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 23, 2015, 8:20 am
#91
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 8
Thanks FlightNurse, some of the RedBird posts were saying that trying a card in a store where they don't have them will result in cashiers not knowing how to do anything with them but it's good to know that they will still work if the cashier can be instructed on what to do.
Tucson is still pretty far from me and I looked on eBay and there don't seem to be any up for sale. Am I missing something obvious? Maybe I need some coffee before I post on here.
Tucson is still pretty far from me and I looked on eBay and there don't seem to be any up for sale. Am I missing something obvious? Maybe I need some coffee before I post on here.
Jan 23, 2015, 8:40 am
#92
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 8
I guess because I already have my Serve supposedly coming in the mail and some people have reported it taking 30 days between canceling Serve and being able to get a RedBird and also the reported delay in getting a RedBird mailed out, I should maybe try doing this with Serve for now.
I am still very confused, after reading both the Serve wiki and the thread as to the actual process of what I do with the Serve card. I am probably an idiot, but I can't be the only one -- can anyone spell out exactly the process?
From what I've pieced together, I believe it to be this, but I am just looking for some confirmation as a newbie:
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
Is this the method? Am I missing any important steps? Thank you for reading and for putting up with my beginner questions. As much as I have read on the forum, I just haven't been able to find a real guide for absolute beginners.
I am still very confused, after reading both the Serve wiki and the thread as to the actual process of what I do with the Serve card. I am probably an idiot, but I can't be the only one -- can anyone spell out exactly the process?
From what I've pieced together, I believe it to be this, but I am just looking for some confirmation as a newbie:
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
Is this the method? Am I missing any important steps? Thank you for reading and for putting up with my beginner questions. As much as I have read on the forum, I just haven't been able to find a real guide for absolute beginners.
Jan 23, 2015, 9:41 am
#93
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,207
I guess because I already have my Serve supposedly coming in the mail and some people have reported it taking 30 days between canceling Serve and being able to get a RedBird and also the reported delay in getting a RedBird mailed out, I should maybe try doing this with Serve for now.
I am still very confused, after reading both the Serve wiki and the thread as to the actual process of what I do with the Serve card. I am probably an idiot, but I can't be the only one -- can anyone spell out exactly the process?
From what I've pieced together, I believe it to be this, but I am just looking for some confirmation as a newbie:
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
Is this the method? Am I missing any important steps? Thank you for reading and for putting up with my beginner questions. As much as I have read on the forum, I just haven't been able to find a real guide for absolute beginners.
I am still very confused, after reading both the Serve wiki and the thread as to the actual process of what I do with the Serve card. I am probably an idiot, but I can't be the only one -- can anyone spell out exactly the process?
From what I've pieced together, I believe it to be this, but I am just looking for some confirmation as a newbie:
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
Is this the method? Am I missing any important steps? Thank you for reading and for putting up with my beginner questions. As much as I have read on the forum, I just haven't been able to find a real guide for absolute beginners.
No. You can buy gift cards at walmart, sure, but you dont ask them to load them onto the serve card for you
Id do a bit more reading. You buy the gift card with yuor sw credit card, you then take the gift card and load it to serve by using it as a DEBIT CARD. You do this, you dont ask them to do this. You just go to the counter or cashier and say you would like to load your card for $xxx with your debit card, you swipe your serve card, then they have you swipe your debit card, you enter the pin and now the funds are on serve. Thats the short story. You need to do a bit more reading to figure out which cards work properly and do a small test case before you go and buy a lot and cant figure out how to get it to work.
Jan 23, 2015, 10:06 am
#94
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
When loading at the register, just say I want to load my card. When you're asked what your fund source is, say DEBIT (no need to show them).
Since it's your first time, I suggest you start with the lowest FIXED VGC amount ($50 or less) to practice with, till you get a feel of what you're doing.
If cashier doesn't know how to load a card, tell them to press 70 then action code. You can give your Serve card when it prompts them to enter account number. They will swipe your card on their end (you can also do this on your terminal). Screen comes up for them and they choose 1 = LOAD and ask you how much you want to load. You will be asked to confirm amount in next screen.
