Most report that the bay area PO has cracked down on VGC->MO, and that it's somewhat difficult now.

Bay area is usually one of the first places for a method to die. xD

right, it's YMMV w the cashier.

So, I took my first shot at doing something that is truly MS as opposed to prepaid/regular spending.

I went to CVS to buy a VGC in San Jose earlier today - I was told this was cash only, no credit or debit cards allowed. The specific store was at 3074 Story Rd. I have no qualms about reporting something that's already dead.

So, I did not get to the liquidation part. that would be a nice problem to have !
I think even if the post office denies a money order purchase with a VGC, at many other stores, you could buy something with a VGC and the PIN, and then return the item and be refunded in cash. I won't name names so as to not kill this for anyone, but I think this would work. Obviously not scalable if you are trying to MS tens of thousands of dollars, but you could probably liquidate a few hundred dollars every day easily this way if you just have a signup bonus spending requirement to meet.

VGCs at CVS and MOs at PO is still okay for me in the Bay Area but these days I have to be prepared to be told no; it's not a reliable method so I plan on having to visit 2 or 3 CVSs or POs to get it done, if I end up not having to, it's great but I plan on it because that's the reality of MS in the Bay Area now.

Good news, I was able to find a place to buy a $500 OneVanilla VGC today with my CSR. I did have to pay the $4.95 activation fee. Now on to figure out how to liquidate it.

As someone who lives in the bay area and hell (that's TX on a map, for those who have never lived there) when not overseas, i can tell you what i've said before: location location location.

the self congratulating 'MS gods/geniuses' here who brag about volume owe it all to their location. i believe there is an equation to calculate the MS-ability of a region- the inputs are such things like: % of farmland, % of men named Bubba, % of new LCD's in a region that are installed in a (alternating) sweltering/freezing garage, % of population who are married to a sibling, etc...

i had no problem doing MS in CA long before it had a name. the ROI now though, in terms of time makes MS in the bay area not worth it except for a couple of hidden gems. i laugh every time i see talk of a bay area 'meet up'- you'd have to be a special kind of stupid/Darwin award winner to tell other MSer's anything that isn't public knowledge.

Even hell has gotten MUCH more difficult- but a bad day of MS in hell is still MS paradise vs a good day in the bay area. the downside, of course, is that you're in hell...

Happy to report that I found a very simple way that doesn't even involve physically going anywhere, and no additional fee to liquidate other than the original $4.95 purchase fee (ie. 1% on my $500 OneVanilla card). I won't say exactly which one it is, but it's really surprisingly straightforward. Works better if you are married and your spouse doesn't share your last name ;) And I think it is public knowledge, since I found out about it by reading a blog post that is already >2 years old. I'm surprised that this method didn't get killed already. Funds are already available in a bank account and could be immediately withdrawn in cash, or bill pay in a month or so to pay back the credit card before it's due.

At only 1% total cost, the method would be profitable when using just about any decent rewards credit card to purchase the OneVanilla. But you would need a really high volume to make decent amounts on the arbitrage, so this would be likely to attract attention from the financial institutions. I will only use it to meet minimum spending.

Things I tried earlier in the day that did not work, before I found the above :
- purchase + cash back at 7/11 (even only $10) . OneVanilla was declined .
- Moneygram bill payment . OneVanilla was declined.
- also tried Moneygram directly from my CSR to pay mortgage. Total fee would be only 1.6% on a $2500 payment, ie. less than Plastiq. But the payment was also declined. Most likely because my CSR cash advance fee is set to $100 (minimum they would allow). And in any case, cash advances don't count towards minimum spending, and don't earn rewards.

Things that had some promise :
- VCOM 7/11 ATM : showed the bill pay option. My water company, which doesn't accept any cards, was listed. I did not proceed, so I don't know how much the payment fee would have been.
- Mortgage company was not listed.

Vcom ATM is dead for VGC. Has been for 1-2years.

Are they even any functioning KATEs in the bay area?

LMFAO at the PMs, "No one is going to tell you this". K THX. The locater doesnt list much, but based on old threads there may be a few around.

I will save you some trip(s), there are no working Kates in East Bay.

You can find a working Kate in Fallon, NV as of a couple months ago. It is just about a six hour drive. Better do it before the winter starts.

Winter is already here (/GoT)

Bay Area MS is really sad :D

Man, life used to be really good huh? Stuff has really dried out since Target Redcard died.

Ahem, quit disparaging Texas or you might get your Texas passport revoked and be deported to Oklahoma.:p