Jan 3, 2019, 1:46 pm
Last edit by: randomperson24
NEW TO MS? It's suggested that new arrivals should do some serious reading for a month of all the posts and wiki to get an understanding of MS before asking common questions.
Note: the 2017 - 2018 version of this thread is here, 2016 version of this thread is here, the 2015 version of the thread is here
Welcome to Manufactured Spending. Marathon Man did not write this message, but he has edited it and anyone can. 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.
3) A glossary wiki for MS located in the thread Glossary, Manufactured Spending Forum
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. Some might argue that MS is like card counting in a casino. It is not illegal but casinos don’t like it. Orhers have said it’s like having a fake ID in college to use just to get into bars where all the fun is. Just because it worked here yesterday doesn’t mean it will get you in today. MS is like being a wood worker constantly using a table saw. Always watch what you are doing—always! Or you will lose something. 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).
6) MSing can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from smallish amounts to meet minimum spend requirements to get a credit card signup bonus, to accumulating huge numbers of points for travel/cashback/etc. Remember too that you will often have expenses such as purchase fees, liquidation fees, and gas.
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 MSers can also read all these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-spending-719/
Note: the 2017 - 2018 version of this thread is here, 2016 version of this thread is here, the 2015 version of the thread is here
Welcome to Manufactured Spending. Marathon Man did not write this message, but he has edited it and anyone can. 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.
3) A glossary wiki for MS located in the thread Glossary, Manufactured Spending Forum
Important Rules
1) MSing is very YMMV. It varies by store, manager, and right down to the cashier working at the moment. Some might argue that MS is like card counting in a casino. It is not illegal but casinos don’t like it. Orhers have said it’s like having a fake ID in college to use just to get into bars where all the fun is. Just because it worked here yesterday doesn’t mean it will get you in today. MS is like being a wood worker constantly using a table saw. Always watch what you are doing—always! Or you will lose something. 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).
6) MSing can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from smallish amounts to meet minimum spend requirements to get a credit card signup bonus, to accumulating huge numbers of points for travel/cashback/etc. Remember too that you will often have expenses such as purchase fees, liquidation fees, and gas.
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 MSers can also read all these threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...-spending-719/
New to Manufactured Spending? Start here (2019-2024)
Jun 13, 2019, 7:24 am
#136
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 3
2 things - a lot of gas stations don't sell the $500 cards. I think (not sure, and YMMV) but BP doesn't. And if you have to settle for a $200 card, then the $6.95 fee wipes out most of the profit even at 5%
Second, Walmart doesn't like Vanilla cards, though again YMMV. With Vanilla, I think they only allow loads under $50, ie $49.99 max. I'm surprised your $50 card worked. If you found a unicorn, you'll probably want to keep it to yourself.
Good luck!
Second, Walmart doesn't like Vanilla cards, though again YMMV. With Vanilla, I think they only allow loads under $50, ie $49.99 max. I'm surprised your $50 card worked. If you found a unicorn, you'll probably want to keep it to yourself.
Good luck!
Jun 13, 2019, 7:43 am
#137
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 705
How does this work?
Same question of how would you do this?
For both situations, do you need to know the exact amount of the remaining balance on the GC?
For both situations, do you need to know the exact amount of the remaining balance on the GC?
Jun 13, 2019, 8:54 am
#138
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 463
Load to Amazon
- go to Amazon.com
- log in
- hover your mouse on <Account & Lists>
- click on <Your Account>
- click on <Gift Cards>
- click on <Reload Your Balance>
- follow instructions on screen
- 50 cent minimum, so you can't load cards with only 12 cents
- you do need to know the card's balance if you want to load the entire balance
Grocery Shopping
- get groceries
- swipe cards at checkout. My grocer autodrains. YMMV
- there may be a limit on the number of cards you can swipe per transaction
- don't overdo it, or the store will put a stop to it.
- go to Amazon.com
- log in
- hover your mouse on <Account & Lists>
- click on <Your Account>
- click on <Gift Cards>
- click on <Reload Your Balance>
- follow instructions on screen
- 50 cent minimum, so you can't load cards with only 12 cents
- you do need to know the card's balance if you want to load the entire balance
Grocery Shopping
- get groceries
- swipe cards at checkout. My grocer autodrains. YMMV
- there may be a limit on the number of cards you can swipe per transaction
- don't overdo it, or the store will put a stop to it.
