Jan 3, 2015, 3:13 am
Last edit by: CWAL
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. High "View Count" and "Replies" are good indicators of active "master threads" on a specific topic.
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
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. High "View Count" and "Replies" are good indicators of active "master threads" on a specific topic.
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
New to Manufactured Spending? Start Here (2015)
Apr 18, 2015, 7:13 pm
#376
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 25
Nevermind, I'm a dumbass.
(HD GCs aren't VISA or anything, doh).
But if HD sells other gift cards that ARE visa-branded, I could buy those in-store and do it?
(HD GCs aren't VISA or anything, doh).
But if HD sells other gift cards that ARE visa-branded, I could buy those in-store and do it?
Apr 18, 2015, 7:34 pm
#377
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
if you can find one that'll take CCs for V/MC GCs, go for it. a lot of HD registers are hard coded for cash for those stores that carry variable V/MC GCs. Good luck!
Apr 19, 2015, 12:45 am
#378
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 25
If I can't get a RedCard in my area, and I buy one on ebay...
Do I want a sealed, unactivated one, or...?
Seems like it would be a pain to activate and load at my local Target if they don't sell them.
Do I want a sealed, unactivated one, or...?
Seems like it would be a pain to activate and load at my local Target if they don't sell them.
Apr 19, 2015, 1:21 am
#379
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 158
No, you want an activated but unregistered card. It is common for the seller to email you a picture of the card after you pay so you can use the numbers on the card to register for a permanent one on the REDcard website.
Apr 19, 2015, 3:12 pm
#380
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 31
I haven't been able to successfully load Serve at kate for over 2 weeks. I'm trying to load USB prepaid MCs (the ones with the "A gift for you" stuff on the front). I have loaded a couple hundred of these things over the past year or so without issue, but now all I get is "Debit not approved Call authorizer" printout after going all the way through load process (multiple cards, all same type). I've also tried at semi-kate (button game required), and I've tried at checkout line (same button game required). All fail. I can drive across the street and load same prepaids to RB without issue. What am I missing? Did something change at WM in the past 2 weeks? I haven't seen any discussion about what would be pretty monumental changes, IMO.
Apr 19, 2015, 7:23 pm
#381
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2
I haven't been able to successfully load Serve at kate for over 2 weeks. I'm trying to load USB prepaid MCs (the ones with the "A gift for you" stuff on the front). I have loaded a couple hundred of these things over the past year or so without issue, but now all I get is "Debit not approved Call authorizer" printout after going all the way through load process (multiple cards, all same type). I've also tried at semi-kate (button game required), and I've tried at checkout line (same button game required). All fail. I can drive across the street and load same prepaids to RB without issue. What am I missing? Did something change at WM in the past 2 weeks? I haven't seen any discussion about what would be pretty monumental changes, IMO.
Apr 19, 2015, 7:39 pm
#382
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 31
Starting April 16, 2015 you will only be able to use an American Express® Card if you want to load your account with a credit card. Discover, MasterCard and Visa credit cards will no longer be supported after April 16 to load Serve. There's a bunch of news on this if you do a Google search.
Apr 20, 2015, 3:37 pm
#383
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 24
Those cards are not VGCs.
They are reloadable prepaid cards, similar in concept, but those kinds of cards typically require you to verify your identity and register them and often have a list of associated fees. They have online accounts and often have direct deposit functionality. Basically, they're like your Serve card, but not as good because of the fees. They can be useful for MS, but they are not what we mean we talk about VGCs.
VGCs are not connected to your identity, do not have any fees after you buy them (except dormancy fees if you wait a year or so before using it), are not reloadable, and usually have the words "GIFT CARD" on them. If you use VGCs, you will not have to deal with repeatedly opening and closing accounts.
They are reloadable prepaid cards, similar in concept, but those kinds of cards typically require you to verify your identity and register them and often have a list of associated fees. They have online accounts and often have direct deposit functionality. Basically, they're like your Serve card, but not as good because of the fees. They can be useful for MS, but they are not what we mean we talk about VGCs.
VGCs are not connected to your identity, do not have any fees after you buy them (except dormancy fees if you wait a year or so before using it), are not reloadable, and usually have the words "GIFT CARD" on them. If you use VGCs, you will not have to deal with repeatedly opening and closing accounts.
