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Buy Presidential Dollar Coins with CC @ Face Value, Free Shipping

Buy Presidential Dollar Coins with CC @ Face Value, Free Shipping

Old Jun 24, 2008, 4:13 am
  #196  
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Originally Posted by cstead
Does the CC get hit when it ships, or when you click on Submit?
They probably authorize your card at the time you place the order but merchants are not allowed to put the charge through before actually shipping out the order.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 7:15 am
  #197  
 
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Originally Posted by Sam - DFW
yes, somehow people are missing the point.

1. get coins on cc
2. take coins to bank and deposit
3. pay cc before incurring interest

if this doesn't work for you, then don't do it.

sam
I agree completely. If you break procedure on one or more of these points, the value of the procedure goes out the window. Consider additionally that if you value your miles at 2 cents each and you purchase $500 worth of coins, you are receiving $10 for the trouble of placing an order, making sure it arrives okay, and depositing (driving to the bank, perhaps) the coins. If you opt not to deposit the $500 in coins immediately, you begin to lose interest value on them. If you normally produce 8% returns on your liquid investments, you lose 2% (or the full $10 you sought to benefit) every three months you have the coins sitting around waiting to be spent or deposited. Buying $5,000 worth of coins for $100 worth of miles/points and immediately depositing them at a bank without a fee or hassle might be worthwhile.


Originally Posted by Sam - DFW
strip clubs make the most sense...

Makes sense, as there are plenty of slots that accept the coins at those places.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 7:29 am
  #198  
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Originally Posted by holtju2
merchants are not allowed to put the charge through before actually shipping out the order.
It happens all the time.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 10:13 am
  #199  
 
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Originally Posted by mooper
If you normally produce 8% returns on your liquid investments.
Where is anyone earning 8 percent, risk free on liquid investments?
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 11:25 am
  #200  
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Originally Posted by mooper
... Consider additionally that if you value your miles at 2 cents each and you purchase $500 worth of coins, you are receiving $10 for the trouble of placing an order, making sure it arrives okay, and depositing (driving to the bank, perhaps) the coins. ....
The long-term FTers know to use cards that give us more than 1 mile per dollar.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 11:29 am
  #201  
 
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My order says it was shipped today. How long has it been taking to receive once shipped? I am heading to the bank with mine once they arrive.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 1:11 pm
  #202  
 
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Check with your bank. Some do charge a fee for coin deposits as they need to unroll and count everything again.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 3:22 pm
  #203  
 
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Originally Posted by imasosec
Where is anyone earning 8 percent, risk free on liquid investments?
I didn't say risk-free. My point is that there is an opportunity cost to having $500 in coins sitting around waiting to be spent, as you can invest conservatively and earn 4%, fairly conservatively and earn 8%, and aggressively for 10%+.

Originally Posted by ChaseTheMiles
The long-term FTers know to use cards that give us more than 1 mile per dollar.
As do I; I cited a value solely for illustrative purposes. If you value rewards earned from charging $500 at $15 instead of the $10 I used, adjust the other numbers accordingly. For me, the time and gas required to make a deposit + the time and risk and stress associated with the order is not worth the value I assign to the expected rewards. YMMV.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 3:26 pm
  #204  
 
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>>>>>as you can invest conservatively and earn 4%, fairly conservatively and earn 8%, and aggressively for 10%+.

Yeah, but is it tax free too?

gpapadop, CFP
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 3:57 pm
  #205  
 
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Originally Posted by mooper
I didn't say risk-free. My point is that there is an opportunity cost to having $500 in coins sitting around waiting to be spent, as you can invest conservatively and earn 4%, fairly conservatively and earn 8%, and aggressively for 10%+.
Yes but to compare the investments fairly, you should be providing the rate of return on a virtually risk free investment. And as someone else has pointed out you should factor in taxes.

Further, I'd love to find a liquid fairly conservative investment paying 8% - care to share one (or several)?
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 4:36 pm
  #206  
 
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Originally Posted by chuckd
I placed 3 orders for $500...
Did you ship these to 3 different people? Or are you just ignoring the $500 per person rule? I figure they may not enforce this anyway (???)
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 4:37 pm
  #207  
 
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Originally Posted by World_Traveler
I ordered two boxes. They took my PO box for delivery address (which is also my billing address) so I'm guessing it will be USPS...it is the government after all...
It's actually DHL...
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 6:17 pm
  #208  
 
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Originally Posted by stratofortress
It's actually DHL...
Ahhhhh! That explains why the tracking link on the Mint's order-confirmation screen, which brings you to usps.com's tracking page, always failed.

I plugged in that tracking number into DHL.com's tracker instead, and voila, the full tracking history comes up fine, including the final entry: "Arrived at USPS." Guess DHL does the heavy lifting all the way to the recipient's zip code, and the USPS guys do the final delivery...
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 6:19 pm
  #209  
 
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Originally Posted by jimglobe
My order says it was shipped today. How long has it been taking to receive once shipped? I am heading to the bank with mine once they arrive.
Ship date was 6/18 for me.
Shipment arrived (in Florida) today, 6/24.

Shipping origin is Wilmington OH.
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Old Jun 24, 2008, 6:21 pm
  #210  
 
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Originally Posted by VPescado
Yes but to compare the investments fairly, you should be providing the rate of return on a virtually risk free investment. And as someone else has pointed out you should factor in taxes.

Further, I'd love to find a liquid fairly conservative investment paying 8% - care to share one (or several)?
You are correct that if the goal is to make a thorough comparison between investments, all risks, taxes, and other factors should be taken into account. I suggest that the risk associated with ordering hundreds coins in the mail (risk of loss in transit, risk of them being stolen while sitting around the house, risk of something changing with the offer and needing to dispute, etc.) is vastly greater than the risk of a CD or money-market, which will at least return a few measly percent, and vastly less than the risk of buying exposure to the NASAQ 100. Where precisely the two are equal is debatable.

Again, my underlying point is that every person has their own measure of risk and opportunity cost associated with having hundreds of dollars sitting around rather than being invested. I own a company that generates well into a double-digit ROI and has done so for years, so I prefer to invest a good chunk of my long-term assets there. For assets earmarked for use in a 5-year window (give or take), I invest a balanced fund such as EXBAX that will fairly reliably produce ~8% total returns over 5-year spans, of course with some risk of under or over performing this benchmark. You may not desire these options and might consider your opportunity cost of coins in a basket closer to the CD/money-market rate. If the coin purchase, your opportunity cost, and all else that is involved in the "conversion" is worth a few bucks to you - go for it!
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