RustyShackleford1

So I needed to buy something expensive and we used wife's credit card to work towards bonus spending she needs. I'll use Paypal, funded by my credit card, to pay her back. If I get points on my card for that, then as a couple we've gotten double mileage (so to speak) off of my big purchase.

Too good to be true ? Do credit cards typically not give points for charges for Paypal payments to "friends" ?

TechnoTourist

Funding your Paypal account with a credit card has transaction fees.

radonc1

As best as I can tell, the "transaction" fee is $0.99 to $4.99 max (depending on the amount you are funding) plus a second "funding" fee of 2.9% of the transaction amount. (This has the feel of an ULC airline. I am surprised that they don't have "internet access" fee and a "sign in" fee as well )

Only you can calculate whether the reward you are trying to earn on the credit card account will surpass the amount of money you will be charged by PP to fund the account with a credit card.

RustyShackleford1

Yeah, that's what I figured the rub must be. I've only used Paypal to make payments to merchants, and there's no fee (visible to me, although I guess the merchant pays one).
Sounds like making a estimated tax payments at pay1040-dot-com, where the fee is only 1.87%, is probably a better way to mfg'r spending;

redtop43

If you read through this entire forum, you will find a wide variety of solutions to MS, with varying costs. The lowest-cost systems are to buy gift cards, then use those to buy money orders or pay your credit card bill directly. Total fees can vary from as low as 0.50% to as high as 3.5%.

Some people who are just trying to meet the minimum spend requirement for a credit card are looking for the simplest solution, and for a one-off MS of $3-5K it might be worth it. There are people here who do multiples of that amount every day. Even some of the high-volume MSers are always on the lookout for an emergency way to liquidate cards if all their primary sources become unavailable - like they go to the local Walmart one day are and told "No money orders for YOU." (Channel either the soup nazi on Seinfeld or the Roman soldier warning Jesus not to give water to Judah Ben-Hur.)