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)
Aug 2, 2019, 8:36 pm
#196
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 5
Aug 25, 2019, 4:31 pm
#200
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 54
Still fairly new to the MS game. For the past few months I have been buying meta bank VGC at my local grocery store and using BB and serve. I recently noticed that my local grocery store has stopped stocking meta bank VGC, now only sun bank I believe. They do however have MC meta bank GC...I've never tried those and can't seem to find the answer on here. Are those pin enabled and able to use for BB and serve ?
Aug 25, 2019, 9:12 pm
#201
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 44
IMO Amex is one of the tougher ones as generally gift cards don't count. Once you have used it as much as you can for your daily spend, especially within the bonus categories, you can always pay property or Q4 estimated taxes (even if you don't owe). It will cost about 2% but it is a safe way to meet SUB.
Last edited by Burton Codh; Aug 25, 2019 at 9:14 pm Reason: clarify
Aug 25, 2019, 9:56 pm
#203
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 104
Still fairly new to the MS game. For the past few months I have been buying meta bank VGC at my local grocery store and using BB and serve. I recently noticed that my local grocery store has stopped stocking meta bank VGC, now only sun bank I believe. They do however have MC meta bank GC...I've never tried those and can't seem to find the answer on here. Are those pin enabled and able to use for BB and serve ?
Also, sunnies work just fine. VGSs are easier to load if you’re new.
I keep them in a box until I’ve paid off the card I used to buy them. Almost certainly overkill, but OCD won’t allow me to get rid of them until my payment clears. On the other hand, OCD makes that box very well organized.
Aug 26, 2019, 6:23 am
#204
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 54
Sep 3, 2019, 10:39 am
#206
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 44
Thanks, I'm taking a self imposed break after going a bit overboard in August but I was able to liquidate all by 8/31 so that will serve as a natural break to store those separately for a while then dispose of them. Once i get back into it I'll have a box and keep them more organized. Any reason to shred the cards?
Sep 7, 2019, 5:11 pm
#209
Join Date: May 2014
Location: LAX
Programs: AA, UA, DL, NSA, CIA, MIB
Posts: 537
Standing in the check out line at WM today and this guy (with his girl) were asking about the Blue Bird card. The cashier wasn't sure what to do with it which required him turning on the blinker light for a supervisor(yellow vest). When the yellow vest finally showed up she had to explain to the guy what he was buying. This was now 5 more minutes of an already longer 5 minutes before I got to the conveyor belt to put my items on it. Then there was some going back and forth with the idea of 'what am I really buying?" between the cashier and the guy. I couldn't take it anymore. I said "I don't mean to be rude, but could maybe you go sit over there and figure out if you really want to buy this or not?" to which I got a look of shock from the guy and his girl. Oh and there was actually one other customer between us!
I even offered to explain what they were thinking about buying but was given "There are other lines, you know". I replied, "Yes, but now all the lines are just as long." and I stepped back to my items.
They walked out without buying the Bluebird card. I don't expect that they were buying this for any king of Manufactured Spending.
Why wouldn't they have done a little research beforehand or maybe spent time reading what was clearly available on the packaging?
Please, do some reading, here or anywhere and ask questions before you think it's ok to hold up the check-out lines on a Saturday at WM. I should also mention that I was going to load up my GoBank card after purchasing my groceries.
venting over.
I even offered to explain what they were thinking about buying but was given "There are other lines, you know". I replied, "Yes, but now all the lines are just as long." and I stepped back to my items.
They walked out without buying the Bluebird card. I don't expect that they were buying this for any king of Manufactured Spending.
Why wouldn't they have done a little research beforehand or maybe spent time reading what was clearly available on the packaging?
Please, do some reading, here or anywhere and ask questions before you think it's ok to hold up the check-out lines on a Saturday at WM. I should also mention that I was going to load up my GoBank card after purchasing my groceries.
venting over.
Sep 7, 2019, 6:56 pm
#210
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 104
Seems very unlikely they were there for MS. It’s more likely that they are BB’s target demographic. People that need a card to use but can’t get credit cards and probably don’t even have a bank account. Do you really expect someone that fits that description to be all that educated?
