Author: admin

Unloading Prepaid Card – Walmart MoneyCard by Green Dot

Posted on November 20, 2014November 21, 2014 by admin

I had my Walmart MoneyCard Preferred shut down by Green Dot because they don’t like the way I used it. I can’t reload or pay bills anymore. All I can do is spend the remaining balance. Just before the shut-down, I set up bill pays that could unload almost all the balance. However, they were canceled. So, I need to unload over $2500 by purchasing.

Unloading Visa or MasterCard prepaid cards is easy. Since they have the feature of debit card, you can use at ATM and get cash back at register. But the fastest way to unload is reload BlueBird or Serve with them.

You can reload up to $1000 per day and choose any amount (minimum $20.) I went to Walmart twice and made two reloads to finish the Walmart MoneyCard. There is a transfer to Chime card between two reloads. At that time, I found a lot of new Chime offers. I reload Chime card so I can redeem new offers. Chime doesn’t charge a reload fee. As long as I know, the debit card that Chime charges a reload fee is PayPal Business Debit card. I have tested all other debit cards I have (Mango, PayPal Prepaid, Walmart MoneyCard, and Chase,) and none of them are charged a reload fee. (see details here.)

Anyway, my Walmart MoneyCard is completely dead now. It has no money in it, and it can’t be added any money, either. The last transaction (reloading my Serve card at Walmart) is like a funeral for Walmart MoneyCard. So, I chose Walmart for its funeral as a courtesy.

Lots of New Chime Offers! Amazon/Sears/Lowe’s/CVS

Posted on November 18, 2014November 18, 2014 by admin

My Chime app on my cell phone had frozen after I received a notification. I opened the app, but the screen was all blank. So I logged in from PC to see what was new. Then I found a lot of new offers. (Click here to see details of Chime card)

The offers of Amazon, Sears, Lowe’s, and CVS are redeemed by purchasing gift cards. And Amazon’s offer has no minimum purchase requirements. No matter how much you spend, you will receive Chime credit up to $5. If you spend $3 today and $10 tomorrow, you will get back $3 today and $2 tomorrow. But I think this offer is too good to be available for a long time. So, it is better to redeem now by purchasing “Amazon.com Gift Cards – E-mail Delivery.” You can choose an amount between $0.50 and $2000 in any increments. Just buy $5 e-gift card now otherwise the offer may be gone tomorrow.

As for Chime app on my cell phone, it works fine after I cleared data and re-entered email address and password. I guess that there are too many new offers for the app to handle.

I may be going to buy Amazon GCs at Sears, Lowe’s and CVS, too. Currently, there are 4th quarter of Chase Freedom, Citi divinded, and Discover credit cards (5% cash back.) Plus, Discover offers another 5% cash back in October and November. I’m very busy to buy a lot of GCs now!

Green Dot Shut Down my Walmart Money Card Preferred

Posted on November 15, 2014November 20, 2014 by admin

I have Walmart MoneyCard Preferred for several months, but recently it has been shut down. It happened all of a sudden.

I received the following email one morning.

Important Update About Your Walmart MoneyCard

Dear
We have temporarily turned off your card and have an important update regarding your card.

What you need to do:
Call us immediately at the number on the back of your card
Have your card number ready
Choose Option 3 (For Support)
We look forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,
Walmart MoneyCard Customer Service

The day before, I set up three bill-pays for my credit cards. And I had reloaded $2400 in the previous week. I though they didn’t like the way of using the card and would give me a warning over the phone. However, it wasn’t a warning, but a shut-down.

I called the number on the back of the card and followed the instructions of automated voices. I reached another automated voice message and knew that they closed my card. I can use the remaining balance by purchasing, but can’t reload anymore. I can’t pay bills, either. The pending bill pays I set up the day before was canceled.

walmart moneycard shut down

Although the email says, “We look forward to speaking with you,” I never spoke with human from the beginning to the end. The message also said, “You are no longer able to open a new card with us.” I don’t know if “a new card” means only Walmart MoneyCard or includes all Green Dot prepaid cards, such as GoBank. GoBank is the same type of prepaid card (Visa or MasterCard prepaid debit card which is reloadable with gift cards at Walmart for free.) I plan to apply for it, but not so soon.

