Credit Card

New Amex Offer $10 back on $200+ AmEx GC

$10 credit on $200 amex gcThere is new Amex Offer through July 30, 2014. You will get one-time $10 statement credit when you spend the total of $200 or more on American Express Gift Card. The offer is available online only, www.americanexpress.com/gift-cards.

I have two American Express cards for Amex Offer. One is Blue Cash Preferred, and the other is Serve. However, you can’t use Serve for the purchase of AmEx GCs. They don’t accept Prepaid Cards as a payment.

Please don’t forget to click a link of shopping portal. As of July 1st 2014, the best rate is BeFrugal’s 3% cash back. Once the rate was down to 2.5%, but it slightly went back up.

Switching Chase ink from MasterCard to Visa for Visa SavingsEdge

I applied for Chase business credit card called “ink Cash” in June 2013. The card has MasterCard logo on it. Almost at the same time, Chase changed the version of ink credit card from MasterCard to Visa. If you applied for ink credit card after July 2013, your card is probably Visa version.

The best benefit of ink credit cards is that you can earn 5% cash back or 5x reward points on the purchase at office supply stores, such as Staples, Office Depot, and Office Max. And Staples is one of merchants for another cash back program called Visa SavingsEdge. You can get 1% cash back on purchases of $200 or more at Staples, both in store and online.

visa savingsedge staples offer

When you buy $200 Visa or MasterCard gift card at Staples with a Visa-version ink credit card, you will get 1% cash back in addition to 5% cash back or 5x reward points from Chase Ultimate Reward. This offer is available through 12/31/2014. I couldn’t get this offer because my ink credit card is MasterCard version. To get this offer, I considered applying another ink credit card so I would get a Visa-version ink. However, in the last six months, I applied many credit cards and wanted to recover my credit score. So, I headed to a Chase bank and asked if they could change my ink card from MasterCard to Visa without affecting my credit score.

After a bank teller had spoken on the phone with a credit company for a few minutes, the teller told me I could and would receive a new card (Visa-version) by mail in 7 to 10 business days. Ten days later, I received a new one. Before I received the new card, Chase had transferred my account, balance, etc to the new card, so I couldn’t use my old ink (MasterCard-version) for several days. If you switch your card from MasterCard to Visa, you should go shopping before asking Chase.

ink credit card from mastercard to visa

Card numbers are changed, and expiration date is one year extended. A color of ink Cash credit card is sliver. MasterCard logo on ink card was red and orange, while Visa’s is shiny silver. Now my ink Cash credit card looks very plain and dull.

Amex Sync Offers June 2014

New Amex Sync Offers are available now. Don’t miss any of these great offers. Here are the offers I personally think it is useful.

  • Dunkin’ Donuts – Spend $5 or more, get $5 statement credit, thru 6/30/2014
  • Home Depot – Spend $75 or more , get $15 statement credit, thru 6/30/2014
  • BP – Spend $30 or more at the pump, get $5 statement credit, thru 6/30/2014
  • Exxon/Mobil – Spend $30 or more at the pump, get $5 statement credit, thru 7/31/2014

All of them are one-time deal. There are many other offers, but personally I’m not interested. I checked all offers and synced ones above yesterday. And  I used one of them today.

$15 credit on $75 or more at home depot

Gift cards come in handy when you get this kind of offer, especially when you don’t really want any merchandise at the store. I can use the exact minimum amount that needs to be qualified. In this transaction, I get two 20% off gift cards, which I will certainly use later.

amex offer confirmation email

Surprise! In less than 5 minutes, I received an email that I was able to make sure the offer had been successfully redeemed. This is something totally different than cash back from online portals, which may keep you worrying about it for a few days or even weeks.

I used “Serve” for the purchase. Serve is a great tool to meet credit card  minimum requirement, achieve sign-up bonus, earn cash back or mileage points etc. However, because of monthly limits of withdrawal, money in the account eventually adds up more and more if you don’t use the card for shopping. Amex offers let you spend money in the account effectively and wisely.

