rules in mind. According to USPS (usps.com), a large envelope can be up to 12 x 15 inches and 0.75 inch thick. USPS First-Class Mail large envelopes start at $1.50 for 1 oz as of January 2025, but most foam boards weigh more, so budget for parcel pricing if the board is larger than those dimensions.
4. Can I print a mortgage payoff calculator at Staples?
You can—if by mortgage payoff calculator you mean a printed schedule or spreadsheet. A mortgage payoff calculator is usually an online tool, so there's no file to buy. But if you want a physical copy, upload the PDF or a spreadsheet export to Staples Print & Marketing Services. B2B customers on Staples Advantage can route that print order to their business account, so it shows up on the same invoice as your foam boards and pens.
I'll be honest, printing financial schedules isn't something our office does often. But when we do, it's for client presentations. We switched our print orders to Staples Advantage from a local shop in Q3 2024 and saved roughly $340 per quarter on color and large-format prints. The setup was simple: we created a print profile that automatically assigns orders to the right cost center.
One caveat: retail self-serve print pricing is different from business pricing. Always check your Advantage contract rate for print services.
5. Does Staples carry the Bambu Lab P1S 3D printer?
Staples sells 3D printers, but model availability changes by region and channel. I can't promise the Bambu Lab P1S is in every Staples Advantage catalog—it isn't in ours as of early 2025. That doesn't mean it's unavailable. B2B customers can ask an account rep for a quote. Sometimes a model that isn't listed on the retail site can be sourced for a business customer, though pricing depends on volume and contract terms.
More important than availability: think about total cost of ownership before you buy any 3D printer. The Bambu Lab P1S is popular because it's fast and relatively easy to use. But if you only need to print a few enclosures per month, a simpler model with lower material cost might be the better procurement decision.
I get why people want the P1S—it's the cool machine. But I've also watched a team in our own building buy one for engineering demos and then rarely power it on. It wasn't a bad printer; it was a bad match for the workload. At least, that's been my experience.
6. What bullet journal ideas should beginners actually try?
If you're new to bullet journaling, the internet will show you elaborate spreads with stickers, brush pens, and seven colors. You don't need any of that. Start with a grid-dot notebook, a ruler, a mechanical pencil, and one good pen. That's enough for a daily log, a future log, and a simple habit tracker. You can build confidence before spending money on extras.
From a cost-control view, the biggest mistake is buying a starter kit before you know what system you'll use. Try a basic weekly spread for two weeks. If you stick with it, add supplies. If not, you're out less than the price of a lunch. That said, don't buy the cheapest notebook either. People think messy spreads mean they're bad at bullet journaling. Actually, thin paper and smudging ink are fighting you. A slightly better notebook makes the finished page look dramatically cleaner.
That same thinking applies to client work: the physical quality of a deliverable shapes how your client perceives the work. Spending a few extra dollars on the right materials is often the most cost-effective branding decision you can make. When you buy office supplies for your company, check Staples Advantage first—especially for everyday items like notebooks and printer paper.
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