Tagging Miles

  • Saverocity
  • Home
  • About
  • Ask Tagging Miles
  • Support Us
  • Store
    • Reselling Tools
  • Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide to Fulfillment By Amazon
      • Start Here
      • Setting up an account
      • Analyzing and adding a product
      • Shipping 101
      • Shipping 201
      • Ungating Product Categories
      • Amazon Seller App
      • Amazon Seller App Part 2
    • Expert’s Guide to Fulfillment By Amazon
      • Dealing with Returns
  • Mile High Reselling Club

Considering Pure MS vs. Resale

July 27, 2014 By Trevor 8 Comments





Pure MS vs Resale

I’ve seen a few twitter conversations this week about pure Manufactured Spending (MS) vs. Reselling and MS in general, as far as time/value of MS. One was with @Milesabound who’s argument was that reselling just doesn’t compete with MS, unless reselling on a significant scale. My argument was that in some cases, it can make sense.

In retrospect, I kind’ve agree with @Milesabound with respect to the ease of being able to scale MS. However, I stand by my opinion of reselling, for two reasons:

  1. Reselling affords the opportunity to leverage portal bonuses to a greater extent
  2. Reselling provides the opportunity to receive cold hard cash, in addition to cash back.

The argument

While I will completely agree: If the sole purpose of the miles and points game is to generate miles/points specifically for travel, then yes, you will likely best off with pure MS.

If however, you are looking to put the time in to potentially receive an out-sized reward, then I would argue for reselling.

Think about it this way: I’m not a stock broker or a stock trader, but, pure MS is like buying an index fund. Greater stability (at least in theory). Reselling is like stock picking. You shouldn’t dare go for stock picking, or reselling, if you are unwilling to put in the time. But, lets say, you just want to pure MS, you’re looking at a maximum of 5% return (5x), really its less, because as you scale, your ability to liquidate becomes more costly. I’m specifically vague here, because I assume that either you, the reader, know what I’m talking about, or will visit Saverocity Forums to research, because quite honestly, if you aren’t willing to research, you probably shouldn’t be MSing, let alone reselling.

Back to Reselling

Just like stock picking, reselling has inherent risk. If you leverage portals, you can mitigate that risk, and potentially see a significantly higher multiplier than pure MS. Look at how I pursued the Southwest Companion Pass, with updates here, and here. I went through the Southwest Rapid Rewards Portal, I bought e-gift cards with 9x, then went back through the Rapid Rewards portal, and bought product, receiving essentially 19x (9*2+1 for the card) Rapid Reward points. The best I see through pure MS is 5x.

Conclusion

I think its great to have a debate and difference of opinion. There isn’t necessarily a right answer. Yes, one way may generate a higher multiplier than another way, but if you can’t leverage that higher multiplier efficiently, it is outweighed by the increased time commitment.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: Editorial, Manufactured Spending, Reselling, Tagging Miles Tagged With: Manufactured Spending, Resale, Shopping Portals, Southwest

Comments

  1. flyingpig says

    July 27, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    If you can only find a 5% margin for resale, I don’t think you are looking hard enough…

    5% taking a real risk if you don’t move enough product for returns to average out as a small percentage…

    Reply
    • Trevor says

      July 27, 2014 at 1:34 pm

      Flyingpig – thanks for your comment. I may not have been clear enough. I was comparing 5x as that’s the highest credit card spend category I am aware of, vs. reselling, where you can do portals of significant numbers. I tried to leave the discussion of margins vague, because they vary, and require significant research. I can tell you, I am finding that I can get 20%+ margins.

      Reply
  2. Dan D. says

    July 27, 2014 at 7:24 pm

    The miles/points game is similiar to the stock market; it pays to diversify and not have all your eggs in one basket. I find that doing both (reselling and pure MS) actually compliment each other in that the $$ made from reselling offsets the fees I can incur doing MS, as well as pay for the extras during our vacations that miles/points dont cover.

    I agree with your point regarding the portal bonuses too: I’m only about 10,000 points shy of the southwest companion pass simply by using their portal for buying reselling deals from Sears/Kohls etc in the past 30 days. And, thats not counting the miles earned via the CC used to pay.

    Reply
    • Trevor says

      July 27, 2014 at 7:34 pm

      Dan,

      You make great points. Diversification is really the key. As far as your pursuit of the Companion Pass – I hope you make it soon! Within about a day of the points hitting, I was able to change some reservations and save a few hundred dollars!

      Reply
  3. Paul says

    July 27, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    I don’t bother with reselling. Just too much time needed with too many potential pitfalls
    I stick with straight MS. Predictable results and scalable.

    Reply
    • Trevor says

      July 27, 2014 at 10:11 pm

      I think it really comes down to how much time folks want to contribute to it. I’m married with no kids, and my gracious wife supports the hobby, so, sometimes reselling makes a ton of sense. That said, we do MS as well.

      Reply
  4. militaryfinance says

    July 28, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    It also depends on your geography. GCs are a problem where I live. My WM won’t load Bluebird at the register, won’t sell money orders w/ more than one debit card, and Kate is constantly down. My local Family Dollar can’t load Serve. However, my local Staples and Best Buy are extremely generous w/ coupons and coupon matching. I do the basic MSing w/ Amazon Payments, Serve online, and Evolve,and am lucky to have a Rite Aid nearby that will sell Paypal Mycash, but I’m more limited in that arena. However, I’ve been killing it w/ reselling.

    Reply
    • Trevor says

      July 29, 2014 at 3:52 pm

      You’re completely right – geography makes a huge difference. Glad to hear you’re doing very well w/ reselling!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay in touch!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Topics

  • #Avgeek
  • Airline Programs
  • Ask TaggingMiles
  • Awards
  • Cashback Portals
  • Credit Card Match-ups
  • Credit Cards
  • Destinations
  • Dollars and Sense
  • Editorial
  • Events
  • Frequent Flyer 101
  • Giving Credit to Credit
  • Hotels
  • Manufactured Spending
  • Mileage Run
  • Miles and Points
  • Podcasts
  • Portal Update
  • Random
  • Rental Cars
  • Reselling
  • Saturday
  • Savings & Loan
  • Tagging Miles
  • The Brass Ring
  • Travel
  • Travel Insurance
  • Travel Programs
  • Uncategorized
  • Weekly News Roundup
  • Where Credit is Due

Recent Comments

  • double btc.com on Get Ebates Cashback In-Store
  • john nicholas on Tagging Miles Portal Updates – 10 December 2020
  • daftarnova88.info on Why I’m not a fan of the Amazon Seller App enhancements
  • ion club on Why I’m not a fan of the Amazon Seller App enhancements
  • Rachel on Introducing Tagging Miles Portal Updates!
Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline, or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. The owners of this website may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links and advertisements posted on this website. For more information, please see our Legal Notice.

Copyright © 2021 · Tagging Miles

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This website uses cookies to personalize content and ads and to analyze traffic. Our ad partners may combine this information with other information you have provided them or that they've collected from your use of their services elsewhere. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use this website.OkNoRead more