Mar 28, 2014, 10:58 am
Last edit by: MasterCharge
Welcome to Manufactured Spending. If you are new here, please spend some time reading before posting. Most likely your questions have already been answered multiple times. Consider deals that you share. These threads are searchable by Google. A volatile deal may be worth holding close to the vest.
Hints
1) On FT, topics are heavily consolidated. Sometimes the title of the thread and first few posts may not properly reflect the broad range of discussion inside the thread. Be sure to visit any thread relating to the product or service you want to learn more about because you might be surprised by how in depth the discussion really is. Example: This thread... I know, the first few posts are confusing.
2) Use Google to search FT. It works a lot better than the built-in search.
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. That being said, always be nice and courteous in the face of rejection. The biggest secret for success is to lay low so you can try again.
2) DO NOT spend more than you can afford. START WITH SMALL AMOUNTS TO TEST THE WATER! As an example.. don't start with a $5000 purchase of VGCs if you can't afford to float that much! Instead, buy one and try it, and scale up once you are comfortable with a new method. It's easy to lose track, or get robbed, when you are handling so much money. Getting a refund is NOT always possible.
3) DO NOT ask employees, cashiers, customer service representatives, etc... about how to MS, or about things you read on this forum. The information you read here are very specific, unknown, legal uses of products or services. Most employees, cashiers, and even managers do not know about them. At best you'll get bad information. At worst you'll create a lot of unnecessary misunderstanding.
4) It bears repeating that there are no guarantees. you could easily buy $10,000 in gift cards or some other instrument, only to discover that your method for liquidating them vanishes the very next day. MS is not "normal" financial activity ("normal" being defined by the banks), and thus is often perceived as "suspicious" even if it is "legal."
5) never underestimate the risk of criminal activity. gift cards can easily be stolen, loaded onto a compromised account, loaded in a debit card skimmer, or even fraudulent (e.g., an already used card put back on the rack).
If you have a question that does not seem to fit anywhere, or you have not found an appropriate place for it, post it here.
a helpful note from seat17D about some of the inherent risks of MS:
Take what you read with a grain of salt. No law enforcement agency cares if you are loading 5k to a bluebird per month unless you are loading your money from illegal activities like crack sales. Even at that point they only care about your crack sales, not your bluebird load.
Nobody is going to ask you "why are you loading your bluebird" or "where did you get the money you want to load on your bluebird" when you go to walmart.
Hints
1) On FT, topics are heavily consolidated. Sometimes the title of the thread and first few posts may not properly reflect the broad range of discussion inside the thread. Be sure to visit any thread relating to the product or service you want to learn more about because you might be surprised by how in depth the discussion really is. Example: This thread... I know, the first few posts are confusing.
2) Use Google to search FT. It works a lot better than the built-in search.
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. That being said, always be nice and courteous in the face of rejection. The biggest secret for success is to lay low so you can try again.
2) DO NOT spend more than you can afford. START WITH SMALL AMOUNTS TO TEST THE WATER! As an example.. don't start with a $5000 purchase of VGCs if you can't afford to float that much! Instead, buy one and try it, and scale up once you are comfortable with a new method. It's easy to lose track, or get robbed, when you are handling so much money. Getting a refund is NOT always possible.
3) DO NOT ask employees, cashiers, customer service representatives, etc... about how to MS, or about things you read on this forum. The information you read here are very specific, unknown, legal uses of products or services. Most employees, cashiers, and even managers do not know about them. At best you'll get bad information. At worst you'll create a lot of unnecessary misunderstanding.
4) It bears repeating that there are no guarantees. you could easily buy $10,000 in gift cards or some other instrument, only to discover that your method for liquidating them vanishes the very next day. MS is not "normal" financial activity ("normal" being defined by the banks), and thus is often perceived as "suspicious" even if it is "legal."
5) never underestimate the risk of criminal activity. gift cards can easily be stolen, loaded onto a compromised account, loaded in a debit card skimmer, or even fraudulent (e.g., an already used card put back on the rack).
If you have a question that does not seem to fit anywhere, or you have not found an appropriate place for it, post it here.
a helpful note from seat17D about some of the inherent risks of MS:
I will speak to only the impacts and actions that have been taken (or threatened) to me personally over the years
1. Account closure - always got my money back. Moderate frequency. Little to no long-term impact UNLESS my wife was the first one to find out when her card was declined in public setting
2. Blacklisted by an FI - lower frequency. Short- to medium term impact. Eventually the FI's greed heals all wounds.
3. Blacklisted by a governmental agency -- lower frequency. Variable long-term impact as governmental agencies never actually forget, they just don't take action (see below)
4. Banned from a retail establishment -- threatened, but never actually banned. Mostly just pointed discussion from a misguided manager. Low-medium frequency.
