Mancolt

That's a great one. Not quite as nefarious sounding as "Manufacturing Spend" but also 100% truthful.

omghaxcode

So just for claritiy's sake, I want to make sure I don't mess up my first transaction. Regardless of if I want 1, 2, 3, etc GCs, I just say, "I want x $500 gift cards" then pay with my credit card. The GC will be a full $500 gc and the credit card (if I'm only using one) will be charged $500*x + $3.95*x. I don't need to worry about the GC having less than $500 on it. Out of curiosity, is $3.95 the full price or is their tax? I'm in Texas if that matters.

When I go to clear it at WM, I ask for a money order of $500-$0.70=$499.30. They charge 70 cents for MOs and to avoid splitting the payment I adjust down the amount in my MO so I drain the card completely. Additionally, I can reduce the MO cost by splitting payments and draining 2 SM GCs into one MO with a $999.30 value. Is it correct to assume there is no tax on MOs? The listed price (70 cents) is the price I need to reduce my MO by?

TY

lumangoy

looks like you havent tried purchasong MOs at WM.

You better try buying one first before you get stuck with x number of VGCs.

omghaxcode

I haven't and I'll start with a sample run of just $100 or something. I've been told Austin area WMs do work though. Is everything else correct assuming WM isn't an issue?

Amex For Children Of Africa

Just buy 1 for $500 and try it at WM. No taxes involved for either.

Happy

Store specific. My store is $1000 including the fee. It used to be $3000, then reduced to $2000 and now $1000 - and that applies to all gcs including the retailers'.

There is even an additional, internal form the CSR now has to use to write down the authorization numbers of the transactions. This is unique to this store ever since it got a new manager who also oversees a store in Miami. The other store in the same city (but farther from home) only needs form at $3000, and no internal form.

Majuki

I haven't heard of the internal form before. Some other policies that vary based on location are ability to try again if the payment declines/hiccups the first time. The that I used to visit near Philadelphia limited to $3000/day. The one nearby me will sell $10,000 per day but includes fees. Other locations exclude fees. In short, it's all over the map.

For use reason on the form I wrote "Personal use". I haven't bought at a Simon Mall in 18 months, so I don't know if there have been adjustments to the form.

hotttoddie

why do people always want to goto 11 right out of the gate??? cant we just be cool and try one for 150$?? yeah it might not be profitable for your FIRST MONTH (the horror :-| ), but ...., at least you lessen the chance of screwing it up.

acinchus

Any specific banks that are known to trigger adverse action if used at Simon for GC purchases?

Are Citi, Chase, Barclays, Amex all safe for buying between 2k to 10k in one transaction?

Carl

Not Arrival+, long term

carlitos

The 1 Million Dollar Question ...

I really do not know the answer, but I use Simon basically to meet minimum spend, and never buy more than four $500 USD VGCs at the same time. Also, almost always split the transaction between two cards with super odd numbers, trying to avoid putting the exact $1,007.90 or $2,015.80 on one card. I usually throw a random number all the way to the cents on the first card, like $879.23 on the card that needs minimum spend and the rest on any other card.

Now, I have heard from my Simon CS friends that people just go there and buy the maximum and sometimes on one card. Those people might be able to answer your question.

kingrat

I have been and will keep buying around 9k everytime I go and been doing this for three years without a single shutdown. This is my usual pattern but I started slow and worked up to this doing 1-2k in the first months and then 4-5 k and been doing 9 or 9.5k each visit. My Simon malls knows me and has no issues and they have my paperwork completed for me to save time and I just sign. I do rotate my cards and I don't slam one card over and over. YMMV

soy

It seems that cashback cards such as Arrival+ and Citi DoubleCash etc are the highest risk of shutdown for MS

littlewinglet

Things aren't always what they seem....

Fly1Away1

I've been OK since vanilla reloads went cash only, but seeing all these reports make me wonder if I should close on my own and re-open at a later time.