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)
Feb 22, 2019, 7:45 pm
#61
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 4
Please correct me if I’m wrong cuz I’m new and this seems very lucrative. Purchase 40k visa gc on gc all.com and use Ebates to get 1% cash back(pretty much =‘s our purchase fee). Then use 2% cash back cc to purchase the 40k gc. You would make around $700 profit all said and done after the 2% cc cash back and the Ebates to = out the activation fee. Am I right on this? Sounds too good to be true
Feb 22, 2019, 11:14 pm
#63
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 4
Please correct me if I’m wrong cuz I’m new and this seems very lucrative. Purchase 40k visa gc on gc all.com and use Ebates to get 1% cash back(pretty much =‘s our purchase fee). Then use 2% cash back cc to purchase the 40k gc. You would make around $700 profit all said and done after the 2% cc cash back and the Ebates to = out the activation fee. Am I right on this? Sounds too good to be true
Feb 23, 2019, 11:12 am
#66
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 4
Feb 23, 2019, 11:14 am
#67
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 4
Feb 23, 2019, 7:56 pm
#69
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 10
Evening All,
I am new to this forum, actually just came across and dove into some of the great informations shared. I tried to be active on reddit churning thread, but people are downvote happy and I cannot post anymore.... Wah wah waaaaah
That said I need some advice and am also willing to share any of my limited knowledge
I just started churning cards about 3 months ago and have had a good amount of success using PNC & others to fund via CC and meet minimum spend of $10K. This doesnt seem scalable for the long term....as my options are limited and chex at some point. So I am trying to find another option that is relatively low risk.
Upon lurking on reddit, I have ordered a Serve green card and will start slowly trying to buy Visa/MC GCs from CVS/Walgreens/Gas stations.
I have another $9K MSR I need to meet and fear this VCG --> Serve is going to be tough. My local walmart has some angry CSR that wont allow GC MOs, and think they wont load Serve easily...
So looking for some other options that anyone is willing to share with a newb.
Thanks,
I am new to this forum, actually just came across and dove into some of the great informations shared. I tried to be active on reddit churning thread, but people are downvote happy and I cannot post anymore.... Wah wah waaaaah
That said I need some advice and am also willing to share any of my limited knowledge
I just started churning cards about 3 months ago and have had a good amount of success using PNC & others to fund via CC and meet minimum spend of $10K. This doesnt seem scalable for the long term....as my options are limited and chex at some point. So I am trying to find another option that is relatively low risk.
Upon lurking on reddit, I have ordered a Serve green card and will start slowly trying to buy Visa/MC GCs from CVS/Walgreens/Gas stations.
I have another $9K MSR I need to meet and fear this VCG --> Serve is going to be tough. My local walmart has some angry CSR that wont allow GC MOs, and think they wont load Serve easily...
So looking for some other options that anyone is willing to share with a newb.
Thanks,
Feb 24, 2019, 5:11 am
#70
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 539
This might be a silly question, but is there any reason I can't buy a OneVanilla card from Walgreens/CVS loaded with $500 (paid for with Chase Freedom to get 5% this quarter), pay the 5.95 fee, and then just use the OneVanilla card as my payment card for everything until it's empty? I've heard using credit cards to buy these is hit or miss. Is that the only limitation? Can I use the OneVanilla card as a credit card for everything like online shopping, buying meals at restaurants, random purchases? Or is the OneVanilla card limited in what you can actually use it for? I guess I always thought of those cards as gift cards you can you use anywhere, as long as you're cool with the 5.95 fee.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Feb 24, 2019, 5:28 am
#71
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: NY
Posts: 523
This might be a silly question, but is there any reason I can't buy a OneVanilla card from Walgreens/CVS loaded with $500 (paid for with Chase Freedom to get 5% this quarter), pay the 5.95 fee, and then just use the OneVanilla card as my payment card for everything until it's empty? I've heard using credit cards to buy these is hit or miss. Is that the only limitation? Can I use the OneVanilla card as a credit card for everything like online shopping, buying meals at restaurants, random purchases? Or is the OneVanilla card limited in what you can actually use it for? I guess I always thought of those cards as gift cards you can you use anywhere, as long as you're cool with the 5.95 fee.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Feb 24, 2019, 7:04 pm
#72
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 539
Feb 24, 2019, 9:18 pm
#74
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 92
Vanilla Visa Gift Card (VVGC) and OneVanilla Visa Gift Card (OVVGC) function identically in 99% of situations. They are just an effort by InComm to segment their market between gift givers and pre-paid card users. Some of us prefer OVVGCs because they don't scream GIFT in big letters and so are slightly less likely to get noticed by CSRs.
Feb 25, 2019, 7:32 am
#75
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 539
Vanilla Visa Gift Card (VVGC) and OneVanilla Visa Gift Card (OVVGC) function identically in 99% of situations. They are just an effort by InComm to segment their market between gift givers and pre-paid card users. Some of us prefer OVVGCs because they don't scream GIFT in big letters and so are slightly less likely to get noticed by CSRs.