5. Banned from an online establishment -- lower frequency, generally lower impact. Generally permanent, at least for me so far.
6. Cashback forfeited or clawed back -- generally happened to me as part of a credit card shut down. so far only forfeits and not clawbacks, but they are possible
And then there are the things law enforcement can and has done
1. Executed a warrant to subpoena my banking and other financial records without my knowledge
2. Contacted my FIs to inquire as the nature of my financial relationship
3. Frozen the portion of my assets that were currently involved in the activity they were investigating
4. Visited my home -- when I was not there -- to "interview" my spouse, etc. regarding their knowledge and involvement ... and to attempt to obtain additional documentation not already obtained by the subpoenas
5. Threatened to seize my assets. Not just the ones frozen. Not just those I currently possessed. But all assets they deemed as ever having been part of the criminal activity. (Think every GC, MO, etc. you have purchased over the past 3-5 years)
6. Threatened one or more felony charges. (Consider having to explain THAT to your wife or boss.)
And that all was for something that was completely legal, once the 'splaining was done.
Of course once LEO opens a criminal investigation, it never actually closes unless they take you to court and fail. So even though I was cleared of the charges, the original case file is out there ready to be dusted off.
In the end, my biggest concern is the extent to which something will permanently impact my marriage or ability to enter into financial contracts (felony charges would be one example). Fortunately once the initial shock of LEO's investigation wore away, both my marriage and financial relationships were intact. Very thankful both she and a few key FI's stood by me.
When you MS, you are running with scissors.
1. Account closure - always got my money back. Moderate frequency. Little to no long-term impact UNLESS my wife was the first one to find out when her card was declined in public setting
2. Blacklisted by an FI - lower frequency. Short- to medium term impact. Eventually the FI's greed heals all wounds.
3. Blacklisted by a governmental agency -- lower frequency. Variable long-term impact as governmental agencies never actually forget, they just don't take action (see below)
4. Banned from a retail establishment -- threatened, but never actually banned. Mostly just pointed discussion from a misguided manager. Low-medium frequency.
5. Banned from an online establishment -- lower frequency, generally lower impact. Generally permanent, at least for me so far.
6. Cashback forfeited or clawed back -- generally happened to me as part of a credit card shut down. so far only forfeits and not clawbacks, but they are possible
And then there are the things law enforcement can and has done
1. Executed a warrant to subpoena my banking and other financial records without my knowledge
2. Contacted my FIs to inquire as the nature of my financial relationship
3. Frozen the portion of my assets that were currently involved in the activity they were investigating
4. Visited my home -- when I was not there -- to "interview" my spouse, etc. regarding their knowledge and involvement ... and to attempt to obtain additional documentation not already obtained by the subpoenas
5. Threatened to seize my assets. Not just the ones frozen. Not just those I currently possessed. But all assets they deemed as ever having been part of the criminal activity. (Think every GC, MO, etc. you have purchased over the past 3-5 years)
6. Threatened one or more felony charges. (Consider having to explain THAT to your wife or boss.)
And that all was for something that was completely legal, once the 'splaining was done.
Of course once LEO opens a criminal investigation, it never actually closes unless they take you to court and fail. So even though I was cleared of the charges, the original case file is out there ready to be dusted off.
In the end, my biggest concern is the extent to which something will permanently impact my marriage or ability to enter into financial contracts (felony charges would be one example). Fortunately once the initial shock of LEO's investigation wore away, both my marriage and financial relationships were intact. Very thankful both she and a few key FI's stood by me.
When you MS, you are running with scissors.
Nobody is going to ask you "why are you loading your bluebird" or "where did you get the money you want to load on your bluebird" when you go to walmart.
New to Manufactured Spending? Start Here.
Dec 2, 2013, 3:30 pm
#91
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
Hey guys - newbie here.
I have two Chase sapphires (one in my name, one in my wife's name) and we need to hit 3K spend in the next 3 months.
Amazon Payments is one option but what are the other options here? I haven't bought any vanilla cards in the past. Do vanilla cards allow you to use your credit card and withdraw that cash from an ATM without fees - so which would be best to start off with?
Thanks in advance.
I have two Chase sapphires (one in my name, one in my wife's name) and we need to hit 3K spend in the next 3 months.
Amazon Payments is one option but what are the other options here? I haven't bought any vanilla cards in the past. Do vanilla cards allow you to use your credit card and withdraw that cash from an ATM without fees - so which would be best to start off with?
Thanks in advance.
Dec 4, 2013, 11:44 am
#92
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: HH Gold-IHG Plat
Posts: 390
quick question.
