In our local Wilko the banner is showing 15% off three different gift cards. One of them is this £50 Mastercard that can be used as a credit card.
The full cost of the card is £53.95, but with 15% off total payable is £45.86, so overall an immediate 9% return on your investment of £45.86.
The card is not chip & pin, and can't be used to withdraw money.. After 6 months, I believe a £2/£3 per month fee is deducted. So best to use it immediately to pay for £50 of petrol, or another £50 purchase!
All comments (129)
le_jaeger
8 Oct 17#1
Seems too good to be true? Buy one, use it to buy another and then another and then another...
y-oh-y
8 Oct 17#2
Check to see if you can pay it into PayPal and then into your account.
jaydeeuk1 to y-oh-y
8 Oct 17#3
This. Used to do it with 3v cards when Morrison's did that amazing fuel save scheme. Would buy £1300 or so a time (split in to several transactions as more than 5 was sloooooooow through the tills) Gift cash to your wife's account, have her Xfer it back and WD as cash back to your bank a/c. 3v cards were classes as debit cards by paypal, if it's same case here I'm off to clear shelves of all my locals. Can also spend love2shop vouchers cards here, get 8% off.
I make that £7.91 profit per card.
Edit - This offer expires 12/10
smallclone to jaydeeuk1
8 Oct 17#5
That sounds like money laundering to me.
jaydeeuk1 to smallclone
8 Oct 17#7
Lol.
y-oh-y to smallclone
8 Oct 17#8
I see it more of taking advantage of a glitch. Think of it as buying £50 notes cheaply.
plokij to y-oh-y
8 Oct 17#9
It's not a glitch. There are 3 different gift cards that Wilko are advertising as 15% off.. The others were GAP and "Beer Money". Deal is shown on their website. I believe they are clearing "Old Stock", as the newer £50 card packs look more festive... From time to time I do see Tesco & Morisson running a deal on Gift Cards, selling them below face value. But usually, they're Google Play, Apple credit or Pizza Express...
y-oh-y to plokij
8 Oct 17#12
No, not a glitch with the offer. It was an argument against money laundering post. A glitch in being able to buy cheaply and pay back into your account and repeat.If possible of course.
y-oh-y to jaydeeuk1
8 Oct 17#6
Yes, those 3v cards were the business. I bought mine from Tesco and used to clear the shelves. I'm still spending the Tesco points. :grin:
DavidL to jaydeeuk1
8 Oct 17#34
How do you get 8% off love2shop vouchers??
jaydeeuk1 to DavidL
8 Oct 17#35
Perkbox
zararh to jaydeeuk1
8 Oct 17#38
Do they still do the 3v cards?
plokij
8 Oct 17#4
It is more difficult (not impossible) to use Online, as it has no name on it and doesn't have any address registered which is used during processing / authorisation. When I tried to register it on the website printed on the back of the card, the website didn't work.. However, I used it in a supermarket by swiping on the side of the chip & pin machine, and there were no problems. You are asked to sign, like before the times of chip&pin. Calling the 0333 number and entering the card number gives the Balance as £50.
jakerushworth
8 Oct 17#10
Seems like a lot of effort
crumpetman to jakerushworth
8 Oct 17#11
Good, more left for the rest of us.
veedubjai
8 Oct 17#13
1616french
8 Oct 17#14
Could this be spent on Argos, Amazon etc? Got a few toys I need to buy for Xmas.
plokij to 1616french
8 Oct 17#17
Amazon would be difficult, without registering the cards online which wasn't working when I tried. Argos, should be possible if the have "swipe" card terminals.
I used mine at the local Morissons, the side of the chip & pin reader has a swipe slot. The receipt is printed with a signature area, which you are asked to sign..
JPS
8 Oct 17#15
This is basically free money which is amazing! But the £3.95 fee Mastercard charge for buying one of these is disgusting.
y-oh-y to JPS
8 Oct 17#16
Yes, the fee is bad and apart from this deal, I can't see any logic. Those 3v cards had no fee.
Gentle_Giant
8 Oct 17#18
Nice find, I'll bet the guy who cleared the shelves of bananas at Tesco a few years ago will already be on the case.
(£1 bananas got £1.10 worth of Tesco points; he took a trailer to the supermarket with him, then gave the bananas away in the city centre).
1616french
8 Oct 17#19
Why is the initial charge for the £50 card £53.95???
defgimp to 1616french
8 Oct 17#20
£3.95 MasterCard processing fee :dizzy_face:
Madchester
8 Oct 17#21
There are some cool things you can do with these cards but you can find that out for yourselves :kissing_heart:
devlino to Madchester
8 Oct 17#23
With that username, prob to make neat white lines :wink:
Madchester to devlino
8 Oct 17#31
No not that. Much cooler than that.