Apr 20, 2015, 6:30 pm
#384
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 31
One of our veterans may have hit the problem on the nose. I downloaded all my Serve activity for the past few months and parsed through it. In March, I "loaded" $6k via debit... which is more than the monthly allowed. What this may mean is that my monthly doesn't fall on the actual calendar month (ie, Mar 26th - Apr 36 is my "April"). By using those dates, I am already at my $5k limit for April because there were several loads between Mar 26 and Mar 31. I should be able to add some validity to this tomorrow by testing 1) a real live bank debit card load (which should fail), and then a real live genuine $20 bill (which should succeed because cash loads aren't part of the monthly debit limit). We'll see.
Apr 22, 2015, 5:48 am
#385
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 158
VGCs will still say DEBIT in the usual spot on the card, but there still should be an indication that it is a gift card. It will most likely say that somewhere on the face of the card and on the packaging. Sometimes but not always there will also be a picture of a present on it, which would make it obvious to you.
Apr 22, 2015, 9:12 pm
#386
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 23
Is this new Amex Prepaid card ?
I just saw this when i was buying the Amex GC.
Is it the new one ? Does anyone know about this card ?.
Is it the Serve Card or ???
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/c...-pay/home.html
Is it the new one ? Does anyone know about this card ?.
Your Single-Load Prepaid Card
Load Once. Spend Safely. No Hidden Fees.
American Express Secure Pay Card is safer than carrying cash, and
simple and easy to use when paying online, offline or anywhere in the U.S.
where American Express® Cards are accepted.
Load Once. Spend Safely. No Hidden Fees.
American Express Secure Pay Card is safer than carrying cash, and
simple and easy to use when paying online, offline or anywhere in the U.S.
where American Express® Cards are accepted.
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/c...-pay/home.html
Last edited by jayupatel001; Apr 22, 2015 at 9:19 pm
Apr 22, 2015, 9:17 pm
#387
Suspended
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 2,998
It's an Amex gift card - what else do you need to know?
Apr 23, 2015, 7:05 am
#388
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 429
That's not new. They sell them in Walgreens and Duane Reade. It's another Amex prepaid.
If you can buy with a CC, I think that's the extent of it. No way to liquidate besides spend.
If you can buy with a CC, I think that's the extent of it. No way to liquidate besides spend.
Apr 23, 2015, 1:57 pm
#389
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 7
Been searching through this thread for the last 10 minutes and I haven't been able to find an answer for my specific inquiry:
NYC-area churners/MSers, do you have recommendations on liquidating a prepaid VGC (non-reloadable vanilla)? I was thinking about going to any old Western Union, requesting a money order, showing them my real debit card, and then swapping it for my VGC when they aren't looking, but: A) this is really shady and B) no guarantee it'll work (maybe the machine can tell if it's a prepaid GC?). I already tried getting a money order with by VGC and told them it was a debit card, but they asked to see it and stated they couldn't use it because there was no name on it.
I know the Brooklyn Atlantic Terminal Target doesn't allow gift card loads on Redbirds. Anyone know if the BK Flatbush or Harlem Targets permit this?
Anyway, outside of actually using my VGC, I'm kind of out of ideas. Any p2p options (ie. Venmo) are out of consideration if they have more than a 1.5% transaction fee.
Thanks in advance!
NYC-area churners/MSers, do you have recommendations on liquidating a prepaid VGC (non-reloadable vanilla)? I was thinking about going to any old Western Union, requesting a money order, showing them my real debit card, and then swapping it for my VGC when they aren't looking, but: A) this is really shady and B) no guarantee it'll work (maybe the machine can tell if it's a prepaid GC?). I already tried getting a money order with by VGC and told them it was a debit card, but they asked to see it and stated they couldn't use it because there was no name on it.
I know the Brooklyn Atlantic Terminal Target doesn't allow gift card loads on Redbirds. Anyone know if the BK Flatbush or Harlem Targets permit this?
Anyway, outside of actually using my VGC, I'm kind of out of ideas. Any p2p options (ie. Venmo) are out of consideration if they have more than a 1.5% transaction fee.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by AChurnGrowsInBrooklyn; Apr 23, 2015 at 2:07 pm
Apr 23, 2015, 7:15 pm
#390
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 157
So I have a question I haven't seen answered elsewhere. Is there any disadvantage to cashing out money orders at a local supermarket if we are not talking about huge amounts and then taking that and deposited to your local bank (instead of directly cashing and depositing at the local bank).