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)
#1411
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: PHL
Posts: 96
Thanks, I'll keep my fingers crossed when I try. Being in a downtown area without a car, there are very few WMs, FDs, Simons Malls, etc. accessible to me, but CVS and Rite Aid are every other block, so this would make life considerably easier!
#1412
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 160
You can buy OV at CVS limited to $2,000 and a rolling 24 hour period.
#1413
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: PHL
Posts: 96
Just used Serve to pay off a CC bill for the first time, and I'm a bit jumpy. How long should I expect the CC company (Chase, in this case) to process the payment before I get worried?
#1414
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: Southwest, SPG, IHG
Posts: 82
ALWAYS start a new bill pay with a test amount, say $5. Watch it get credited (look at the date mentioned in the Serve page, and add 1 to it for Chase). THEN push the big payments (500, 1500 etc) to your CC. Never failed for me...
#1415
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: PHL
Posts: 96
Good advice, thanks! Guess I'll have to hope for the best this time and then be smarter on the next one
#1416
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 223
OV has 4.95 fee in my area at least.
Are there specific types of metabank cards that work/dont work at RA to load serve? I've avoided them as i thought they were limited to under $50 loads. Or is that just at WM?
Are there specific types of metabank cards that work/dont work at RA to load serve? I've avoided them as i thought they were limited to under $50 loads. Or is that just at WM?
#1417
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: PHL
Posts: 96
Also, I realized that it's not OV that CVS sells (at least not the one I checked), it's MyVanilla. That's where I saw the $3.95 fee. The terms on the card package say that you need to register, including given your SSN, before the funds are available. I'm not really clear on the difference between OV and MyVanilla but that doesn't seem good!
#1418
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 21
i've found that grocery stores are the best source for 500 vgc issued by metabank. matter fact, where i am grocery stores seem the only place. of course not all of them have them and even those that usually have them don't always have them.
#1419
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Northern New Jersey
Programs: united mileage plus
Posts: 4
Guys, I am also very new to this and have never done it yet.
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
#1420
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 160
Guys, I am also very new to this and have never done it yet.
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
#1421
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: IAD
Programs: All of them to one degree or another
Posts: 447
Guys, I am also very new to this and have never done it yet.
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
#1422
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 148
Guys, I am also very new to this and have never done it yet.
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
Is there a specific Serve card that I should get or will any of them work?
I was thinking since they have free ATM usage, I could deposit a GC into the account and then just go to the ATM and withdraw the money.
Is there any reason why that would not work?
#1423
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SAN
Programs: Delta Gold. Hilton Diamond. Hyatt Explorist.
Posts: 1,672
thread closure
Please continue the discussion here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...re-2016-a.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...re-2016-a.html