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)
#436
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 437
#437
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Arcadia, CA
Programs: Hyatt GP/Platinum, Priority Club Gold, AA Gold, DL Silver, United Premier Gold
Posts: 58
Found a knob to control the volume next to where the receipt comes out; to the right of it - however, the volume level does not change if I turn knob in either direction - so, will try at another WM location. I couldn't find a mute button on KATE.
Iloilo
Iloilo
#438
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 4
Hey guys,
I have an AMEX Business Gold that I need to hit the minimum spend on. Can I just buy a big gift card (let's say 1k) using one of the online portals and use that to pay for things on Amazon over time?
Thanks
I have an AMEX Business Gold that I need to hit the minimum spend on. Can I just buy a big gift card (let's say 1k) using one of the online portals and use that to pay for things on Amazon over time?
Thanks
#440
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: San Diego
Programs: IHG Spire Amb, HH Diamond, DL Diamond and 1MM
Posts: 3,610
Yes, that is true. For regular Serve, you can only do loads of $200 once per day to a max of $1,000 per month. I do this on a Delta plat Amex.
Last edited by Bowgie; May 4, 2015 at 5:55 pm
#441
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: USA
Programs: UA Global Services, TSA Pre✓, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,115
Now that serve no longer allows online free reloads from non AMEX cards, whats the best prepaid debit card that does have cheap or inexpensive credit card reloads that are convenient? (I don't live near a Walmart and wouldn't have time to go if I did)
#442
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
None that are being discussed openly but there are still quite a few prepaids you can load in your jammies. With rampant shutdowns right now, I doubt anyone will share any of them.
#443
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 19
Hey Guys,
Im pretty new to MS. Just got my first RB this sunday and i hear Target is closing out the option of accepting CC.
What would you experts suggest i should do now? Which is the best way for MS?
Im pretty new to MS. Just got my first RB this sunday and i hear Target is closing out the option of accepting CC.
What would you experts suggest i should do now? Which is the best way for MS?
#444
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 30
American Airlines Card - 50,000 Miles - Need to spend $3,000 - any ideas on what?
I need to spend $3,000 with my new American Airlines card in order to get 50,000 miles - do you have any suggestions what I could spend it on? can I use it for instance to "deposit" funds into my PayPal account or PayPal transaction would be considered as cash-advance and won't count?
#445
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,112
You should never, ever expect to get the bonus on a card if you don't already have a strategy to meet the minimum spend requirements. Was your plan to hope that someone here would give you a plan?
Look into manufactured spending.
Look into manufactured spending.
Last edited by Phantom707; May 6, 2015 at 8:36 am
#449
Join Date: Nov 2010
Programs: IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,066
I need to spend $3,000 with my new American Airlines card in order to get 50,000 miles - do you have any suggestions what I could spend it on? can I use it for instance to "deposit" funds into my PayPal account or PayPal transaction would be considered as cash-advance and won't count?
#450
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
as to MS, check your OD-OM for the offer $20 off $300 VGC and then formulate strategies to liquidate them. promo runs till the 16th, IIRC.