HereKittyKitty to Madchester
9 Oct 17#39
Spill the beans man. I'm on tenterhooks here
Also, does anyone know if these can be paid into a bank account? And if they can be bought using a credit card? (Or is it classed as a cash advance?)
luvsadealdealdeal
8 Oct 17#22
nice deal plonki
Drooler
8 Oct 17#24
So can you use a card to buy a card? And just pay the initial 3.95 once?
Delbert.Grady
8 Oct 17#25
If you intend getting one of these to then transfer the money elsewhere, and you know it will work, then fine, go for it, but if you intend to just use it in-store for shopping, instead of your normal card, don't bother, because its hit and miss whether it will be accepted or not. I got one back in the summer when Sainsburys were doing a similar offer. It was accepted in Morrisons, but refused in Tesco, accepted in Asda but then refused in Home Bargains. It was initially accepted in Toolstation, but when I went back the next week to buy something else it was refused. On each occasion I swiped it down the slot on the side of the reader because I knew it had no pin, so that wasn't the issue. It was more hassle than the small saving was worth and I was glad to get rid of it, but obviously it does work for some people in certain situations so I haven't voted either way. Just don't expect to be able to use this everywhere like a normal credit card, because you can't.
Bargainhunt2
8 Oct 17#26
Can you easily use more than one of these cards in a single transaction ie game Argos for ps4 or xbox with black Friday round the corner would make these a no brainer ???
m1chaels to Bargainhunt2
8 Oct 17#33
I think in the past I found that argos have a limit of 4 or possibly 6 cards per transaction.
zararh to m1chaels
8 Oct 17#36
But argos gift card with 4 or 6 and then use the argos gift cards to purchase the product and use another 4/6 pre paid cards?
elofty
8 Oct 17#27
Are these basically the same as the cards you get from bt/ee for signing up?
andersonchenghy
8 Oct 17#28
Will this work at a self service petrol station ?
plokij
8 Oct 17#29
As they're sold by Wilko, I'd assume they'd also be accepted by Wilko as payment.
So they could then be used to buy any other Gift card. A wide selection of shops, Amazon, etc were on offer if you want to then "get out" of the Vanilla Mastercard due to difficulty using them elsewhere.
MonkeysUncle
8 Oct 17#30
If you find a shop which will allow you to use the swipe system your lucky. Most shops don't allow them due to how easily they can be copied, and also with advent of chip and pin, in some shops they don't instantly authorise the transaction.
so you could have £1 on your card use it for a purchase of x amount and the shop would just authorise it to process the transaction later on.
Delbert.Grady to MonkeysUncle
8 Oct 17#32
Exactly what I found, very hit and miss regarding which shops accept it. A pity, because if you could use this everywhere like a normal card, it would be a winner.
zararh
8 Oct 17#37
Do they offer student discount?
lucas
9 Oct 17#40
For the sake of making 10 pence worth of club card points? That’s retarded
jaydeeuk1
9 Oct 17#41
No, changed name to pay.com and swiftly went bust after that.
Birdyyyy95
9 Oct 17#42
Can I top up Monzo card with this?
zack2
9 Oct 17#43
Can be bought with a credit card, or any card Wilko normally accept (so other gift cards/love2shop etc).
Not seen as a cash advance because Wilko don't pass what you are buying to your card issuer. Card issuer just sees it as Wilko - so you could be buying an expensive lunch or lot of kitchen utilities for all they know.
I got them on my credit card. Sadly I can't use them to then pay off said credit card (worth a shot). Seem to be registering ok in PayPal. Might use them for my council tax too, assuming they're accepted.
I can't imagine they'll work for petrol using pay at pump, but might try at the kiosk and see what happens.
Wilko staff looked a bit amazed at how many I got - our local had so many on the hanger they were falling off. Usually they only ever have 4 or 5 of anything!!
They do take a good 20 seconds a card to go through the till though as previously mentioned!
Can confirm inactivity fee is £2 a month after 6 months of non-use. So assuming you can find somewhere that will take them (Tesco self checkouts but you have to wait for staff to come over and validate your signature... not that mine ever check properly!!) to buy something small every 5 months, you shouldn't get charged.
zack2
9 Oct 17#44
No - just tried to double check, and says card is not supported :disappointed:
Prepaid to prepaid is high risk so card issuers usually block it. Can't link it with Curve either
plokij
9 Oct 17#45
The simplest transaction is to see this as an opportunity to make a ~10% saving if you're just about to buy a costly item from Evans or Currys/PcWorld that Wilko also sell vouchers for..
