- Office Depot has a massive product range that goes well beyond paper and pens, but their pricing can be all over the map depending on what you're buying.
- Same-day delivery and in-store pickup are genuine strengths, especially if you need supplies fast and don't want to wait for Amazon's timeline.
- Their office furniture is decent for the price, but you'll want to sit in it before you commit. Online photos can be misleading.
Who Office Depot Actually Is (And Isn't)
Office Depot and OfficeMax merged back in 2013, and then the parent company rebranded as “The ODP Corporation” in 2021. So if you see OfficeMax branding floating around, it's the same company. They run about 900 retail locations across the U.S., which is a lot fewer than their peak, but still enough that you've probably got one within a 20-minute drive.
Here's what matters to you as a shopper: Office Depot sells office supplies, furniture, tech, printing services, and cleaning products. They also do a healthy chunk of business-to-business sales through their dedicated business accounts. Think of them as the mid-range option between a warehouse club and a specialty retailer.
They're not trying to be Amazon. They're not trying to be a furniture store. They occupy a specific lane, and they're pretty good at it. But “pretty good” comes with caveats, and that's what this guide is for.
What They Sell (And What's Actually Worth Buying)
Office Supplies: The Bread and Butter
This is where Office Depot earns its keep. Paper, pens, binders, filing supplies, labels, tape, sticky notes. The basics. Their store-brand products (Office Depot brand) are genuinely solid and cheaper than the name brands. A 10-ream case of Office Depot copy paper runs about $54.99, compared to $69.99 for the equivalent Hammermill product. Same paper weight, same brightness rating. You won't notice a difference in your printer.
Their pen selection is strong too. They carry all the major brands (Pilot, uni-ball, Sharpie, Paper Mate) plus their own line. An Office Depot 12-pack of gel pens costs around $7.99, which is roughly half what you'd pay for Pilot G2s. Are they as smooth? Not quite. But they're perfectly fine for daily use.
Where they really shine is organizational supplies. Filing cabinets, label makers, binders, storage boxes. The selection is bigger than what you'll find on Amazon's first few pages, and you can actually see the stuff in person before buying. That matters when you're setting up an office and want things to look cohesive.
Office Furniture: A Mixed Bag
Office Depot sells desks, chairs, bookcases, and filing cabinets ranging from budget to mid-range. Their Realspace brand is their house label, and it's where most of the value lives. A Realspace Magellan L-shaped desk goes for around $329.99, which is competitive for what you get. It's not solid wood (it's laminate over engineered wood), but it holds up fine for a home office.
Chairs are the big purchase here, and they carry everything from $99 basic task chairs to $500+ ergonomic models. The Realspace Quantum Pro mesh-back chair (around $259.99) is one of their better sellers and it's genuinely comfortable for 8-hour days. But here's the thing: you should sit in it first. Their online photos make everything look sleek, but the cushion density and back support vary wildly across models.
They also carry some name brands like Serta, La-Z-Boy, and HON. The HON Ignition 2.0 (around $449.99) is one of the best mid-range office chairs you can buy, and Office Depot frequently runs sales on it. If you catch it at 20% off, you're getting a legitimate ergonomic chair for under $360.
The downside: Assembly. Almost everything ships flat-packed, and the instructions range from clear to baffling. If you buy in-store, they offer assembly for an extra fee (usually $50-$100 depending on the item). For a desk, it's worth it. For a basic chair, save your money and do it yourself.
Printer Ink and Toner: Where They Get Expensive
Let's be blunt. Printer ink at Office Depot is expensive. A standard HP 63 black ink cartridge runs $17.99, and the combo pack (black + tri-color) is about $36.99. These are the same prices you'll find at most retailers because HP controls the pricing pretty tightly. But that doesn't mean you should pay them.
Office Depot sells their own remanufactured cartridges for most popular printer models at 20-30% less than OEM. A remanufactured HP 63 black cartridge goes for about $13.99. The print quality is noticeably worse for photo printing, but for text documents, you won't see a difference. The catch? They sometimes have a higher failure rate. About 1 in 10 might give you trouble, in our experience.
