To those of you, including
@JKalai,
@MrInfinity @PerfessorZ @CMNJ, sorry if I'm missing anyone else, but who spent some time explaining your thoughts on how the GS/gc scenario works in regards to whether they make any profit or mostly take losses, I appreciate your time in doing so. Still a bit confusing and complicated, lol, but thank you! Definitely interesting and something to keep in mind while churning!
I just checked a few of my past orders that I still had tracking numbers for and it looks like Disney gift cards are originating out of Woodbury, MN for me. So the closer you live to there, the sooner you'd get them I believe. I'm not sure if that is the only hub mailing these out or if there is another in the US.
They have a hub here in Northern Illinois, I can't remember exactly, but I think maybe it was Carol Stream, but not sure, but I had some of my Disney gc's mailed to me from there, which is fairly close to me. But, they haven't always come from the same place. The next time it was from somewhere else, I was checking because at the time I was hoping for a quick delivery.
Hmmm it looks like Ebates has figured out the Target scheme of purchasing gift cards, but adding an ebates-qualifying item and receiving Ebates for the entire purchase. I just made a purchase for 3 $100 Disney gift cards and a box of Mason jar lids and bands for canning. Ebates is showing I received cash back in the amount of $0.07 based on a purchase of $3.32, which is the cost of the extra item only. Can anyone else comment on this who has ordered recently?
Not a big loss if this loophole is closed. And my previous ebates have not been adjusted (yet!). At least I won't have to keep finding add-on items for my orders!
Though it may indeed be that they figured this out, I will say that at least twice I had this happen to me where they only credited me a small amount, like they were only doing the added on item. But, then the next time my order was credited for the whole amount I had ordered, gc's included. So, I've had a couple times they just did a very small amount, sometimes just a very odd amount where I couldn't tell how they based the amount they credited me for, but most of the time I have gotten full credit. But, I haven't had a recent order thru Target lately.
Everyone's method is different.
Mine is simply Ebay>GS. Rinse, repeat. I'm not sure what my exit strategy is right now, but I have months to wait for the dust to settle to figure it out. Worst case scenario, I'll buy up some product from GS and sell on Ebay. If I wind up with a loss, I'll still be well ahead. However, GS is very YMMV, so proceed at your own risk. At this point in the game it is all about caution, discretion and risk tolerance.
@Mom2mx2 The above method is basically my method at this time as well, with some BB thrown in when I can get some BB to go thru PPDG. Basically using it to build up ebay bucks(with ebates, as well). Not sure how long I will stick with it or when I'll try to exit, but my trip is in Nov so I have some time. I do hope that by some miracle Target will be available on Ebay again at some time, but that doesn't seem real likely at the moment.
