Buying gift cards with credit card

[Anonymous]

I have a opensky CC and capital one CC. Both are secured cards btw. I was wondering if I buy a gift card from Walmart will it show up as purchase from Walmart or will it be a cash advance? I planned on buying one $25 gift card a month and paying down to $1 before statement date and let that report every month. Only got the two credit cards to build my credit up.

[Anonymous]

Gift cards normally show as purchases.  But check your card's terms and conditions just to make sure.

[Anonymous]

Okay will do. Thanks my friend.

[Anonymous]

Why not buy something you are buying anyway?  Buy a tank of gas, a day's worth of groceries, cell phone bill, etc.  The reason I ask is that there is usually a fee on the gift card, iirc.  No need to eat that fee every month.

[simplynoir]

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@Anonymouswrote:

Why not buy something you are buying anyway?  Buy a tank of gas, a day's worth of groceries, cell phone bill, etc.  The reason I ask is that there is usually a fee on the gift card, iirc.  No need to eat that fee every month.

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That depends on type and amount on the gift card. The bigger denominations usually impose a small fee especially if you're going to buy a MC/V/AMEX card for purchase and not a store/restaurant card.

[longtimelurker]

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@simplynoirwrote:

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@Anonymouswrote:

Why not buy something you are buying anyway?  Buy a tank of gas, a day's worth of groceries, cell phone bill, etc.  The reason I ask is that there is usually a fee on the gift card, iirc.  No need to eat that fee every month.

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That depends on type and amount on the gift card. The bigger denominations usually impose a small fee especially if you're going to buy a MC/V/AMEX card for purchase and not a store/restaurant card.

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+1, except for "small" for the fee.   "Fixed" Amex/V/MC (i.e. not those that allow $20-500) have a fee of about 5% or more.   But most store cards are free.   

It would certainly be simpler to just buy the stuff at Walmart, but the OP might be stockpiling Walmart GC for a big purchase (but still wants to show regular spend) or can't find stuff to buy at Walmart but can do so at other stores that Walmart sells giftcards for.

[coldfusion]

Tread carefully with making regular, recurring gift card purchases with a CC, $25 @ 1/month can be explained away but you don't want to escalate to the point where you arouse serious suspicion of ongoing activity that leads to cards being shut down (and whose discussion is frowned upon by this forum).

[HeavenOhio]

@Anonymous, if your intention is to cut a non-zero statement balance, be careful about leaving only a dollar. I don't know each bank's exact threshold offhand, but a dollar is low enough that most companies will waive billing and report zero to the bureaus. $5 should be a safe amount on all cards except for Bank of America's Better Balance Rewards card.

Somewhere in this forum, there's a thread started by BrutalBodyShots that lists some specific small balance waiver thresholds for specific cards.

If you're looking for a scoring advantage and want to go all the way, let one card report the small balance you're intending and let the other report zero.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies. The main reason for gift card is the save the money and improve my credit score at the same time instead of spending it. When I started the thread this morning it all added up what I was trying to do. Now thinking about it, I’m like what the world I’m was trying to accomplish here lol. I can do the same exact thing without buying the gift cards lol. Sorry for wasting space and time with my crazy idea that seemed so brilliant at the time of typing it.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with thinking that way.

Bying gift cards is almost like a way to save.

If you do not need something now, you can buy a gc and still use your credit card 

to get swipes in, etc. Then use them when you do need to purchase something, 

or when you are either low in funds/cash etc.

One thing you dont want to do is say, purchase a whole bunch of them to build up etc.

I only say that because I did purchase some gc's to build a small supply (like a savings acct of some sort)

but then we had a diet change and no longer eat at some of those places/restaurants.

Luckily we have large extended families so they can be gifted away, in the true sense they are meant.

maybe this makes sense, maybe it doesnt.  hope it helps someone.