cardinalkid1891

I don't think there's any way to take advantage because most, if not all, of the participating retailers are B&M

deant

The problem I see with the promotion this year is on the side of the merchant. Unless AMEX waives the fee, merchants will not want to pay the fees associated with multiple $10 purchases. It will get very expensive for them.

In addition, they have put in place the following restriction (do not know if it was in place in past years):
Qualifying small business locations appear on the Small Business Saturday® Map, available beginning on November 21, 2013 at ShopSmall.com.
Please note that business location information provided on the Small Business Saturday Map may contain inaccuracies or errors, including as a result of information provided by third parties.

iamfrugal

Excuse my ignorance.....B&M means?

beltway

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=b%26m+meaning

ma91pmh

yah for once the old smart a** answer looks kind of stupid:

b&m
Web definitions
Bava Metzia is the second of the first three Talmudic tractates in the order of Nezikin, the other two being Bava Kamma and Bava Batra. Originally all three formed a single tractate called Nezikin, each Bava being a Part or subdivision. ...

beltway

Except that the search result links make the correct answer immediately obvious.

Back on topic: registration starts a week from tomorrow. If anyone plans to request additional cards on an account, now is the time to do it.

SquarePeg

With the reduction, I'll probably switch my plan and just make actual purchases instead of gift cards for most of the shops. We have 8 cards and I can't see asking our favorite restaurant to run 8 separate charges through. Nor do i think $10 justifies that much of my time ( once to buy and again to spend the card). Instead I'll make 1 or 2 small purchases at each local stop and enjoy a free bottle of wine, some gourmet cookies, flowers, a wreath, a froyo with my daughter, an almost free manicure and a top off of gas on the way home. .

ma91pmh

I agree. We have a really nice mall nearby that is exclusively small businesses... it's part of their MO that they have no chains. We'll spend an afternoon their, buy lunch (split the check between my wife and I's Amex!), get a coffee, buy some wine, but some Christmas gifts etc. It should be a fun way to spend an afternoon

notahappycamper

This guy is one of the main reasons the credit was dropped from $25 to $10. His blog is mainly catered to a certain group of people. Upon learning of this deal said people exploited this deal to no end. They started keeping many stores open late Sat. night in Lakewood NJ and Brooklyn NY, several store owners said they did more than 50% of their business for the year on that Sat. night. Hundreds of thousands of dollars being run through one toy store in Lakewood NJ, little suspicious.
Let's also remember that this is the same guy who destroyed the IHG BRG and forced them to put many restrictions on it, not the least one that they got rid of the BRG call in line. Intercontinental in Manhattan for free, you know everybody in Brooklyn, Queens, and NJ who read his blog tried and many even succeeded in getting that. Couldn't get through for days. Of course blogger pleaded ignorance. Laughable.

iahphx

Does anyone know how most small businesses structure their fees to AMEX? There are different options, right? Like straight percentage or minimum fee. My strategy would be to go into a small business with a teenager behind the counter: like a deli or something. I'm sure the kid will sell me multiple $10 gift cards if he has them.

Really, I have the exact OPPOSITE reaction. $10 does not make me willing to run to multiple shops. It's just not enough money to be worth my time and trouble. I'd target one place where I could get multiple gift cards.

Aw, I think this is a bit silly. Dansdeals is definitely an unusual site. But he's very good at what he does, and I pick good deals off his site all the time. His audience does seem to be more "willing" to hit deals very hard but that exists everywhere; on Flyertalk, I think it's just a little more under the radar. Honestly, I don't think it's fair to "blame the bloggers" for 'extreme deals." If you're a merchant who has a website, you'd be an idiot not to review your procedures and practices to make sure you can't be "gamed," because I guarantee you that you will eventually be gamed if you don't. AMEX's deal was too easy to abuse. They've now taken some safeguards. I'm guessing they'll take more in the future, because there's going to be a lot of $10 transactions in certain stores. Like I don't think the "Dansdeals crowd" is just going to sit this one out.

ma91pmh

oh wassup? wish the nasty guys in brooklyn wouldn't steal all the deals so you can hoard them all for yourself? coz you really deserve them all right? all just for you!

notahappycamper

I actually steer far far away from any deals found on blogs. Shocking as it may sound I use my ingenuity to come up with deals. I also have a few close friends to discuss and share and learn from. I don't present myself as Robin Hood and that I am helping everybody when in reality I am screwing them over. IHG accts. get closed, blogger doesn't care he's still making all the money from advertising and more web hits is all he cares about. More credit card apps done via the site, who cares when the accounts get closed for following one scam or another that is posted on the blog. They just keep laughing all the way to the bank. Highlight and circle and break it down so even Forest Gump can become an expert in their scams.

iahphx

But how do you really feel about them?

Look, it's good to be creative, but nobody has the time to look at everything and, frankly, many deals aren't worth the time. Like yesterday, I got a pizza for free using a paypal app that dansdeals wrote about. It's nice to get a free pizza, but there's no way I would invest the time to look into something like that. BTW, that wasn't a "scam," just a promo that Dan diligently found (or one of his readers suggested).

skibum7732

If you avoid all mileage earming strategies discussed on blogs then I would hate to have your mile/point balances. I also find this claim very unlikely since you are on flyertalk

gum

Dear skibum7732,

there is a small red line between using and misusing a promotion.

If you only buy small goods in order to get a bonus in cash or mileage and the business partner definitely makes a loss then you are on the unethical side. In that case you are not a customer just a bonus grabber.

And this is the best way to destroy such promotions and activities like notahappycamper described.

You should be aware of many small business owners who see a chance to boost the business. They may even invent some products/activities for that day.

And this in an economic cycle which is minted by the road to recovery but some risks. And all the people like the state (through taxes), the employees (throug salary, contributions to the social system) and the hirer of the shop requesting money. Every month.

They are happy with having a credit card promoting their business and attracting customers by such an epic activity.

And what they will see afterwards is - e. g. families of four or more - just buying the minimum spend (if there is one) and grabbing the bonus x-times.

Or one person with different Amex cards on his own name buying small items.

And never seen afterwards.

This is unfair.