Earn $30 through PayPal Credit Card Promotion

earn 30 dollar with paypal credit card

I received an email about Father’s Day Promotion by PayPal Extras MasterCard. According to the email, you will get $10 statement credit for every eBay purchases of $50 or more made with PayPal Extras MasterCard between June 2nd and 15th in 2014, a maximum of $30 in statement credit. It doesn’t say anything about eligible or non-eligible items, so it seems any purchase on eBay will be qualified. Currently, I bid at many auctions of gift cards, but I’m not sure if I will win and spend $50 or more on eBay by June 15th. So, I bought one $50 eBay gift card for now, and maybe two more later if I don’t win any actions.

ebay gift card

Make sure to activate offer prior to purchases.

activate offer

This is an easy $30 statement credit earning!!!

King of Cash Back! “Discover it” Card Review

“Discover it” is a credit card which I earn cash back the most every month among all credit cards I have. I think that this is the best card for those who shop online a lot. Discover’s online mall, ShopDiscover has over 200 retailers. This number is much fewer than other online portals such as Chase Ultimate Rewards and Citi Shopping Center, but ShopDiscover covers most of major retailers. I can find almost all retailers I usually shop in ShopDiscover. Although it has fewer retailers, some retailers can find ONLY in ShopDiscover, like Moosejaw.com, Harborfreight.com. Shopping through ShopDiscover gives you at least 5% cash back. As compared ShopDiscover’s cash back bonus of my favorite retailers with other online portals, I found some of them are the same, but most of them are better.

It is my first credit card which offers the reward (cash back). When I just received the card, I was so happy about 5% cash back on rotating category and 1% on everything else. And it is a shame that I didn’t know about online portals and hadn’t used it for first 4 months although I made many online purchases. I have missed so much cash back during that time. So, for those who don’t know about online portals, here is a walk-through of ShopDiscover.

Please note that ShopDiscover became Discover Deals on January 8th, 2015. Click here to see details.

Login and click “See Retailers”

enter shopdiscover

Either type a name of retailer or choose in a drop-down list

search a retainer at shopdiscover

Click “Start Shopping” and complete a check-out

start shopping thru shopdiscover

 

Mostly in a few days, you will receive an email look like the below

shopdiscover confirmation emal

Sometimes, ShopDiscover page looks like this

shopdiscover additional bonus

The seasonal or occasional bonus offer. Not all but many retailers offer additional 5% cash back. Here is an example, Macy’s.com’s page.

mothers day bonus shopdiscover

You will see this type of bonus very often throughout a year! While 5% cash back on rotating category are capped $1500 on the purchase each quarter, cash back earned through ShopDiscover is NO LIMIT! The more you buy, the more you earn!

Please note that ShopDiscover became Discover Deals on January 8th, 2015. Click here to see details.

There is another point I like “Discover it” card the best. That is its great redemption options. Here is a list of options.

  • Statement Credit
  • Direct Deposit
  • Partner Gift Cards
  • Discover Gift Cards
  • Charitable Donation
  • Pay with Cashback Bonus

redeem cashback for partners gift cardsBasically, one reward dollar= one USD. However, when you redeem for partner gift cards, one reward dollar can be worth more than one USD or even doubles. Partner gift cards (over 150 retailers’) are ALL on sale. You can get $50 Macy’s gift card for $45 reward dollar (10% discount), $25 Lands End gift card for $20 (20% discount), most gift cards in travel and vacation category are more than 50% off!

pay with cashback bonusNever choose “Pay with Cashback Bonus”. This feature, which is also found in Ultimate Reward, lets you redeem your reward dollar directly at amazon.com. If you do so, you can’t get any cash back through the transaction at amazon. If you redeem for statement credit, or direct deposit and then make a purchase at amazon.com with Discover card, you will get 1% cash back. So, don’t use this feature unless you need it for some reasons.

Like Chase Freedom and Citi Dividend, “Discover it” offer 5% cash back on rotating category. Discover’s Q4 is very unique and useful. This offer is capped $1500 on purchases each quarter. If you want some ideas to get  a full cash back ($300 a year) from Rotating Category.

Overall, “Discover It” is the best cash back credit card for those who shop online. Any other online portals don’t offer as good rewards as ShopDiscover. And you can’t see so many gift cards with discount to redeem.  That is all about King of Cash Back “Discover it” and why I like it the best.