When it's time to pay, swipe your VGC, if it goes to signature screen, press CANCEL and tell cashier you're paying with DEBIT. Once you see either CHANGE PAYMENT OR CANCEL (this only blinks a few seconds so you have to press it immediately) on your screen, press one of those buttons that will lead to screen with other options to pay. Look for ATM/DEBIT and press. It will lead to PIN screen. Enter PIN. Once APPROVED, receipt prints. You have now successfully transferred your funds to your Serve account
You may have to practice several times until you master pressing the Change Payment or Cancel button quick enough so it doesn't go to signature screen. Once you see the signature screen, tell cashier that you want to change payment to debit.
Just keep reading and a lot of your questions have been answered in the Serve/BB wiki, take time to read and understand carefully.
Jan 23, 2015, 10:14 am
#95
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 215
From what I've pieced together, I believe it to be this, but I am just looking for some confirmation as a newbie:
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
1) I go to Walmart with my Serve card.
2) I find some Visa gift cards and ask a cashier to load them onto the Serve card.
3) I pay for the visa gift cards with my Southwest Credit Card.
4) I use Serve's Bill Pay online to pay off the Southwest credit card?
5) Or alternatively I go to some ATM and pull the cash off the serve?
Then go back with one VGC and try it, making sure you never use the word "gift card" and keeping your real debit card out, so it looks like you are loading that.
If your Walmart has a working kiosk (Kate), use that instead. Dealing with a machine will be less stressful. On the kiosk use the button that says Bluebird as there isn't a Serve button.
Since you have two Southwest cards, I assume you have access to another SSN. Use that to get a Redbird. There are RBs available in California, just keep reading forums to find out where. I just found these from a quick google search: Amador Plaza Rd, Dublin, CA, Hesperia SuperTarget and Victorville Target.
Jan 23, 2015, 10:23 am
#96
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: AVL, GSP, CLT
Posts: 68
Hello, I just applied and received Amex PRG with $1000 spend 50,000 mile reward and earns 2 miles per $1 at supermarkets etc. My question is will i be able to purchase MC debit GC with pin ($5.95 activation fee) at my local SM without Amex shutting me down? I am thinking about purchasing 3x500 GC a day and turn that in to MO (.99 fee each)at the same SM and deposit it in to my bank acc.
Is it legal? What about IRS? Please advise. Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong forum. Thank you!
Is it legal? What about IRS? Please advise. Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong forum. Thank you!
Jan 23, 2015, 10:24 am
#97
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,207
Since you are so new to this, I suggest you take a real bank debit card to WM to load your Serve for the first time to see how it all goes. Then go back with one VGC and try it, making sure you never use the word "gift card" and keeping your real debit card out, so it looks like you are loading that.
If your Walmart has a working kiosk (Kate), use that instead. Dealing with a machine will be less stressful. On the kiosk use the button that says Bluebird as there isn't a Serve button.
Since you have two Southwest cards, I assume you have access to another SSN. Use that to get a Redbird. There are RBs available in California, just keep reading forums to find out where. I just found these from a quick google search: Amador Plaza Rd, Dublin, CA, Hesperia SuperTarget and Victorville Target.
If your Walmart has a working kiosk (Kate), use that instead. Dealing with a machine will be less stressful. On the kiosk use the button that says Bluebird as there isn't a Serve button.
Since you have two Southwest cards, I assume you have access to another SSN. Use that to get a Redbird. There are RBs available in California, just keep reading forums to find out where. I just found these from a quick google search: Amador Plaza Rd, Dublin, CA, Hesperia SuperTarget and Victorville Target.
Jan 23, 2015, 10:30 am
#98
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,207
Hello, I just applied and received Amex PRG with $1000 spend 50,000 mile reward and earns 2 miles per $1 at supermarkets etc. My question is will i be able to purchase MC debit GC with pin ($5.95 activation fee) at my local SM without Amex shutting me down? I am thinking about purchasing 3x500 GC a day and turn that in to MO (.99 fee each)at the same SM and deposit it in to my bank acc.
Is it legal? What about IRS? Please advise. Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong forum. Thank you!
Is it legal? What about IRS? Please advise. Please forgive me if I've posted in the wrong forum. Thank you!
As for AMEX, they have been doing a lot of shut downs recently, but as long as you have any kind of anual salary, you should be ok with one $1500, but, if you are going to be doing that volume a lot, Id definitely read the AMEX OBC thread and see what happens when AMEX shuts you down and some speculation on causes.