I have a few CC bills I'd like to pay, I want to use my Delta Check card to make these payments, so I get miles, how would you go about paying for these CC's?
I have a few CC bills I'd like to pay, I want to use my Delta Check card to make these payments, so I get miles, how would you go about paying for these CC's?
Dec 6, 2013, 11:18 am
#93
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 61
I have a Citi Dividend card for years and they gave me an offer of 5% back for this quarter for purchases made in supermarket, drug stores & gasoline station. The card has a yearly cash back limit of $300. I have bought few VR cards to take advantage of this offer and unloaded them on to Bluebird. Is there a threshold I should not go over for both the Citi card and BB?
Dec 9, 2013, 1:48 pm
#94
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 30
Hi All,
I'm new to MS and can probably only start small as I don't have a Walmart in my area so I think I'm currently limited to 5k/mo VR bought at CVS.
I'm trying to decide which CC I should use when buying these and if it even makes sense to do it. I have the following cards: Amex Costco, Amex Delta Platinum, Amex Blue Cash preferred, Citi Thankyou preferred, Chase Freedom, Chase IHG, Chase United (non-explorer), Chase Sapphire Preferred and Discover.
As far as I know, none of these cards give more than 1 point per dollar at CVS regularly.
If I start doing MS using VRs, I'll be spending $474 per year just in VR fees and earn about 60,000 points. Which of the cards do you think will give me the best return? I'm thinking the Chase Sapphire Preferred because I can use the points for discounted travel or transfer them to other programs but it also has a $125 annual fee that I'll have to pay next year.
Should I consider signing up for another CC just for MS? Or is there a good enough opportunity here that I just don't see?
Thanks!
I'm new to MS and can probably only start small as I don't have a Walmart in my area so I think I'm currently limited to 5k/mo VR bought at CVS.
I'm trying to decide which CC I should use when buying these and if it even makes sense to do it. I have the following cards: Amex Costco, Amex Delta Platinum, Amex Blue Cash preferred, Citi Thankyou preferred, Chase Freedom, Chase IHG, Chase United (non-explorer), Chase Sapphire Preferred and Discover.
As far as I know, none of these cards give more than 1 point per dollar at CVS regularly.
If I start doing MS using VRs, I'll be spending $474 per year just in VR fees and earn about 60,000 points. Which of the cards do you think will give me the best return? I'm thinking the Chase Sapphire Preferred because I can use the points for discounted travel or transfer them to other programs but it also has a $125 annual fee that I'll have to pay next year.
Should I consider signing up for another CC just for MS? Or is there a good enough opportunity here that I just don't see?
Thanks!
Dec 9, 2013, 7:59 pm
#95
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
I have a Citi Dividend card for years and they gave me an offer of 5% back for this quarter for purchases made in supermarket, drug stores & gasoline station. The card has a yearly cash back limit of $300. I have bought few VR cards to take advantage of this offer and unloaded them on to Bluebird. Is there a threshold I should not go over for both the Citi card and BB?
Other limits that come into play are your credit limit and normal patterns of spend.
Last edited by ctbarron; Dec 9, 2013 at 8:00 pm Reason: Added info
Dec 9, 2013, 8:13 pm
#96
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
Hi All,
I'm new to MS and can probably only start small as I don't have a Walmart in my area so I think I'm currently limited to 5k/mo VR bought at CVS.
I'm trying to decide which CC I should use when buying these...
Should I consider signing up for another CC just for MS? Or is there a good enough opportunity here that I just don't see?
Thanks!
I'm new to MS and can probably only start small as I don't have a Walmart in my area so I think I'm currently limited to 5k/mo VR bought at CVS.
I'm trying to decide which CC I should use when buying these...
Should I consider signing up for another CC just for MS? Or is there a good enough opportunity here that I just don't see?
Thanks!
On an ongoing basis try and match the points to the desired travel needs. See what transfer partners you fly, hotels you use, etc. I'm also not sure if any of those cards offer bonuses for spending a certain amount (e.g., free night after $10k spend). Personally I would use the CSP as I find those rewards flexible and valuable. You also get a 7% annual bonus, so it is slightly over 1%.
Finally, at your current spend levels, I would not get a new card unless you found one with a drugstore bonus (maybe Wells Fargo?).
Dec 10, 2013, 9:22 am
#97
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 61
Thanks. Because I don't use the card at all until this offer came, I don't know if I should max out the $6000 spending. BB's $5k/m is not an issue because I have unloaded some VRs in Nov and I dont' do whole lot of MS.
