Back in the day, and no longer relevant at all.. there was a gig where you could earn 5x URs via prepaids. It was Vanilla Reloads. The gig was super, you’d buy your cards, pay $3.95 for the privilege, and clear 5x$503.95 in Ultimate Rewards. Good times… or so I hear, as I never actually managed to get one.. I looked a few times, which involved walking up from my gym on 30th st to somewhere in the lower 40s.. only to be disappointed that they had sold out. Damn bloggers.
Is 5x the holy grail?
I don’t know, but I know people like it – 5x on VR at office supply stores, lovely jubbly! 5% Cash back at grocery on the Old Faithful? Sounds good to me. Everyone loves a good 5x..
But 5x, what?
Sure, we can differentiate 5% cashback from URs and say the latter are worth more based on some celestial chart of value. But let’s leave that nonsense to the mathematicians and focus on the concept (its easier for me as I need to use less Excel in such posts) 5x what?
The answer..
5x the transaction. This is a big deal. Think about it. You were able to pull off 5x for the transaction, but that’s just gross. Not ‘ewww’ gross, I’m talking Gross as in you need to deduct the costs of the transaction before you reach ‘Net’. To keep it simple, let’s talk cash not URs. If you earned $25 (ish, no excel today) and paid $4 (ish) you’d net $21. Just a swipe, and you get $21!!!
Uh Oh.. there’s a problem…
Unless you lived in the photocopying area of the local office supply store (I think some folk do in midtown) you’d have to walk from your $5M penthouse next door, which might take 8 minutes. Don’t have a $5M penthouse? Maybe you could walk up from your gym on 30th street instead? Say that takes 25 mins.
Then they are out of stock.
So you try again, and again, and on the third visit you hit the jackpot!!! They have them in stock. They sold you $2000. Boom, 10000 points, and some costs…
What costs?
Well, here you made 3 visits. Each visit cost you 25 minutes (checks excel) so that’s over an hour of time to ‘just swipe’. But lets remember you only did half the job here, the acquisition phase. You still need to liquidate. In the glory days this was simple, now, it might mean a trip to Walmart.
The trip to Walmart
Some folks have a Kate, whereas I have to use humans… there is one CSR who just doesn’t want to play ball. She messed up my plan mid week, and on Saturday I popped in and she was on the desk, I walked. How many visits before I can catch her off shift? Maybe next time..
Summation time..
That swipe in this example is 75 mins (plus the swipe) +75 mins to get back to my starting point to earn, and another, what, 20mins x3 to dispose? I’m suddenly in for 210 mins for 10000 pts. Plus I paid money…
5x what, Bro?
How is 10000 5x [3 1/2hrs of messing about, and paying another $16 in fees]? It can be if we pretend that none of the ‘stuff that happens’ happened… but even then, in a perfect loop it isn’t just 5x the swipe. Best case it is 5x the swipe plus maybe 45mins, minus fees.
The Wrap
5x is super, but we really need to think about what we are ‘Xing’ when we make decisions. At a certain point, doesn’t 5x (4x net in cash) become inferior to 2x? What if you value Chase related pts at 1.5 cents, and BOA related pts at 1 cent.. if you can close cycle the transaction with BOA faster using different methods, doesn’t 1 cent become the better deal? A key variable that is always dismissed in this game is the time and effort multiplier. 2x in your PJs might just beat 5x in your Sunday best.
Sounds weird to you? Well, think about it, if you want to earn 1M pts a month, but not give up your day job, you can’t walk 10 blocks because a blogger said you could earn 5x for it….
Great post! Sometimes instead of walking or driving to wherever (OfficeMax most recently) I will call them and get someone to check if they have the $500 VGCs or $200 or whatever I am looking for in stock. Saves me a lot of time.
Good idea!
For any store known to run short, I’d always call first.
You’re assuming there are other methods that take less effort.
No I’m not.
Never understood your fixation on time value. If you make more money by doing something else then do something else.
During the 1½ years I’ve been doing this hobby, I’ve stood before an empty GC rack like two or maybe three times. Of course I’ve run into the odd “sorry no GC load” issue a few times but this has become less of a problem recently since Target took itself out of the equation. Walmart seems to work a lot better in my area.
I’m among the group of folks who got nothing else to do in the afternoons and weekends – usually home @ 4pm – and it’s way better than watching stupid talk shows anyway. All told my cost is usually zero since I don’t use the car for my rounds. Spending some 30 minutes out in the fresh air on my bike ~4 times a week is a charm and I even get paid for it, quite nicely. Making a couple hundred bucks a months for a total effort of 10 hours… Well, let’s say it’s quite around the same hourly rate I make at work.
Maybe the part about ‘I’ve got nothing else to do’ is the answer to my fixation on time value? I’m of the camp that there is always more to do, and we often don’t recognize that, or give things the time they deserve.
This is exactly correct. I’m fortunate that both the source and liquidation site are on my way home, and that I know everyone at the counter, so walking out with 2 or sometimes (on a good day) 3 money orders is humanly possible…..great post!
“2x in your PJs”
How do you MS at 2X in your PJs???
By not blogging about it
How does one learn how to ms in one’s pj’s if you won’t share?
Not sure
Seems like a poor way to attract readership. Why have a blog?
I figured that I could blog about other things that may be of interest, without outing deals. There is a correlation between blogging about deals and killing them.
I certainly could attract more readership by ignoring that, but it doesn’t feel right.
Online load from your Fidelity AmEx to Serve.
That’ll work
I enjoy your blog and respect your time value. We are all in different phases. When I had 3 teenagers at home and a 50 hour a week job, I would’ve high-fived everything you said. But now, retired, I find it fun to do a “points run” or “money run.” DH and I make a day of it with lunch and giving Costco their requisite $100 whether we need anything or not. Different strokes for different folks. Your math is excellent for those who may not realize they are relinquishing the “Now” with their families for the future.
Yep, I do think more about my own situation, and like to shout at people in my age group or younger. If you’ve got it all covered, then it’s a totally different story.
So let me rephrase my question: as a new reader of your blog who is intrigued by your unique viewpoint, how would you (without outing any current deals) suggest I go about learning how to ms in my pj’s?
You’d have to think about the many types of deals that can happen, such as bank accounts, ordering gift cards, etc on the load side, and how to unload, what channels accept an unload online or over the phone? Can you pay a credit card with a debit card? What is a debit card? Etc