Jun 13, 2019, 9:01 am
#140
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 463
I have a list on my phone of gas stations I've tried and the results. So far, they're all either $200 max or cash only.
If you really want to use the Discover card's bonus category, at the gas station you can buy Home Depot or McDonalds or whatever cards that you'll spend organically. You can even buy gift cards for the gas station itself.
If you really want to use the Discover card's bonus category, at the gas station you can buy Home Depot or McDonalds or whatever cards that you'll spend organically. You can even buy gift cards for the gas station itself.
Last edited by Klemhuzzah; Jun 13, 2019 at 1:53 pm
Jun 13, 2019, 10:09 am
#141
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: S Cal
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, United Silver, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,142
I find that if I run my small-balance VGC as credit (rather than debit), it is more likely to auto drain. This has worked for me at local grocery stores and Home Depot.
Jun 16, 2019, 9:04 pm
#143
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 1
What about MSing on the co-branded cards, such as the Amex Hilton? I just upgraded from the no-fee to the Ascend and need to spend $3K to earn the 150K Hilton point bonus. All my bills are already paid and I’m running out of options here. Please advise.
Jun 17, 2019, 8:05 am
#144
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 3,688
Jun 26, 2019, 9:28 am
#146
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, UA, DL, NSA, CIA, MIB
Posts: 537
Has anyone had any issues MSing on BoA cards to meet the min spend? I have a couple Alaska cards coming soon, and I would prefer to do a few regular purchases, then MS the rest, to keep my spend on my higher bonus cards. TBH I am extremely lazy, just using PayPal for it, I went very hard on the VGC>MO train, and it was extremely hard to do in my area, was stuck at like $1k per trip and it took close to an hour.
Jun 26, 2019, 5:27 pm
#147
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 31
My last payment to Cricket Wireless was $0.25.
Hey, money is money!
Jun 26, 2019, 5:34 pm
#148
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: Continental Onepass, Hilton, Marriott, USAir and now UA
Posts: 6,447
Aldi's will let you use these small amount GCs on their registers. I have had success with it auto draining but some of the cashiers don't know how to do it so I always have the balance just in case.
Jun 28, 2019, 12:15 pm
#149
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 2
Hey guys. How soon do you start charging purchases to GCM and how much of your credit line do you use on GCM? It feels like if I put too many purchases from there on my card they'd close me down, but I see people like PointChaser putting 15k+ a month on their cards from GCM.
Jun 30, 2019, 7:15 am
#150
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 104
Hey everyone,
I’ve been reading on here for a while, but this is my first post.
After reading about MS for a couple months I decided to give it a try. So far I’ve purchased two OVVGC from a gas station. Two separate purchases about a week apart and then liquidated to a MO at my local grocery store. Worked flawlessly and it allowed me to max out the 5% CB category on my new D!sco card (so 10% since it’s a new card).
My question... I have a BofA cash rewards Visa that gives 3% CB on the category of my choice. Choices are gas, dining, drug stores, home improvement, online shopping, and travel. Does anyone know if GCM will work if I choose online shopping? Or will that get me shut down? No plans to go heavy on this card as it has a 2.5k limit per quarter. I’d just max that out, but spread out over the three month period. I could also choose gas and purchase from local gas stations. But I prefer the online shopping option if that will work since going that route combined with Ebates will net a better rate of return.
Thanks in in advance for the advice.
I’ve been reading on here for a while, but this is my first post.
After reading about MS for a couple months I decided to give it a try. So far I’ve purchased two OVVGC from a gas station. Two separate purchases about a week apart and then liquidated to a MO at my local grocery store. Worked flawlessly and it allowed me to max out the 5% CB category on my new D!sco card (so 10% since it’s a new card).
My question... I have a BofA cash rewards Visa that gives 3% CB on the category of my choice. Choices are gas, dining, drug stores, home improvement, online shopping, and travel. Does anyone know if GCM will work if I choose online shopping? Or will that get me shut down? No plans to go heavy on this card as it has a 2.5k limit per quarter. I’d just max that out, but spread out over the three month period. I could also choose gas and purchase from local gas stations. But I prefer the online shopping option if that will work since going that route combined with Ebates will net a better rate of return.
Thanks in in advance for the advice.