Will I get Banned?

[Disn3yVision]

Sorry I know there is a ton of info on the boards on this topic but I have been reading of people recently getting banned for purchasing Disney gift cards in large amounts from Target.com with Target gift cards. I am new to this but would like to start buying Target gift cards at Staples using my Chase Ink Plus card for 5x rewards. Then use those Target gift cards to buy Disney gift cards through Target.com using the gift card in combination with my REDcard. I'm talking about buying $100 to $200 a month so these are not massive amounts of money.

Is this type of churning allowed, illegal, or just frowned upon? What are possible repercussions I should be warned about? Are there special tactics or strategies I should use (such as buying other items with the gift cards so purchases are not always even amounts, or not buying more than $500 a month, or don't buy more than $100 in a transaction, etc.)?

Ultimately, is this a safe strategy or should I not get greedy and just settle for buying Disney gift cards directly from Staples for my 5x rewards? Or is there risk even in just doing that? Not sure if it matters but we have had a REDcard for many years and do A LOT of shopping at Target so its not like the only thing we are buying is gift cards, however gift cards are probably the only thing we would buy online. Any thoughts or advice from people familiar with this process would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[supersnoop]

is this a safe strategy

All of these strategies have an element of risk. Make sure you have an exit strategy that you can live with.

 

[Callie]

I've heard of issues with abuse of using the INK card for giftcards at Staples etc. Might want to google that. Credit card companies don't like the reward churning.

 

[rnorwo1]

Do they sell target gift cards there?? I've never seen them.

 

[Marionnette]

Sorry I know there is a ton of info on the boards on this topic but I have been reading of people recently getting banned for purchasing Disney gift cards in large amounts from Target.com with Target gift cards. I am new to this but would like to start buying Target gift cards at Staples using my Chase Ink Plus card for 5x rewards. Then use those Target gift cards to buy Disney gift cards through Target.com using the gift card in combination with my REDcard. Is this type of churning allowed, illegal, or just frowned upon? What are possible repercussions I should be warned about? Are there special tactics or strategies I should use (such as buying other items with the gift cards so purchases are not always even amounts, or not buying more than $500 a month, or don't buy more than $100 in a transaction, etc.)?

Ultimately, is this a safe strategy or should I not get greedy and just settle for buying Disney gift cards directly from Staples for my 5x rewards? Or is there risk even in just doing that? Not sure if it matters but we have had a REDcard for many years and do A LOT of shopping at Target so its not like the only thing we are buying is gift cards, however gift cards are probably the only thing we would buy online. Any thoughts or advice from people familiar with this process would be appreciated. Thanks!

Is this type of churning "allowed"?
That depends on your definition of "allowed". It's possible to do it. However, people have gotten banned by Target .com for suspected "reseller" activity and it doesn't matter if they were good customers that ordered a lot of items from Target .com in the past. Target won't reveal what they consider to be "reseller" activity, but if they ID you as one, there is no appeals process. You're banned and that's it.

Is it illegal?
No. But gift cards are often used by credit card thieves and those doing money laundering in order to hide money. Casual GC purchases are never frowned upon. Excessive purchases would send up a red flag and draw attention to your activity.

Is it frowned upon?
Yes. Buying GCs for the rewards (also classified as a form of "manufactured spending") is not something the merchants want to see. Abusing any discount will be frowned upon by the merchant or credit card offering it.

Is it a "safe" strategy?
What's your tolerance for risk and how would you feel if you were banned from shopping at a merchant or if your business credit card were to be canceled? If none of those things would bother you, then go ahead with your strategy and throw caution to the wind. If you're concerned about any of those possibilities, then proceed cautiously and don't greedily make purchase after purchase in a short period of time.

Final advice: Read the Disney Gift Card Deals thread. Starting around page 800 should give you an idea of the most recent strategies for what you're trying to do.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Illegal? no
Frowned upon? Maybe.

I got banned from Target.com for buying ~$3000 worth of Disney Gift Cards at once. I called them to ask why, they wouldn't tell me other than "Read the Terms and Conditions". I think, though, they ban people who they believe are reselling the gift cards.(They obviously don't know how much Disney costs these days, LOL). I am still able to use my Red Card in the brick and mortar Target.

I would probably try to spread out your gift card purchases as much as possible in small amounts.

 

[minorthr]

I bought $4000 in Disney GC from Target using Target gift cards bought at cardpool and Raise and had no issues many of them bought $200 at a time for several days in a row.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Echoing what PPs have said-it does come with some risk. I've never done this at target but my guess would be you'd get dumped from chase before banned from Target.

Chase especially with their 5x rewards, but all CC companies keep an eye on gift card purchases. Sometimes things fly under their radar and sometimes their algorithm catches relatively small amounts.

 

[Disn3yVision]

Do they sell target gift cards there?? I've never seen them.

Not sure about in the store but they sell email delivery Target gift cards on Staples.com

 

[danielw888]

You should be ok if you do it in moderation. How much are you planning to get total? If its only a few thousand I think you will be fine. To control your risk I would do it only in increments in which you can stand to live with if you get shut down. So dont go and buy $4,000 in target gift cards unless you are comfortable using them for normal spending, incase they dont let you get disney gc with them.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

I have made a nice profit doing this, but I am taking a nice break from it now. I may resume later though. It's neat how much you can gain from it though.