For toner (laser printers), they're more competitive. A Brother TN-760 high-yield toner cartridge costs about $74.99 at Office Depot, and you can usually find a $10-15 coupon online. Compare that to Amazon, where the same cartridge hovers around $69.99 with no consistent coupons. The gap is smaller than you'd think.
The real move with ink and toner is their recycling program. Bring in empty cartridges and get $2 back per cartridge in rewards (up to 10 per month). If you're going through ink regularly, that adds up to $240 a year in store credit. More on that later.
Technology and Electronics
Office Depot sells laptops, monitors, printers, routers, and accessories. Their tech selection is fine but limited compared to Best Buy or Amazon. You'll find the main brands (HP, Dell, Lenovo, Brother, Epson), but the model selection skews toward business-oriented machines rather than consumer-grade.
That's actually a plus if you're buying for work. Their laptop selection focuses on machines with better keyboards, more RAM, and business-class warranties. A Lenovo ThinkPad E16 with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD runs about $799.99 at Office Depot. The same config on Lenovo's own site is usually $749.99, so you're paying a slight premium for the convenience of buying locally.
Printers are a strong category. They carry the full range from basic inkjets ($49.99) to serious office laser printers ($400+), and the staff in most stores can actually help you pick the right one. That's more than you can say for Amazon's review section, where half the reviews are for a different model.
Same-Day Delivery and In-Store Pickup
This is one of Office Depot's genuine competitive advantages. If you order online before 2 PM and the item is in stock at your local store, you can pick it up within a couple hours. For free. No minimum order. That's hard to beat when you're out of toner on a Tuesday afternoon and have a report due by 5 PM.
Their same-day delivery service covers most metro areas and costs $9.99 for orders under $60 (free for orders over $60). You typically get your stuff within 3-5 hours. It's not as fast as Instacart, but it's faster than anything Amazon offers unless you're paying for their same-day premium.
Standard shipping is free on orders over $35, and most items arrive in 2-3 business days. That's comparable to Amazon Prime for most products. For bulky items like desks and chairs, delivery is free on orders over $45, but it's curbside only. If you want them to bring it inside or upstairs, that's extra.
Business Accounts: Where the Real Value Lives
If you're buying for a business (even a small one), Office Depot's business account program is worth looking into. You get access to contract pricing, which is typically 10-20% below retail on most supplies. The more you buy, the better the pricing gets. A business spending $500/month on supplies can easily save $1,000-$1,500 a year just through the account pricing.
Business accounts also get net-30 payment terms, which means you can order now and pay in 30 days. That's helpful for cash flow, especially for small businesses that don't want to put everything on a credit card. You also get a dedicated account rep who can handle orders, returns, and special requests.
The setup is free. You just need a business name, address, and tax ID. Even freelancers and sole proprietors can qualify. The minimum spend requirements are low (usually $100/month), and there's no penalty for dipping below that. It's one of those things that's genuinely useful and costs you nothing to set up.
Return Policy: Better Than You'd Expect
Office Depot gives you 30 days on most items, 14 days on technology (laptops, printers, monitors), and 90 days on their own branded products. You need a receipt, but they can usually look up your purchase with a rewards card or credit card number.
Furniture returns are where it gets tricky. If you bought it online, you can return it within 30 days, but you're responsible for shipping it back unless it arrived damaged. Shipping a desk back costs $50-$100, which eats into any refund. If you bought in-store, you can return it to the store, but they'll only take it if it's in the original packaging. So don't throw away the box until you're sure you're keeping it.
Ink and toner are returnable within 30 days, opened or not. That's actually better than Amazon's policy, which won't take back opened ink cartridges from third-party sellers. Office Depot doesn't care. If the cartridge didn't work with your printer or the quality was bad, bring it back.