Also, if MS was illegal, there likely wouldnt be large organized public following for anyone to read thats been allowed for so long
There are plenty of threads that talk about IRS implications, I would do a search for that if you are really worried. If you are skittish about dealing with the IRS though, I would just stop now. Theres no sense in taking a risk you clearly dont want to take. If you are ok with possibly getting a call or requiring explanations that you should be able to provide, proceed on and just keep impeccable records incase you are ever questioned.
Jan 23, 2015, 10:35 am
#99
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: AVL, GSP, CLT
Posts: 68
Thank you, hamokmonky.
Jan 24, 2015, 8:31 am
#100
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 31
I've read wiki posts and related Serve thread but haven't stumbled across an answer...
For CC loads to Serve (or any of the load methods available), how does the monthly limit work? Calendar month? Rolling month? Or???
I was hoping to load $200 x 5 days in a row starting today, then repeat beginning February.
Also, as a newbie (who does read the wikis and other threads as best he can before posting questions)... I'm a little confused by all the closed topic threads. Are those permanently closed as archives now? And are just supposed to post anything and everything in this one thread? If so, how does that work for topic sorting for those of us who do read in advance? ... do we just have to read everything about everything to find info on one particular topic?
For CC loads to Serve (or any of the load methods available), how does the monthly limit work? Calendar month? Rolling month? Or???
I was hoping to load $200 x 5 days in a row starting today, then repeat beginning February.
Also, as a newbie (who does read the wikis and other threads as best he can before posting questions)... I'm a little confused by all the closed topic threads. Are those permanently closed as archives now? And are just supposed to post anything and everything in this one thread? If so, how does that work for topic sorting for those of us who do read in advance? ... do we just have to read everything about everything to find info on one particular topic?
Jan 24, 2015, 8:46 am
#101
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 437
Yes, you'll have to do a lot of reading before you understand the whole cycle of how this game works. Specifically about how and where to buy debit cards, and how to unload them.
But once you understand it better, and have some practice with small amounts, you can just read the specific topic that interests you, for example, as you mentioned, the Serve thread.
Jan 24, 2015, 10:36 pm
#102
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 31
Thanks again.
Jan 26, 2015, 8:55 am
#103
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,207
Also, as a newbie (who does read the wikis and other threads as best he can before posting questions)... I'm a little confused by all the closed topic threads. Are those permanently closed as archives now? And are just supposed to post anything and everything in this one thread? If so, how does that work for topic sorting for those of us who do read in advance? ... do we just have to read everything about everything to find info on one particular topic?
Jan 26, 2015, 6:24 pm
#104
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 32
Hey guys I had a question is bluebird also per calendar month in terms of limits? From what I have tried to read up that seems to be the case, just want to verify for next month.
Just started the MS game and not gonna lie kinda hooked.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for all the tips and help and I agree with all you other newcomers, do all the reading you can including old threads there's tremendous knowledge and tips in there. I wouldn't jump into putting your money in this game without knowing what you are risking. Don't do what some have done and spend like $8k without knowing the ins and outs thats how you F up your credit
Just started the MS game and not gonna lie kinda hooked.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for all the tips and help and I agree with all you other newcomers, do all the reading you can including old threads there's tremendous knowledge and tips in there. I wouldn't jump into putting your money in this game without knowing what you are risking. Don't do what some have done and spend like $8k without knowing the ins and outs thats how you F up your credit
Jan 27, 2015, 5:35 am
#105
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: VA
Posts: 147
Hey guys I had a question is bluebird also per calendar month in terms of limits? From what I have tried to read up that seems to be the case, just want to verify for next month.
Just started the MS game and not gonna lie kinda hooked.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for all the tips and help and I agree with all you other newcomers, do all the reading you can including old threads there's tremendous knowledge and tips in there. I wouldn't jump into putting your money in this game without knowing what you are risking. Don't do what some have done and spend like $8k without knowing the ins and outs thats how you F up your credit
Just started the MS game and not gonna lie kinda hooked.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for all the tips and help and I agree with all you other newcomers, do all the reading you can including old threads there's tremendous knowledge and tips in there. I wouldn't jump into putting your money in this game without knowing what you are risking. Don't do what some have done and spend like $8k without knowing the ins and outs thats how you F up your credit