Last day of Q4 on Discover, I made a purchase on Amazon, but

[SunriseEarth]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@core wrote:

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@olehammer wrote:

I echo the GC recommendation.  

If I had the guts I'd buy a $1000 one but I don't want to carry that balance on my card

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Don't do it, guys.  It will very likely not go well for you because it's too late today IMO.

FlagDownRR-  This has nothing to do with multiple sclerosis or anything similar.  It's a retail store and you cannot cash it out.  I'm spending that money at Amazon.  Just not today.

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MS doesn't mean what you think it does on these forums.

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On most CC forums, MS refers to "manufactured spend" or "manufactured spending".   This refers to the purchase of cash equivalents that are subsequently used to pay the new CC balance either directly or indirectly.   The practice is often used to meet a spending bonus or to collect other rewards.   While discussion of MS is not specifically against our Forum TOS, advocation of MS is not only ethically questionable but also does not align with the purposes of our Forums.  

GC purchase in and of itself is not MS, so I see no TOS issues at time with the discussion in this thread.   if you have any concerns, please feel free to use the "Report Inappropriate Content" feature to get Moderator review of a post/topic.  

[Anonymous]

Thanks Sun.  IMO gift card purchases are not MS or really even close to it.  Discover has stated they will give a cardmember 5% cash back on purchases on Amazon up to 1500.  1500 dollars worth of PS4 games, 1500 dollars worth of shampoo, that is irrelevant.  A gift card purchase is a purchase at Amazon.  The date when that purchase gets "used" is irrelevant.  You are not violating anything Discover has stated.  Next quarter is buying a 100 dollar gas card for future use ok?  No?  What if I filled up 100 dollars worth of gas in 5 gallon cas cans and used that?  That's ok, but the gift card isn't?  Makes no sense to me. 

If someone has an ethical problem with that type of behavior then that is fine, we all view what is ethical/unethical differently.  If you think for one second that credit card companies even remotely think about the ethics of taking advantage of consumers with high fees, high interest rates, or hidden language that may decieve then that is hilarious.  This isn't to say two wrongs make a right, but personally I don't view gift card purchases as wrong.  It is a purchase made at Amazon during a time when Amazon purchases recieve bonuses.  If Discover only wants you to make Amazon purchases of PS4 games to reward then they will add that language or take steps to make sure users are only buying PS4 games.  

This is why they have caps anyways.  And a whole lot of people are going to get in trouble and owe them money from trying to have big reward numbers which get wiped out and then some the moment interest is paid.  Bonuses are quick to get nerfed and wiped out when they are actually costing companies money.  When they continue to offer them you can be sure they are coming up on the good side.   

[CreditDunce]

A couple of days ago I bought a $750 GC from Amex using my Freedom.   I didn't completely max out my Discover bonus this quarter, but close enough.

A few quarters ago, I bought a daily deal from Home Depot the day before the end of the quarter.  I was hoping the post date would be for the next quarter when Home Depot would be a 5% category.   The first item shipped and posted that day.    I only got the 1% CB (plus the Discover deals 5%) for the item.  The second item was back order for a couple of days.  It showed as a separate transaction.  I got both 5% category bonus and the Discover deals 5% for the second item.

Most of the time, Amazon gift cards get sent in minutes of your order.  Note, the $750 GC I ordered a few days ago took about 12 hours before they emailed it.  I think the OP would have been fine to buy a GC this morning.  I am not so sure about this afternoon though.

[Anonymous]

To answer the OP's initial question, since the pending transaction is already listed, I'd guess that you get the correct date and the 5%. However, this is just a guess.

To go with the secondary topic of gift cards: great solution or unethical minefield, the cards are increasingly including language that states that gift cards are not eligible for anything over the base rate. How they determine this is another issue that is yet to be resolved. To be on the safe side, I wouldn't go crazy with the gift card purchases. If you're going to do the Chase/Discover method, I'd probably space it out as a $500 purchase every month or something (maybe $100 per week, then cover the excess as the quarter ends), so it doesn't look like you're trying to fleece them for the 5% category and purchase something else with it so that you don't run into the potential gift card coding issues.

[JSS3]

You saved me. I made a 1500 purchase on Amazon trying to get the 10%. I also made sure to go through a portal that was temporarily giving 8.5% on fitness equipment at Amazon. I did this on my phone but noticed afterwards it didn't track. My suspicions were confirmed because I didn't receive the usual followup email saying it was. I was going to return the order and then reorder tomorrow making sure to do it on my computer. Guess that plan went out the window and I'll be out 120 bucks. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Considering Discover says Amazon.com gift cards are included explicitly in the program details I can't honestly see how someone thinks that is manufactured spend.  It is making a purchase that Discover says in the program details is included in the promo.  I guess if it is "manufactured spend" then it is manufactured spend that Discover says is completely cool and ok.  

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Considering Discover says Amazon.com gift cards are included explicitly in the program details I can't honestly see how someone thinks that is manufactured spend.  It is making a purchase that Discover says in the program details is included in the promo.  I guess if it is "manufactured spend" then it is manufactured spend that Discover says is completely cool and ok.  

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+1

Some folks mean well, but are misguided. 

They overlook the "manufactured" part of 'manufactured spending'.  By definition, "manufactured spending" is spending that really isn't - however, when you purchase an Amazon gift card, there is absolutely no way to turn that back into cash; you are forced to purchase 'stuff' on Amazon. 

You can't even pay your annual Prime fee with a GC (that would be sweet), and you can't purchase any other type of GC with your Amazon gift card - annoyingly, you can't even get another Amazon GC to gift to somebody else - they have it sewn up tight.  The only thing you can do with an Amazon GC is purchase 'stuff' on Amazon.

Thankfully Discover makes their policy clear that they are fine with gift card purchases, so even the most cautious folks can relax. 

[Imperfectfuture]

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@Anonymous wrote:

To answer the OP's initial question, since the pending transaction is already listed, I'd guess that you get the correct date and the 5%. However, this is just a guess.

To go with the secondary topic of gift cards: great solution or unethical minefield, the cards are increasingly including language that states that gift cards are not eligible for anything over the base rate. How they determine this is another issue that is yet to be resolved. To be on the safe side, I wouldn't go crazy with the gift card purchases. If you're going to do the Chase/Discover method, I'd probably space it out as a $500 purchase every month or something (maybe $100 per week, then cover the excess as the quarter ends), so it doesn't look like you're trying to fleece them for the 5% category and purchase something else with it so that you don't run into the potential gift card coding issues.

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This what I did.  Once the 10% hit on freedom, paid discover off.  Purchased mucho regular on freedom, then added 200 GC after statement cut.  It already posted, and I received the 10% back (20).  I keep my spend in check, so I do not go over what I can afford.  The 200 + 50 purchased with BCP covers purchases on subscribe and save for two months.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  And, there is no cash equivalence in this scenario, hence no MS.  Easy 24 bucks.  Small time, but I do not really ms, so it is just regular spend.

[ZB182]

I've had this happen to me a few times in the past. Their customer service has been great to me in this area. Just send them a message indicating when you made the transaction and you may have to submit an email verifying the purchase date, and they've always credited me with the bonus cash back on the next statement.