Dec 10, 2013, 1:36 pm
#98
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: IAD/DCA
Programs: Bunch of mid-tiers
Posts: 1,034
FWIW I maxed out the $6k at CVS during 2 months in early 2013 after barely using this card for 4 years. YMMV I'm sure.
Dec 11, 2013, 10:48 am
#99
Join Date: Jan 2013
Programs: AA, SPG, MR, UR, Cash Back!
Posts: 606
Can someone help with ideas on how to liquidate an Amex Gift card? Thanks
Dec 11, 2013, 6:22 pm
#100
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 30
All of the cards you note are 1% at CVS on an ongoing basis. I believe some have offered higher %'s as quarterly bonuses in the past. You may also get a targeted offer. If either of these situations come up, use that card.
On an ongoing basis try and match the points to the desired travel needs. See what transfer partners you fly, hotels you use, etc. I'm also not sure if any of those cards offer bonuses for spending a certain amount (e.g., free night after $10k spend). Personally I would use the CSP as I find those rewards flexible and valuable. You also get a 7% annual bonus, so it is slightly over 1%.
Finally, at your current spend levels, I would not get a new card unless you found one with a drugstore bonus (maybe Wells Fargo?).
On an ongoing basis try and match the points to the desired travel needs. See what transfer partners you fly, hotels you use, etc. I'm also not sure if any of those cards offer bonuses for spending a certain amount (e.g., free night after $10k spend). Personally I would use the CSP as I find those rewards flexible and valuable. You also get a 7% annual bonus, so it is slightly over 1%.
Finally, at your current spend levels, I would not get a new card unless you found one with a drugstore bonus (maybe Wells Fargo?).
I appreciate the advice. I'll be on the lookout for cards that offer bonuses on drugstores. In the meanwhile, CSP points are always good to have and Discover sent me an offer where if I spend 2k/mo for 8 months I'll get $300 bonus. That should be easy to reach with just 4 cards per month.
An unrelated question: Does anyone have experience with writing large checks from their BB account? Can I start paying rent monthly ($2k) with my BB checks? A friend needs a loan of 5k, can I just write him a check? Should I break it down to smaller checks?
Dec 17, 2013, 5:53 pm
#101
Join Date: May 2013
Location: LAX / ONT
Programs: DL GM, AmEx Plat, DL AmEx Plat, SPG Gold, National Exec
Posts: 59
Hey folks. I didn't think this warranted it's own thread so I wanted to ask here instead.
I have the DL Platinum Skymiles Amex, which has MQM bonuses for hitting the 25k and 50k spend thresholds. I did not expect to even get close to 50k this year so I figured not to even bother. However, I just checked my YTD spending on my statement and I'm only about $6k short. My understanding though is that not all of my YTD spending will count towards the spend threshold (taxes/fees don't count, right?), so how can I get an exact total? Will I have to call?
I have already done $1k in BB and $800 in AP this month, and just recently purchased another $1k in GCs. Assuming I can float the funds, would it be advisable to just purchase another batch of GCs and hold onto them to use later? Or is there another way to accrue this spend that maybe I'm not seeing?
I have the DL Platinum Skymiles Amex, which has MQM bonuses for hitting the 25k and 50k spend thresholds. I did not expect to even get close to 50k this year so I figured not to even bother. However, I just checked my YTD spending on my statement and I'm only about $6k short. My understanding though is that not all of my YTD spending will count towards the spend threshold (taxes/fees don't count, right?), so how can I get an exact total? Will I have to call?
I have already done $1k in BB and $800 in AP this month, and just recently purchased another $1k in GCs. Assuming I can float the funds, would it be advisable to just purchase another batch of GCs and hold onto them to use later? Or is there another way to accrue this spend that maybe I'm not seeing?
Dec 18, 2013, 11:34 am
#102
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 61
never mind
Last edited by yasn; Dec 18, 2013 at 3:47 pm
Dec 24, 2013, 9:49 am
#104
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 24
I have been looking for sources other than drugstores to buy VRs, and found some at DG that were made of paper. Not the plastic kind that have scratch offs on the back to reveal a pin. The clerk said that she would load my prepaid card at the register.
Well, it didn't work and I wonder if it's because the store does not accept CC for VR purchase, or if it was because I was trying to load a BB card, which is what the clerk thought the reason might be. The front of the paper VR listed Serve and some others, but not specifically BB with a note to see VR website for a complete list of prepaid cards the VR would work on.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of paper VR?
Well, it didn't work and I wonder if it's because the store does not accept CC for VR purchase, or if it was because I was trying to load a BB card, which is what the clerk thought the reason might be. The front of the paper VR listed Serve and some others, but not specifically BB with a note to see VR website for a complete list of prepaid cards the VR would work on.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of paper VR?