If you're buying a £500 laptop from PcWorld. Buy 10 of these cards from Wilko, all on the same transaction so won't take long. Total cost will be £458.60 on a single receipt.
Then open the packets, and use them to buy 10 x £50 PcWorld gift cards from Wilko. This bit could take longer, as they may have to go as individual transactions. But the cashier will be familiar with the process by the time you finish, even if they are not when you start!
Then go to PcWorld and buy your £500 laptop with the PcWorld gift cards bought from Wilko... A quick £40 saving on your new Laptop!
Birdyyyy95
9 Oct 17#46
ohhh :disappointed: Thanks anyway for trying. Any idea if you can pay credit card bills with a prepaid card? I can pay my Amex bill with Monzo but not tried one of these cards. I would expect so as it's basically the same as the monzo?
Madchester
9 Oct 17#47
Well the interesting thing with these "Vanilla" cards is that they are MasterCard and not Visa like all the other prepaid gift cards (which are also useful). When signing up to some things credit checks aren't carried out and some places they are carried out. Make sure you leave £1 credit on your card. Is it a good idea to register them? I don't know. Just a few ideas for you.
A word of warning with these prepaid cards and these "Vanilla" in particular. They don't like you logging in to see what credit you have left in the hope you can't check and they get to keep your money. Their login doesn't like iPad it fails to recognise date of birth. Login on windows is ok. If after spending you have a bit left on the card you can top up your Amazon account (min £1) to zero out your card.
Maybe these are good for ZEEK will have to check later.
You could use these to buy gift cards from other stores that have an offer on gift cards like when Tesco have 20% off iTunes, pizza express etc. Would make great XMAS gifts too
zack2
9 Oct 17#48
Given my credit history I won't have Amex for another 4 years :P
Capital One & Aqua reject it. But they work to pay my Vanquis card. Just done 7. So worth logging in individually and checking - assuming it depends on the payment processor.
11% instant ROI for me as they won't be taking the direct debit this month (payments take 3 days to show but I'm cancelling the DD)
Tempted to get a hat full and put the Vanquis into credit and take it out at the cash machine - no interest as the card is in credit but £3 cash handling fee per withdrawal - they get funny if they catch you though. Aqua went mental when I did it abroad, blocked my card, threatened to close it etc etc.
There are obviously degrees of taking the michael.... they determined I'd pushed it a little too far!
Madchester
9 Oct 17#49
Im pretty sure you can pay chunks of Your council tax over the phone with these cards and use the saved money to pay your credit card :thumbsup:
Madchester
9 Oct 17#50
I think there is a fee to send a gift payment to another account now. It's what I used to do until they cottoned on.
zack2
9 Oct 17#51
Yep - my council take them online but it's long winded (their website is worse than Vanquis').
Council tax bill is small and spread over several months.
This has just realised the best part of £40 profit in less than 30 minutes.
You could even buy them on the same card you're paying off....useful for anyone with a high limit where these are accepted. £2k at 56 days interest free doesn't really make it anymore worthwhile than just paying with cash!
Madchester
9 Oct 17#52
Does anyone know the cost to transfer one vanilla card balance to another
Or would a paypal card reader work (3.5% fee?)
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#53
Anyone found a way to quickly extract the money from these other than council tax? Do amex accept them? Heading off shortly to clear my locals shelves
:grin:
Madchester
9 Oct 17#54
Council tax 1.46% handling fee takes the shine off a bit. Might be best to buy a few grands worth of FX prime lenses from warehouse deals next time the 20% discount deal is on and bang em on ebay for a small profit.
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#55
Ok so Amex don’t accept them.. hmm
bhaisab
9 Oct 17#56
Able to use the card at Argos instore (or online) without hassle?
Madchester
9 Oct 17#57
Instore is fine
haritori
9 Oct 17#58
I bet you could top up your revolut card with them, for a 1% fee so about 46p which you can then transfer to your bank account for free.
machomansavage
9 Oct 17#59
So what the hell is this?
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#60
Yes works with Revolut, I’ve just bought loads :joy: no fee
jbunce12
9 Oct 17#61
You sure?
Birdyyyy95
9 Oct 17#62
Little update after buying 7. AMEX don't accept them for bill payments, can't top up Monzo with them. Have resorted to using PayPal Gift, lost £1.85 per card, still about £2 profit per card and gets me Membership rewards as well as putting me closer to the Amex spending incentive. Thanks OP :smile: PS the packaging on these cards is bloody awful! :poop:
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#63
Yes packaging isn’t good!
plokij
9 Oct 17#64
Can you top up Revolut without registering the cards first? Is no address verification required for that transaction, as that's the reason it failed with Amazon..
