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)
Jan 20, 2015, 10:19 am
#76
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 76
I usually buy Vanilla gift cards and everything works with a hitch. I bought a US Bank gift card because the most convenient grocery store for me doesn't carry Vanilla. The problem is that I can't use it as a debit card. Even for a candy bar I couldn't get it to get approved. I have tried changing the PIN multiple times and it still didn't work. It works fine as a credit card on Amazon though. I am wondering if there's anything obvious that I missed. Thank you.
Jan 20, 2015, 1:28 pm
#77
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 62
While I think that's a great idea, I can't look past the awkward red flag it would be loading exactly $499 at Walmart at the register. Maybe I'm over thinking it but it feels like the wrong way to go. I'd prefer having a Safeway manager come out to over ride than deal with questions from the WM cashier (Kate is never up).
Jan 20, 2015, 1:44 pm
#78
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: New York City + Vail, CO
Programs: American Airlines Executive Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Posts: 3,226
Did anyone else see this?
http://outandout.boardingarea.com/co...h-reloads-nyc/
It looks like there's a great new way to MS at CVS with PayPal!
http://outandout.boardingarea.com/co...h-reloads-nyc/
It looks like there's a great new way to MS at CVS with PayPal!
Jan 20, 2015, 5:04 pm
#79
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 565
Did anyone else see this?
http://outandout.boardingarea.com/co...h-reloads-nyc/
It looks like there's a great new way to MS at CVS with PayPal!
http://outandout.boardingarea.com/co...h-reloads-nyc/
It looks like there's a great new way to MS at CVS with PayPal!
Jan 20, 2015, 6:45 pm
#80
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: LAC
Programs: Regal Crown Club
Posts: 488
Forget what he said! Everything about the Paypal cards is great if you can get them with a CC which is kinda tricky. Well except that they'll go away starting in April...
Jan 21, 2015, 3:45 pm
#82
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 3
Thank you, and help me understand how......
Of course you can if he accepts it. But either of you would have to pay the fees which are ~3%. If he'd be ok with that he might as well accept the CC right away. The fee's about in the same ballpark. Or you could go and buy a couple giftcards, load them to a prepaid card of your choice and have them send a check to your payee...
Jan 21, 2015, 5:02 pm
#83
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 147
Do some reading on the Redbird and bluebird threads. Both are prepaid accounts with a card. They both offer a bill pay service that will pay your payees, even though it may not be an actual check.
Jan 21, 2015, 9:31 pm
#84
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 3
Redbird vs Bluebird
I've been waiting for the Redbird Card to be available in my area to purchase. What's the difference b/w the two? Should I just get a Bluebird? Thanks!
Jan 22, 2015, 4:57 am
#85
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 147
Bluebird is from Walmart. Same bill pay feature, and you can get checks to write from the account. However, no direct CC loads. You can load with debit gift cards. Some Walmarts have a kiosk (Kate) that you can load the account at without even going to a cashier.
Both accounts are from AmEx, you cannot have both under one name/SSN. What to get depends on your situation and what's closer and easier for you.
Jan 22, 2015, 7:42 am
#86
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 8
Just read through this thread and looked at the Southwest cards wiki as well and although I'm somewhat getting the gist of how to do manufactured spending, I am still unsure of the details and hope my posting in this newbie thread will provide some help.
First off, thank you to all of you who are tirelessly providing information and tips to others and figuring out ways to do this so that we can all benefit. Really appreciate it.
Now, my situation -- I have been approved for 2 Southwest Visa credit cards. Both will be giving 50,000 points each if I can spend $2000 per card in 3 months (so total of $4k). My normal spending will not cover that so I am looking for ways to increase to the $4k total.
What is the easiest way to accomplish this? I am not in a hurry and can use the entire 3 months to do the spending. I have read about some Walmart Kate kiosk but am not sure exactly of the flowchart? Do I use the Southwest cards to buy gift cards at Walmart and then somehow get cash back with those gift cards?
Also I have a pre-existing balance of $2400 on an American Express credit card which I was ready to pay off in full this month from my bank account -- should I not do that and somehow use the new credit cards to pay that off?
Any suggestions or tips are very welcome, thank you so much!
First off, thank you to all of you who are tirelessly providing information and tips to others and figuring out ways to do this so that we can all benefit. Really appreciate it.
Now, my situation -- I have been approved for 2 Southwest Visa credit cards. Both will be giving 50,000 points each if I can spend $2000 per card in 3 months (so total of $4k). My normal spending will not cover that so I am looking for ways to increase to the $4k total.
