Paying dues with discounted Disney Gift Cards - buying in bulk?

[WilsonFlyer]

You're not depositing a gift card into a checking account. When you setup the monthly withdrawals from a checking account for your dues, you have the option to login to the DVC website prior to them taking the monthly payment out and paying with a gift card instead. So, some people set up the monthly payment to give themselves time to look for gift card offers.

OK. I get that, and I know this is going to come across as arrogant, but my time is more valuable than the silly few dollars this would save me every month after all the time invested to make it work and get it done. To each his own, for sure, but that wouldn't work for me. Too much like work with a net loss in ROI.

 

[pianomanzano]

OK. I get that, and I know this is going to come across as arrogant, but my time is more valuable than the silly few dollars this would save me every month after all the time invested to make it work and get it done. To each his own, for sure, but that wouldn't work for me. Too much like work with a net loss in ROI.

For some of us, it's not a silly few dollars. I saved $385 off my dues this year buying discounted gift cards. And it only took me a couple taps on my phone to do so while watching TV with my wife at home, probably took 30 minutes of my time over the past month or so in total to buy all those cards (let's be real we spend waste more time posting/replying on these boards).

I honestly don't mind when people say it's too much work. I'd rather people not take advantage of these discounted gift cards so they stay available for me!

 

[davidhr]

For some of us, it's not a silly few dollars. I saved $385 off my dues this year buying discounted gift cards. And it only took me a couple taps on my phone to do so while watching TV with my wife at home, probably took 30 minutes of my time over the past month or so in total to buy all those cards (let's be real we spend waste more time posting/replying on these boards).

I honestly don't mind when people say it's too much work. I'd rather people not take advantage of these discounted gift cards so they stay available for me!

Exactly. I don’t blame anyone if they don’t want to do this. I also value my time. But I laugh when I read the argument that it’s a lot of work lol

I guess they think you have to physically travel to a store to do this. I can buy a gift card with a discount (when available) and it will take me the same time it took me to write this post.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I guess I always think in terms of Target where I get 5% back (I think or is it 5% discount?). Either way, I still have to tack on the fee for the card which is almost guaranteed to be more than the 5%. I'm just trying to figure out the savings here. And I know there are 'discounted' cards out there apparently, but the discount's got to be pretty good in order to net out the kinds of savings you're talking about. I don't doubt you. People on here have been doing it for years. And maybe it's not nearly as much work as I have always envisioned it must be.

Carry on.

 

[davidhr]

I guess I always think in terms of Target where I get 5% back (I think or is it 5% discount?). Either way, I still have to tack on the fee for the card which is almost guaranteed to be more than the 5%. I'm just trying to figure out the savings here. And I know there are 'discounted' cards out there apparently, but the discount's got to be pretty good in order to net out the kinds of savings you're talking about. I don't doubt you. People on here have been doing it for years. And maybe it's not nearly as much work as I have always envisioned it must be.

Carry on.

Just a note, gift cards don’t have fees. You pay $95 for a $100 gift card.

But I get your point and agree with it in general. I wouldn’t waste a minute to do it for $5. For $500? You bet I will (but thankfully I don’t pay annual fees to save that much )

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Just a note, gift cards don’t have fees. You pay $95 for a $100 gift card.

There's gotta be more to it than that. Certainly if you can get them for even a few dollars less, there's got to be more to it. Now you've eaten the merchant fees and still made money? I could game that system to death and break the entire financial system in 48 hours. Using their own money after about an hour! You can't get $100 for $95. The arithmetic just doesn't work. (Sorry for what may seem to be a tangent, but I'm trying to make a point.) If I can do this, I need to fire up my card reader and my PP account because that's all I would need.

 

[Sandisw]

There's gotta be more to it than that. Certainly if you can get them for even a few dollars less, there's got to be more to it. Now you've eaten the merchant fees and still made money? I could game that system to death and break the entire financial system in 48 hours. Using their own money after about an hour! You can't get $100 for $95. The arithmetic just doesn't work. (Sorry for what may seem to be a tangent, but I'm trying to make a point.) If I can do this, I need to fire up my card reader and my PP account because that's all I would need.

When using the Target Red Card, they charge you $95 and they send you a $100 gift card. I admit I don't do this because I prefer to pay my dues monthly but just took advantage of the Best Buy deal where I was charged $45 for a $50 card. Bought 4 of them and applied $200 to my dues, got my normal 2% back in CC rewards for the $90.

 

[CarolynFH]

We use the Target Red Card too. At least a week before each payment is due to be taken out, I go online, buy whatever GCs I need, and Target charges me $95 per $100 GC. A link to the GC comes to my email within a short time (no longer than 4 hours, usually much, much quicker than that), I open up the DVC member website to the dues page, follow the link to the electronic GC, fill out the necessary information on the Dues page, copy and paste the GC number, and click Submit. Done. It's so easy and quick that I don't bother with the other discount offers except the Best Buy - couldn't pass that one up, and it was just as easy to deal with as the Target electronic GCs.

 

[davidhr]

There's gotta be more to it than that. Certainly if you can get them for even a few dollars less, there's got to be more to it. Now you've eaten the merchant fees and still made money? I could game that system to death and break the entire financial system in 48 hours. Using their own money after about an hour! You can't get $100 for $95. The arithmetic just doesn't work. (Sorry for what may seem to be a tangent, but I'm trying to make a point.) If I can do this, I need to fire up my card reader and my PP account because that's all I would need.

