Recently ran about 3 grand through Sears ordering some appliances, got ~$60 in "free cash" points. All their electronics are super overpriced and anything I wanted came out to about $20-30 out of pocket even with all that "free cash." To make it worse, when you apply the free cash, they remove the free shipping, charge you $9, and then nail you for sales tax.
So, anyway, after way too many hours on this, I figured out a trick. Get at least $59 in your cart so that you're eligible for free shipping. Then when you're checking out, select the option to slightly expedite it for $1/item. Then apply your points. The points will erase everything except the $1 shipping charges and whatever your leftover balance is.
I got one of those Pac-Man 256 TV joysticks and two pairs of jeans I actually needed for $5.50 shipped.