If you thought getting $100 knocked off the price of a TouchPad was pretty nice, you'll love this. Staples is offering Hewlett-Packard's webOS tablets for as much as $200 off the list price this weekend, the retailer has confirmed.
It's just not clear if that was Staples' original intent.
"At this time there are two coupons that were meant for different audiences and a select group of customers received overlapping coupons," a Staples spokesperson told PCMag in response to our request for confirmation that reports of a $200 discount on 16GB and 32GB TouchPads bought at Staples from Aug. 5 to 7 were accurate.
That's more than a little confusing and though we can't confirm it, it sure seems like there may have been some crossed wires between Staples and HP in rolling out this TouchPad discount deal for the weekend. Staples had yet to respond to a follow-up request for clarification as of Friday afternoon.
What does seem clear is that customers will be able to purchase available 16GB TouchPads for just $299.99 (down from $499.99) and the 32GB model for $399.99 (down from $599.99) from Staples if they make use of HP's $100 instant rebate in combination with Staples' own coupon for $100 off either device.
So who is this "select group of customers" who got the overlapping coupons? Seems to us it's pretty much anyone who has an Internet connection and the ability to print out Staples' $100 coupon, which can be found on Fatwallet.com. And the HP rebate and the Staples coupon can be combined, according to the webOSroundup blog—so whether or not Staples meant the two deals "for different audiences," we don't see how they can enforce that intent.