The gift card trick for the companies is that they’re willing to give you a “discount” to get your money sooner. We are playing the game and use the gift cards immediately, but most people use them after months, sometimes years (sometimes they go unused). That’s a “loan” the companies are willing to take to have a lower profit from those gift cards. At the end of the day you can only use those gift cards for Disney. It’s cheaper for them to take $5 from their bottom line than to pay $5 in interest.

You can read about Starbucks and their wallet. They’ve become one of the largest “bank” doing it without being a bank and are using that money now to invest it and they’ll pay the users back with cheap coffee. They have billions now.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We live in NJ and bought $6000 worth of Disney Gift cards at Sam’s to go towards our dues. We’ll be buying the rest soon.

 

[CarolMN]

I'm not sure what Target pays Disney for the gift cards, but I'm quite sure it's less than 95% of the value. Maybe they just get a commission for every one they sell. Whatever arrangement they have, I seriously doubt they lose money on the deal.

@WilsonFlyer, FWIW, as an example, I pay no annual fee for the Target Red Card and use it mostly for groceries at Target. (I shop other grocery stores, too, depending on what I need). Our dues are about $2600, so using Disney gift cards purchased from Target (online), we save about $130 in dues. I buy two $500 cards every few days in January and apply them to dues right away. (We pay annually). It takes 5 - 10 minutes each time and is very easy. I made a good salary during my working years, but I don't think I ever approached $260/hour, LOL.

I'm not interested in chasing gift card deals all year, though. That isn't worth my time, either. Plus, I hate giving companies access to my checking account and avoid that whenever possible. YMMV.

 

[karen4546]

We live in NJ and bought $6000 worth of Disney Gift cards at Sam’s to go towards our dues. We’ll be buying the rest soon.

I was going to buy the gift cards from Sams club but the 5% at targets a bit more. We don have nearly as ma y points as you but a savings is a savings.

If someone has a dues bill for $10000 and buys 20 $500 dollar gift cards that they could combine into 10- $100 gift cards and apply them to their account-this May take an hour at most.

They have saved $500. Put that towards next year’s dues, trip or whatever.

I remember not too long ago buying discounted Target gift cards and then buying Disney gift cards from Target saving 10% —— i love saving.

 

[LSchrow]

OK. I get that, and I know this is going to come across as arrogant, but my time is more valuable than the silly few dollars this would save me every month after all the time invested to make it work and get it done. To each his own, for sure, but that wouldn't work for me. Too much like work with a net loss in ROI.

We save minimally $500 a year (usually closer to $600-700), so not just a few dollars. Since I don't usually make over $500 for under 30 minutes' "work", we'll take it

 

[mort1331]

OK. So I gotta ask. I was in management in the financial/banking industry for a number or years, though I have been admittedly out of the industry directly for a while now. But how do you deposit a gift card to a checking account? I'm sure you're right, but I've never heard tell of such a thing. Who eats the merchant fees? If I can do this, I can get rich in about 24 hours.

Can we pay CCs with other CCs now too? LOL

Can we pay CCs with other CCs now too? LOL
Yes,,,we have many CC that let you do a balance transfer for 6 to 12 months,,at 0% interest. As long as you stay on top of it,,,,0% loan.

 

[pianomanzano]

Can we pay CCs with other CCs now too? LOL
Yes,,,we have many CC that let you do a balance transfer for 6 to 12 months,,at 0% interest. As long as you stay on top of it,,,,0% loan.

Don’t forget the 3-5% balance transfer fee!

 

[EYL]

For some of us, it's not a silly few dollars. I saved $385 off my dues this year buying discounted gift cards. And it only took me a couple taps on my phone to do so while watching TV with my wife at home, probably took 30 minutes of my time over the past month or so in total to buy all those cards (let's be real we spend waste more time posting/replying on these boards).

I honestly don't mind when people say it's too much work. I'd rather people not take advantage of these discounted gift cards so they stay available for me!

I don't do as much as others on the Budget Board. I just buy from BJ's during the Black Friday shopping season and saved $250 off my dues. That's 2 character breakfasts at Disney, if you use your DVC discount and discounted gift cards to pay off your room charges. Every little bit helps and we see it as "2 free meals in Disney".

 

[qv09vvp]

Does.anyone know the current bj pricing for Disney gift card? I see you have to be a member to see the price

 

[EYL]

Does.anyone know the current bj pricing for Disney gift card? I see you have to be a member to see the price

They are typically 4% off face value without a sale. You can use any credit card to purchase but will need membership. Target is 5% off, but you must use their credit card to get it.

 

[karen4546]

They are typically 4% off face value without a sale. You can use any credit card to purchase but will need membership. Target is 5% off, but you must use their credit card to get it.

Or the Target DEBIT card.

 

[Little E]

I can't speak to the membership warehouse places like Sam's Club, but I did pay my dues by purchasing my Disney gift cards at Target using my Redcard and getting the 5% off. I only share this, because Target has a Disney gift card limit of $1000 per day. This applies to physical cards and cards purchased online. So, I had to return to the store multiple days to purchase enough gift cards to fully pay my dues, but they always had plenty of physical cards on hand to purchase. Just thought I would share, in case you ever go down that road.