2X Points on eBay Shipping and Seller Fees with PayPal Extras MasterCard

earn 2x on ebay shippingTo maximize the reward of PayPal Extras MasterCard, let’s make all PayPal transactions charge on PayPal Extras MasterCard. Once you active the credit card, make sure that PayPal Extras MasterCard is your preferred way to pay with PayPal. When you buy something on eBay, it automatically charges on the card. It doesn’t matter you have enough money in your PayPal account, or you added other credit cards or bank accounts, it charges on the credit card as long as you choose this option.

However, PayPal Extras MasterCard can’t be used as an automatic or recurring payment, such as monthly membership fee of health club, subscribing a magazine, etc. Although you choose PayPal credit card is your preferred way to pay with PayPal, these payments withdraw from a regular PayPal account or bank account or charge on other credit card. If you want to earn 2x reward points on these payments, you need to cancel subscriptions and pay each month. (or year, every time, etc)

eBay shipping labels and selling fees are the type of payment that you can’t pay automatically. eBay shipping labels and selling fees are not cheap, I’m sure all sellers want to save money on these payments. Here is how to pay eBay shipping labels and fees with PayPal Extras MasterCard.

Step 1: Choose PayPal Extras MasterCard is your preferred way to pay with PayPal

Login > View card details > Update account preferences > Change (Check out preferences)

choose paypal mastercard as a preferred way 1

choose paypal mastercard as a preferred way 2

choose paypal mastercard as a preferred way 3

choose paypal mastercard as a preferred way

Probably, it’s been already done when you got approved or activated the card. Just make sure.

Step 2: Cancel Automatic Payment for eBay Shipping Labels and Selling Fees

Log in your PayPal account and click My Account > Profile > My Money

cancel ebay shipping 1

Click “Update” on the row of “My preapproved payments”

cancel ebay shipping 2

Find “eBay Inc” in a list and click

cancel recurring payment 1

Click “Cancel” and do the same for “eBay Inc Shipping” (Don’t worry about a discount on labels you are receiving from eBay. It will continue.)

cancel recurring payment 2

Step 3-1: Pay eBay selling fees

Go to your My eBay and click “Account” tab and Click “one-time payment” in a section of “Payment methods for Seller Fees” and complete the transaction.

pay selling fee by paypal mastercard

From now on, you have to do this every month. Don’t bother click “Change automatic payment method” and enter card# of PayPal Extras MasterCard. You can successfully set up an automatic payment in this way, but you will earn only 1x reward points because the transactions don’t go through PayPal.

Step 3-2: Print eBay Shipping labels

Go to the page of shipping labels, click “Purchase postage” With the box unchecked. Enter email address and password of your PayPal account and complete the transaction.

leave it unchecked

From now on, always leave the box unchecked. And you will need to enter the password every time you pay for shipping labels.

Paying all PayPal transactions by PayPal MasterCard will boost your earning of reward points. Remember that you can redeem the points for gift cards. The higher face value of gift cards you check out, the higher value of points. For example, $25 Sears gift card needs 3300 points (1pt=$0.00757), $200 needs 22500 (1pt=$0.00888). Enjoy your rewards!

How to Pay eBay Shipping labels with Credit Card

When I started selling on eBay, I didn’t have any reward credit cards. Back then, I was so eager to have one because I would get cash back on whatever I pay for. I was planning to pay everything including merchandises, grocery, gasoline, eBay fees and shipping labels. Finally, I got my first cash back credit card (Discover it) and start using it on merchandises and eBay fees. However, I had trouble to setting up for paying eBay shipping labels by credit card. Actually, the procedure is very simple and easy. If there were an instruction to follow, I could have avoided all hassles. So, here is how to pay eBay shipping labels by credit card. If you have eBay or PayPal Extra MasterCard, it is a different procedure (much easier, but I had a big hassle again because of ignorance. Click here to see how to earn 2x points on eBay shipping labels.)

