Johnny Rocket

I'm a bit confused... what's the point of buying the $200 certificates?

Are you saying that by tagging on a certificate the Mint is more likely to push the order through than decline?

The spend total is the same whether you buy the $200 earlier or not.

channa

Um, the e-gift cert hits your credit card immediately, unlike coin charges which post when the coins ship.

If we're in an extended backorder situation, and you want the charge to hit your card immediately, this can accelerate $200 of it per order.

Johnny Rocket

Yes but here's the problem:

If you buy the $200 certificates... and then just when you order your coins get put on back order... you could end up spending $200... your coins not arriving and your statement arriving but still no coins - and you've still spent $200 but not gotten it back.

Seems like added inconvenience.

channa

Oh I agree about the inconvenience. And it's such a small amount compared to the orders you can put in, it just seems like a hassle.

Though to your point, it's only $200. If you have the types of credit lines that some of these high-volume folks are doing, then I'm assuming floating $200 is not a huge deal either.

Johnny Rocket

Yes - I agree... I am sure we can all afford $200!

However I think best to deal just in coins rather than this "virtual" currency.

channa

Absolutely. What if they cancel the program (or modify it in a way that it's no longer in your economic interest) after your orders got declined? Last thing you want to be doing is holding a handful of $200 non-refundable e-certs for the U.S. Mint. At least you wouldn't have to think about where to go shopping for Christmas.

mrpickles

About a month ago I gave him a $20 Starbucks gift card (from Costco only paid $16 for it). This week he asked when is it going to end, and I said in 2016.

mrpickles

Ok I keep getting PM from people wanting to know how I order so many coins and how I handle processing them for the bank. Those of you who think that I am bragging, just go ahead and skip this post, it is not for you. I am writing this up to be helpful for others to understand what I am doing and how I have planned for these quantities. First of all I have allocated about $75,000 of personal cash to act as "float money" so I am not actually using the coins to repay the credit cards. Also all of my credit cards have zero balances. This is a must because intrest rates are calculated on average daily balance andif you have any balance at all the coin project will boost your interest payments to not make this worthwhile. As soon as I see the US Mint has shipped the coins I will go ahead and make an online transfer from my checking account bill pay program to my credit card that will be charged the next day. That way if I am delayed for a few days in making the deposit I can still reorder new coins as soon the payment posts to the cc. A delay can happen because I am traveling, the banks vaults are full, I am sick, or actually busy at work. Yes I have a full time job. And I have a very large garage.

So here is how I process a coin shipment:

0901 am UPS delivers 21 boxes, complains about when will this ever end.


I open all of the boxes and remove the coins from the boxes. The bottoms of the boxes that I am going to keep have two additional strips of packing tape added to the bottoms to reinforce the strength of the box. I do this because it is not fun at the bank when the bottom falls out in the lobby so I see this as a bit of insurance to save me time.


For the newbies, the shipping boxes contain an maximum of 10 smaller $250 boxes, depending on what you order. After removing the packing slip and paper cushioning this is what the interior looks like:


My next step it to remove the individual boxes and look at the barcode to orient the box. This is trial and error and you will get the hang of it. I then rip off the bottom of the box so the bottom of the trays are exposed:


Then I flip the box over to dump the trays right side up on the table:


Lifting the box up and toss the box in to the trash can, leaves the two stacked trays of $250 exposed on the table top. Repeat for all boxes:


Here are the coins from today's shipment, $52,500 you may want to handle less, but I find it better for me to get it all overwith at one time:


I then line the bottom of the boxes with coin trays, working 3 across:


And then 2 deep:


And then 6 high for a total of 36 trays x $125/tray total of $4500.00 per box:


I tape the top of each box closed with packing tape and weigh the box to verify 81.3 lbs per box just incase something fell out or was forgotten:


I am able to reduce the boxes by almost half and it makes it much quicker for the bank staff to count the trays and get me in and out of the branch faster. In the end I have 7 bags of trash from the packing material, smaller boxes, and leftover large boxes:


Now my $52,500 will not be taken by one branch. I dropped $18,000 at the first bank, $9,000 at the second bank, and $22,500 at the third bank. This left me with $2750 left over so I went to my company's bank and they just changed it to cash for me which I deposited at Chase to replenish my "float funds". I have 4 main branches that I work with. Three have trucks pick up once a week, and the fourth has a scheduled truck twice a week, so I can plan deliveries around the trucks arrival times and if I am in early it does not matter at all how much I bring because the truck just takes it away the same day and it does not overnight in the coind drawer at the bank's vault. The proble that some branches are having is that the must lock up coins at night and the coin drawers in the vault are too small. This is a work around that I have arranged with the managers of the branches.

Hope this is helpful.

fly2nrt

WOW. ^

ma91pmh

I will second that - WOW!!!

That is great going mrpickles. I just did my first batch and feel such a whimp for doing $2500. Maybe next batch I will go crazy although at this point I only have $20k of credit line available on miles producing cards.

ExitRowLegroom

WOW!

mikeef

I'm thinking of Mr. P's numbers. With a Fido/Schwab credit card, he could get 2% back. At $1,600 per week (80K*.02), we're looking at 80K per year in tax-free income, with a couple of weeks for vacation. Wow.

Mike

jdivenere

That's pretty impressive, mrpickles! Now, I challenge you to find a way to recycle all the leftover packing material...

I break down both the small and large boxes, stack all the trays, and bring them to the recycling dumpster. Zero Waste.

mikeef

A patriot and an environmentalist!

Mike

chimmy826

Taking the pics and doing the write-up took time, which is of the essence, so thanks for that. I have no problems whatsoever with the amount your doing. Hell, if I had that kind of credit, I would probably do the same. I don't have that kind of credit, however, so I do what I can in the time I have.

My two concerns are this:

1) I cringe at seeing all that wasted cardboard going into the garbage? Do you not have curbside recycling?

2) You say that you time your deliveries around the trucks. I have yet to go to a bank where SOMEBODY (whether it be the teller, head teller, teller supervisor, etc.) in the branch has to crack open the rolls and bag them so that they can be delivered to the Fed. The Fed does not accept rolled coin. I imagine with that kind of deposit your making, it would take someone at the branch level a couple hours at the very least to crack all those open. But your post makes it seem like you deliver them to the bank and they just ship them off in the same fashion, which I find difficult to believe.

Again, thanks for your lengthy write-up and congrats on your success so far with the program.