Print and Copy Services
Every Office Depot location has a print center, and this is something Amazon literally can't compete with. Need 500 flyers by tomorrow? Business cards in two hours? A poster printed and mounted for a presentation? They do all of it.
Pricing is reasonable but not cheap. Black-and-white copies run about $0.09 each for single-sided. Color copies are $0.49 each. Business cards start at $19.99 for 250. Large-format printing (posters, banners) starts around $7.49 per square foot. You can upload files online, customize through their design tool, and pick up in-store.
The quality is good for business documents and marketing materials. It's not a professional print shop, but it doesn't pretend to be. For 90% of what small businesses need printed, it's more than adequate. And the turnaround is fast. Same-day for most standard orders, next-day for larger runs.
Where Office Depot Falls Short
No brand is perfect, and Office Depot has some real weaknesses you should know about before spending money there.
The Website Is Frustrating
The Office Depot website works, but it feels like it was designed in 2015 and hasn't been meaningfully updated since. Search results are cluttered with sponsored products, the filtering is clunky, and product pages sometimes show conflicting stock information. You might see “available for same-day pickup” online, only to find out the store is actually out of stock when you get there. It doesn't happen often, but it happens enough to be annoying.
Store Experience Varies Wildly
Some Office Depot locations are well-staffed, clean, and organized. Others feel understaffed and picked over. The company has been closing underperforming stores for years, and some of the remaining locations feel like they're running on a skeleton crew. If you're going in for advice (especially on tech or furniture), call ahead and make sure someone knowledgeable is working that day.
Premium Pricing on Everyday Items
For commodity products like basic notebooks, pens, and paper, Office Depot is often 15-25% more expensive than Walmart or Amazon. A 5-subject Mead notebook costs $6.99 at Office Depot versus $4.97 at Walmart. A 12-pack of BIC Round Stic pens is $3.99 at Office Depot and $2.47 at Walmart. These aren't huge differences individually, but they add up if you're buying a lot of basic supplies.
Extended Warranty Pressure
If you buy any tech product in-store, expect the hard sell on extended warranties and protection plans. The staff are incentivized to push them, and they'll pitch them on everything from a $49 printer to a $799 laptop. Most of these plans aren't worth the money. The manufacturer warranty covers the most common failures, and your credit card might already offer purchase protection. A polite “no thanks” is all you need, but be prepared to say it firmly.
Best Products Worth Buying at Office Depot
After years of shopping there, here are the products where Office Depot genuinely offers good value:
- Realspace Magellan L-Shaped Desk ($329.99) – Best value L-desk for home offices. Solid build, looks professional, holds up well over time.
- Office Depot Brand Copy Paper, 10-Ream Case ($54.99) – Same quality as name brands at a lower price. Stock up during sales when it drops to $39.99.
- HON Ignition 2.0 Task Chair ($449.99, frequently on sale for $359.99) – A legitimate ergonomic chair at a mid-range price. Watch for 20% off promotions.
- Brother HL-L2350DW Laser Printer ($119.99) – Affordable, reliable, and the toner costs are reasonable. Great for a home office that prints mostly text.
- Office Depot Brand Remanufactured Ink Cartridges ($10-$18) – 20-30% cheaper than OEM. Fine for documents, not great for photos.
- Realspace MFMC 200 Mesh Task Chair ($179.99) – Best budget ergonomic option. Breathable mesh back, adjustable arms, decent lumbar support.
The Bottom Line
Office Depot isn't the cheapest place to buy office supplies. For commodity items like pens, notebooks, and basic paper, you'll almost always find better prices at Walmart or Amazon. But that's not really where Office Depot earns your business.
Where they shine is convenience (same-day pickup, local stores), business accounts (real savings for regular buyers), furniture you can test before buying, and print services you can't get online. If you're setting up a home office, stocking a small business, or need something printed fast, Office Depot is a solid choice. Just know what to buy there and what to buy elsewhere.
Shop Office Depot for furniture, printing services, and business account pricing. Buy your commodity supplies somewhere cheaper. That's the smartest way to use them.