Step 1:  Cancel an existing automatic payment for eBay shipping labels

Log in your PayPal account and click My Account > Profile > My Money

cancel ebay shipping 1

Click “Update” on the row of “My preapproved payments”

cancel ebay shipping 2

Find “eBay Inc Shipping” in a list and click

cancel ebay shipping 3

Click “Cancel”. Don’t worry about a discount on shipping labels you are receiving from eBay. It will continue.

cancel ebay shipping4

Step 2: Set up an automatic payment for shipping labels with another PayPal account

Go to eBay and try to print a shipping label. Check the box below “Purchase postage” then click “Purchase postage”. If you see the box checked, just click “Purchase postage” and it will show you an error message. Then, go back to the page and the box is now unchecked. Check the box again then click “Purchase postage”.

ebay shipping by credit card

Choose “Create a PayPal account”

create a paypal account

Enter the information of your credit card, name, address, phone#, email address (other than one used by an existing PayPal account.) and password. Check the box and click “Agree and Create Account”.

enter info in new paypal accountenter info in new paypal account 1

Now, the whole process is done. eBay Shipping Inc will automatically charge on your credit card. You should never receive money or add a bank account to a PayPal account you just created. If you add a bank account, eBay deducts shipping fees from the bank account. A balance of new PayPal account has to be always zero, otherwise it will deduct from a PayPal balance.

Please note that some credit cards have a limit on fee-free transaction. For example, Chase ink business credit card has a limit of 200 activities a month for free transaction fee. Over 200, it will charge 40 cents per transaction. You’d better avoid using these credit cards for paying shipping labels.

If you have eBay or PayPal Extras MasterCard, you can earn 2x points on shipping labels. But, because of a characteristic of the card, the procedure is different. Click to see “2X Points on eBay Shipping and Seller Fees with PayPal Extras MasterCard

Is PayPal Extras MasterCard Good or Bad?

If you ever read reviews of PayPal Extras MasterCard, you will see many negative ones. Most of them complain about its reward program. They are telling the truth. It has low value of reward point. But if you use it correctly, PayPal Extras MasterCard is not bad at all, or rather one of credit cards you must have.

You earn 3 points per dollar on restaurant and gas, 2 points per dollar on eBay and PayPal, 1 point on everything else. When you redeem points for $50 cash back, you will need 6000 points. This means 1 points = $0.0083 (0.83% cash back). This is cheap. However, PayPal Extras MasterCard is the only credit card you can earn extra bonus on eBay purchase. Today, you can’t find eBay gift cards in any department stores or supermarkets, so buying gift cards with a credit card offering bonus reward is no longer available. And, not only eBay, but also many merchants accept PayPal. Use this card on eBay and PayPal only, nowhere else and the cash back will be 1.66%. This beats 1.5% cash back of Quicksilver Cash Reward.

You can also redeem points for gift cards. The higher denomination of gift cards you choose, the higher the value of points will be. For example, $25 Sears gift card needs 3300 points (1pt=$0.00757), $200 needs 22500 (1pt=$0.00888). And there is always one featured $25 gift card that need only 2500 points to redeem (1pt=$0.01). So, using the card only for eBay and PayPal gives 1.66% to 2% back to you.

$25 ebay gift card for 2500pt

eBay has its own reward program, called eBay Bucks. It doesn’t matter that you pay by PayPal credit card. You can receive eBay Bucks in addition to the reward from credit card. If you are an eBay seller, this card is much more valuable. You will earn 2x reward point by paying your selling fee and shipping labels as well (read “2X Points on eBay Shipping and Seller Fees with PayPal Extras MasterCard“)

Please note that maximum points you can earn in a card year is 50,000. If you use the card for only Paypal purchases, $25,000 is eligible for the reward points each year.

In a nutshell, PayPal Extras MasterCard is the best credit card for those who use eBay and PayPal a lot. Use the card for all merchants who accept PayPal, NOWHERE ELSE. No gas, no restaurant, either because there is a limit on point you can earn in an year, and there are other credit cards offering equal or better reward program for them.

You don’t buy stuffs on eBay? After you read some posts about gift cards, you will. Gift cards are essential items for money saving, and eBay is one of the biggest markets of discounted gift cards!