What is the easiest way to accomplish this? I am not in a hurry and can use the entire 3 months to do the spending. I have read about some Walmart Kate kiosk but am not sure exactly of the flowchart? Do I use the Southwest cards to buy gift cards at Walmart and then somehow get cash back with those gift cards?
Also I have a pre-existing balance of $2400 on an American Express credit card which I was ready to pay off in full this month from my bank account -- should I not do that and somehow use the new credit cards to pay that off?
Any suggestions or tips are very welcome, thank you so much!
Last edited by Rehan; Jan 22, 2015 at 8:07 am
Jan 22, 2015, 8:10 am
#87
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Just read through this thread and looked at the Southwest cards wiki as well and although I'm somewhat getting the gist of how to do manufactured spending, I am still unsure of the details and hope my posting in this newbie thread will provide some help.
First off, thank you to all of you who are tirelessly providing information and tips to others and figuring out ways to do this so that we can all benefit. Really appreciate it.
Now, my situation -- I have been approved for 2 Southwest Visa credit cards. Both will be giving 50,000 points each if I can spend $2000 per card in 3 months (so total of $4k). My normal spending will not cover that so I am looking for ways to increase to the $4k total.
What is the easiest way to accomplish this? I am not in a hurry and can use the entire 3 months to do the spending. I have read about some Walmart Kate kiosk but am not sure exactly of the flowchat? Do I use the Southwest cards to buy gift cards at Walmart and then somehow get cash back with those gift cards?
Also I have a pre-existing balance of $2400 on an American Express credit card which I was ready to pay off in full this month from my bank account -- should I not do that and somehow use the new credit cards to pay that off?
Any suggestions or tips are very welcome, thank you so much!
First off, thank you to all of you who are tirelessly providing information and tips to others and figuring out ways to do this so that we can all benefit. Really appreciate it.
Now, my situation -- I have been approved for 2 Southwest Visa credit cards. Both will be giving 50,000 points each if I can spend $2000 per card in 3 months (so total of $4k). My normal spending will not cover that so I am looking for ways to increase to the $4k total.
What is the easiest way to accomplish this? I am not in a hurry and can use the entire 3 months to do the spending. I have read about some Walmart Kate kiosk but am not sure exactly of the flowchat? Do I use the Southwest cards to buy gift cards at Walmart and then somehow get cash back with those gift cards?
Also I have a pre-existing balance of $2400 on an American Express credit card which I was ready to pay off in full this month from my bank account -- should I not do that and somehow use the new credit cards to pay that off?
Any suggestions or tips are very welcome, thank you so much!
If RedBird is not for you, you can choose Serve or Bluebird, both of them you can load at WM kiosk, money center or regular registers. These 2 can also be loaded with a certain amount using CCs or DCs online. Read corresponding threads for more info.
regarding your existing balance with Amex, once you have your BB or Serve, you can use the BillPay feature and pay it from there. If you do this, you will be able to drain the balance in your account while paying off your amex bill.
Jan 22, 2015, 8:30 am
#88
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 8
Thank you so much Mamibear. I will definitely go through those threads.
One follow up question -- if I have already applied for a Serve card, is it too late for me to get a RedBird? Do you only get to have one and have to pick between Serve, or BB, or RedBird? I read something that alluded to this fact but just wanted to confirm. If so I guess I am stuck with Serve as I applied online for a Serve card yesterday.
Thank you again.
EDIT: Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I see that RedBird isn't available at Targets in California, so looks like Serve will have to be my MS weapon of choice.
Thank you.
One follow up question -- if I have already applied for a Serve card, is it too late for me to get a RedBird? Do you only get to have one and have to pick between Serve, or BB, or RedBird? I read something that alluded to this fact but just wanted to confirm. If so I guess I am stuck with Serve as I applied online for a Serve card yesterday.
Thank you again.
EDIT: Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I see that RedBird isn't available at Targets in California, so looks like Serve will have to be my MS weapon of choice.
Thank you.
Last edited by Rehan; Jan 22, 2015 at 9:18 am
Jan 22, 2015, 9:29 am
#89
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Since all are amex products, you can only register for one using SSN. It is not limited to one per household so your spouse or SO can also register for one.
Jan 23, 2015, 3:41 am
#90
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHX & AGP
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,464
They are not, BUT they are in Tuscon and the Red Cards can be loaded at ANY target... HINT