I learned a lesson. As a rumor says, Green Dot are very happy to shut down their customer’s accounts without giving a single warning. If I get approved GoBank card, I will use the card mainly for a regular purchase. Since it is also a debit card, I can unload more and faster by getting cash back at registers. You can get cash back at self-cashier, too. For example, the maximum amount for cash back at self-cashiers of:

Pathmark – $50
Stop and Shop – $80
CVS – $40
Walmart – $100

By using self-cashiers, you don’t feel awkward when you ask a large amount of cash back with a small purchase.

And I won’t reload more than $1000 per week. I reloaded $2400 to my Walmart MoneyCard in the same week and used almost all of it by paying bills the following week. I guess this series of transactions had pulled the trigger of shut-down. Was the trigger pulled by a human? Or there may be the system that is fully automated (from pulling the trigger, shutting down the card, sending email, setting up answering machine.)

For those who have or plan to have Green Dot prepaid cards for manufactured spending, be careful how to use it. Reload moderately. If it has bill pay feature, use it moderately. You can unload the cards mainly by purchases with cash back at registers.

Staples Stores Sell eBay Gift Cards

Posted on November 13, 2014November 14, 2014 by admin

I saw this news yesterday. To see eBay Gift Cards with my own eyes, I went to Staples today. I was worried that the store I went hadn’t been in stock yet or the GCs had sold out within two days. But, I found a bunch of them. They were placed in a gift card rack with other gift cards. There was nothing to notify the return of eBay GCs. The GCs sit quietly on one portion of the rack as if they had been there for a long time.

The denomination of GCs is only $50. That was all I found at Staples, and I don’t know if there are others. I picked up two of them with other gift cards (two $50 Shell GCs) to make the total more than $200 (for Visa SavingEdge) and checked out with Chase Ink Cash credit card.

In this way, I can get any gift cards at Staples with 6% discount (5% cash back from credit card + 1% back from Visa SavingEdge.)

Is this coincidence? eBay offers “3X eBay Bucks” promotion yesterday and today. It is usually 2% back. So, 3X is 6% back. Normally, eBay Bucks promotion has minimum purchase requirements, such as $200 or more. And the requirements are prices of a single item, not the total. Due to this, I sometimes can’t get deals because I can’t find items that meet requirements. But this time, there is no minimum. So, I can get this deal with only two $50 GCs I just purchased today.

I bought “$100 Sears Gift Card – Email Delivery.” I earned 3x (=$6) eBay Bucks with this purchase. Combined with credit card reward and Visa SavingEdge, I got 12% discount!

Now that eBay GCs are available in stores, I will be able to save a lot of money. I purchase a lot on eBay, mostly gift cards. I buy a lot of discounted gift cards on eBay to save money, but now ever more!!!

MasterCard Gift Card & Target REDcard & Target Gift Card

Posted on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by admin

The order I placed yesterday has been shipped. I bought MasterCard Gift Cards online, but Target didn’t charge a purchase fee and applied 5% REDcard discount.

I checked the site today. It seems that “No fee” deals has ended, but 5% REDcard discount is still available.

A purchase fee of a $100 MasterCard GC is $6, and REDcard discount is $5.30. So, it’s not a good deal unless if you can use other payment methods and still get 5% REDcard discount.

First, I changed the payment method into the other credit card. When I did, the page was automatically refreshed, and REDcard discount disappeared.

Next, I chose REDcard again to let it reappear 5% discount, and then clicked Target Gift Card. I entered numbers and clicked “save & continue.” 5% REDcard discount was still there. I got Target GCs with around 7% discount. So, if the order goes through, I will get $100 MasterCard GC for around $93!

From my experiences, I’m pretty sure that I would be able to place an order and receive a confirmation email. The point is, after that, whether or not Target would cancel the order.

I got canceled some orders of Visa GCs before. (I tried to buy Visa GCs with Target GCs.) I received a confirmation email and then a cancellation email minutes later. But this time, I guess the order will go through. That’s because REDcard discount doesn’t appear when Visa GCs is in the cart. That means MasterCard GCs are treated as a regular merchandise (at least for now.)

However, I decided not to order. If I didn’t order twelve GCs yesterday, I would be excited to perform this experiment. I don’t want any potential problem while twelve GCs are on the way.

