Okay, so you will not receive actual cash. But if you return an empty ink cartridge to Office Depot or Office Max, you’ll receive a $3 in-store credit. Both office supply stores have always encouraged customers to recycle ink cartridges. And at one point they offered a free ream of paper with each returned empty cartridge, and I believe they continue to offer discounts on ink cartridge re-fills. But the $3 in-store credit is perfect for anyone (especially businesses) who purchases a lot of ink cartridges.

My husband’s job had a stockpile of empty printer and copy cartridges - more than 20. We took the cartridges to Office Depot and received a $60 credit. He agreed to purchase a few supplies for his company. But he was able to keep more than half of the credit for himself. What can I say, I love freebies. And this gave us the opportunity to stock up on office supplies.

Of course, there’s a catch. Each person is only allowed to use three $3 in-store credits per day (which equaled $9 off each purchase). So, we couldn’t buy a high ticket item. Still, we were able to walk away with a ton of office supplies, and paying less than a $1 on each visit.

From what I’ve read, Office Max no longer offers a $3 discount per returned empty cartidge. However, if you have a MaxPerks Bonus Rewards Card, the store will credit your rewards account with $3, and you can use the bonus points to stock up on different supplies for your home office.