I will perform the experiment some other time.

eBay Gift Cards are back! Check your Local Stores

Posted on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by admin

Since eBay removed their own gift cards from racks of retail stores last years, the GCs are available on eBay only. Discounted eBay GCs were rarely found on GC exchange sites or private listing on eBay. They are just so rare with so little discount that you shouldn’t waste your time to look for them.

Now, eBay has officially announced GCs are available in some retail stores. Here is the list of stores you may find the GCs.

AHOLD
HANNAFORD
HY-VEE
KROGER
KROGER C
LOWES
PRICE CHOPPER
RALEYS
ROUNDYS
SAFEWAY
SHOPKO
STAPLES
STATER BROS
WAKEFERN
WAWA
WEGMANS
WEIS MARKET
WINN DIXIE
BASHAS
BIMART
BOOKS-A-MILLION
CIRCLE K
CUMBERLAND FARMS
HASTINGS
HEB
IGW
JACKSON FOOD STORES
KINNEY DRUG
KVAT / FOOD CITY
MURPHY
NTR SUPERAMERICA
SAVE MART
TA PETRO
THE PANTRY
THORTONS
TIMES SUPERMARKETS
TOWN PUMP
TWEC

I haven’t checked at stores for myself. I will stop by Staples tomorrow. If they have, I will buy at least $200 of the GCs with Chase Ink Cash credit card. Ink Cash offers 5% cash back on purchases at office supply stores. And, Visa SavingEdge offers 1% back in statement credit on total $200 or more purchases at Staples. So I can get 6% discounted eBay GCs.

Staples has already had a great selection of GCs. They sell amazon GCs. Amazon and eBay have a lot in common, but discounted GCs are found only on eBay. Amazon sells other store’s GCs, too. However, those GCs don’t have discounts, and you can’t use amazon GCs to buy other store’s GCs, anyway.

eBay has their reward program called “eBay Bucks.” It is normally 2% back in eBay certificate. You can earn eBay Bucks on the purchase of GCs, too.

There are many sellers listing GCs on eBay. Most of them are honest, but some of them are trying to trick you. You’d better avoid sellers that have the low number of feedback (especially zero) and a listing of high value of GC. In case you have some sort of troubles, you should keep a package in which GCs are sent as well as a packing slip until you redeem GCs completely. And you also need to keep a record of spending and use it up as soon as possible.

Of course, you can buy regular stuffs with eBay GCs. This holiday season, you may find something with great discount. One extra step to go buying eBay GCs in retail stores will save you extra money.

$100 Target MasterCard Gift Card for $95

Posted on November 11, 2014November 11, 2014 by admin

The Visa gift cards have arrived today. I checked the balance, and they have the correct amount on each card. I ordered the GCs on November 5th. I paid $150 for $100 and $50 Visa GCs. They didn’t charge a purchase fee on that date. That was a perfect opportunity of manufactured spending, but they started charging a fee next day and keep doing so since then.

However, I found another new gift card today. It is MasterCard. They have the denomination of $25, $50, and $100.

The listing page still shows that $100 MasterCard GC costs $100.

When I added it to a shopping cart, there was another surprise. 5% of REDcard discount was applied on this order!!!

I don’t care if this is an error. I don’t want to miss this opportunity, but I don’t know about Target MasterCard GCs. Can I load my AmEx Serve with them at Family Dollar? Do they have PIN, anyway? And probably, Target limits on a number of cards you can purchase. So, I purchased moderately.

$100 MasterCard GC x10 + $25 x1 +$50 x1

The total of value of GCs is $1075. There is no fee. REDcard discount is $53.75. I spent only $1021.25!

I don’t know if this deal (or maybe an error) will last. You’d better check out today.

FRN New MasterCard Offers Best Buy, Toys R Us, JCPenney, etc

Posted on November 8, 2014November 8, 2014 by admin

FRN (Fuel Rewards Network) have started (2) new MasterCard offers.

If you don’t know FRN, please read “Ultimate Strategy of Fuel Rewards Network” and join. You will get a signup bonus (20¢/gal) and another 20¢/gal when you link your MasterCard.

MasterCard Winter Shopping – Earn 20¢/gal for every $100 you spend at Toys “R” Us, JCPenney and Olive Garden
MasterCard Electronics offer – Earn 5¢/gal for every $100 you spend on qualified electronics purchases (Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc.)

Both offers are eligible for purchases online and in store. You should use MasterCard credit or debit card that is linked to your FRN account. You don’t have to spend $100 or more at single transaction. An amount you spend accumulates. When a total spent exceeds $100, you will receive a reward. Eligible purchases should be made between November 3rd, 2014 and March 1, 2015.

MasterCard Electronics offer is easy to get. Go to Best Buy store and find Visa gift cards. They are variable GCs, $20-$200 and charge $5.95 purchase fee. However, Best Buy’s loyalty reward program (My Best Buy) give you back 2% in store credit. (see details here) As combined with credit card reward, a purchase fee is completely covered. Visa GCs can be used for BlueBird/Serve reloads at Walmart. So, you can earn 10¢/gal on each Visa GC purchase. The only drawback is you can’t use the store credit for a purchase of GCs. You will need to use it for some merchandise in the end.

There may be better ways from other stores. MasterCard Electronics offer is not limited on Best Buy purchases. Log in your FRN account and check all participating stores in your area.

Conversely, MasterCard Winter Shopping is limited on three stores, Toys R Us, JCPenney and Olive Garden. At this moment, I can’t come up with any strategic ways to earn rewards. But, 20¢/gal is very appealing. And I need it because AmEx GC offer has just disappeared from FRN Online Mall again.

When I browse info about the stores to find a way to earn a reward, I saw some interesting blog posts and forums about Toys R Us gift cards. They said, “You can buy other store’s gift cards, such as amazon GCs, with Toys R Us GCs in stores.” I don’t know what other gift cards they have. And the problem is that blog posts and forums are years old. I don’t know if this strategy works now.

I will need to find that out for myself. At first, I’m going to buy a $100 Toys R Us GC online. I’m pretty sure that it is eligible for FRN reward. During the previous MasterCard offer (Home Improvement Stores), I bought many gift cards at harborfreight.com, and the rewards were posted (cash back from ShopDiscover as well.) However, I’m not sure about cash back from shopping portal, though. Upromise offers 5% cash back which is the best right now. The blog post says he or she got cash back although its terms stated that a purchase of GCs was not eligible. But again, the post is years old. I will need to do it myself, anyway.

Visa Holiday Gift Card available online now at Target

Posted on November 7, 2014November 7, 2014 by admin

I have been checking the site since I spotted new Visa gift cards at Target.com. Until last night, there had been the listings with no details. And they were out of stock. And last night, it appeared to be available. To know if it was in stock, I simply clicked an add-to-cart button. The card was added in the shopping cart. It means that Visa Holiday GCs have started being for sale. I went back to the page and checked the details of the card with hope that there were some promotions. But, still nothing (no description at all.)

I went back to the shopping cart to remove the GC, but I found something very strange in the cart.

subtotal: $100
estimated shipping: Free
tax: not yet calculated
your total: $100

Where is a $6 purchase fee? Will I get Visa GCs with $0 purchase fee? Is this a part of the promotion or just an error?

I proceeded to checkout. The final page (one click away from completing an order) showed the same. The total was $100. I added another one ($50 Holiday GC) and completed an order.

It could be just an error. I thought Target would cancel the order. However, I received an email of the shipping confirmation. The cards are on the way!

And I check the site tonight. Target charges a purchase fee now. I don’t know whether it was a mistake or promotion, but I don’t care. I do care that I should have bought more GCs last night.

GCs from Target can’t be use for Walmart swipe reload (to BlueBird/Serve). But Family Dollar accepts these GCs.

eBay Deals 6% off eBay Gift Code

Posted on November 4, 2014November 4, 2014 by admin

Last week, it was 15% off Sears gift cards (it ended.) Starting today, eBay offers 6% off eBay gift code. The deal is only for the denomination of $100 gift code. There are no terms and conditions in the listing. But when I entered more than 2 in the box of quantity, the message showed up. “Purchases are limited to 1 per buyer.”

I’d better not use another eBay account to buy more GCs. That may probably be against their policy, and they would cancel all orders just like it happened to me two weeks ago.

So, I purchased one code with one of my eBay account. The delivery was fast. Within 15 minutes, I received an email with the gift code in my PayPal registered email address.

You can buy eBay GCs with eBay GCs. If you want a physical card, you can buy it later.

Hurry! I guess the deal won’t last so long. The rate of discount is a far less than Sears GCs, but eBay GCs are much more versatile and valuable. As you can see, it says, “Almost Gone.”

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