Smythey1
9 Oct 17#65
Deffo Argos ? Might buy 4 for xbox one s deal so anyone done it at Argos Sheffield ? so it’s £3.95 on every £50 not 4 and 1 £3.95 ?
jacobyoung74
9 Oct 17#66
My revolut account allowed me to add 2 cards now it is locked. Be careful as it asks for verfifcation trom bank statement (not possible obviously)
plokij
9 Oct 17#67
Yes, when I went to Top Up -> Card in Revolut, second page asks for the address.. Given there is no address, I gave up. As I have a £1 pending authorisation from the failed Amazon top up I'm waiting to expire so don't want to damage any more cards with failed attempts.
alababaju
9 Oct 17#68
This is not money laundering.
Money laundering is trying to make illegally earned(dirty) money appear legally earned(clean).
Nothing here is illegal.
hemp
9 Oct 17#69
St Albans store doesn't have this promotion :unamused:
BeautiquePortTalbot
9 Oct 17#70
Money doesnt come off at my local Wilko
jbunce12
9 Oct 17#71
Got this working in Southampton, staff didnt know but supervisor totalted the transaction and it came up at the correct price. Added them to revolut and into bank account.
gemniz
9 Oct 17#72
Rotherham Parkgate doesn't have it either
jpwjpw
9 Oct 17#73
I've used these before to make one off payments to BT or Virgin Media. They just add it as a credit to your account.
jaydeeuk1
9 Oct 17#74
Seems to be national. No banners up in local but when scanned on their PC it showed the 15% discount. Would also only allow me to buy 5, so will be going back later. Presume it will work on the £25 cards too
Offer ends 12/10 though!
plokij
9 Oct 17#75
To those saying it's not at their local store, it should be.. It is on their website, but not all stores have the banner up on the display. On the Tills, it originally scans at £53.95, but then it subtracts the reduction at the end of the transaction or just prior to the next item being added if you have multiple items.
bojangles
9 Oct 17#76
great for manufacture spending if you need to hit a credit card bonus miles/points, etc.
blueroo
9 Oct 17#77
But when you can use it to buy a holiday for threse times the value or double up on electric purchases in store (gone now) it all of a sudden doesn't seem so retarded :kissing_heart:
y-oh-y
9 Oct 17#78
Yes, and when you received 150 points for a £50 gift card purchase and 1.25% from a credit card, it didn't seem retarded at all, far from it. Many a free restaurant meal and more to come from basically free Tesco points. 10p? What 10p? Snooze and you lose.
hemp
9 Oct 17#79
Can I buy a Tesco gift card with it?
newfoundglory
9 Oct 17#80
None left in Cheltenham. I got the last 4. Fantastic deal. Used one of the four on revolut and it worked fine for top up. Just used my own address. No fee applied to top up either !!! Think it might trip my account out if I used all 4.
newfoundglory
9 Oct 17#81
Can I go back into wilko and buy a gift cards with them ? ie amazon
garethsmith72
9 Oct 17#82
to make £4 this is a lot of hassle
Madchester
9 Oct 17#83
Does the discount work on the cards with the picture of the glittery box on the cover or just the ones with a bow
newfoundglory
9 Oct 17#84
Not if youre trying to reach a spend on an Amex card, to trigger a points bonus
KEEP_IT_TEA
9 Oct 17#85
anyone use it to fill up with 50.00 of fuel yet?
plokij
9 Oct 17#86
Exactly my thinking, so only really worth it if you can easily do x10 and get £40. Can get 5x on each Wilko transaction. So should take a couple of minutes...
dealpickle
9 Oct 17#87
Heat from me, thanks OP.
dealpickle
9 Oct 17#88
I think my Wilko also listed Pizza Hut cards as being part of the offer, although the fact no-one else has mentioned this is making me doubt myself...
1616french
9 Oct 17#89
Ends 12/10 and I don't get paid until the 13th... ahhhhhhhhhh
Ok, got the registration link working, anyone having the problem that it thinks its an invalid card?!
edit - confiriming balance on phone works at least. Its a s**t website though!
tommyjaylee
9 Oct 17#92
does Shell accept these? Might be worth saving a fiver on fuel
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#93
Busy day - scooped up 40 in total
Smythey1
9 Oct 17#94
What u planning on doing with them or towards ?
veedubjai
9 Oct 17#95
Cashing them in of course. Easy profit if you got the capital to start with & can get them.
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#96
Correct - cashing them in asap using revolut. Testing at what point do they go hold on a moment, that's enough cards for one person..!
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#97
well that didn't take long, 5 appears to be the limit.. on chat to them now
veedubjai
9 Oct 17#98
All cards from one branch? :joy:
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#99
no, visited 6 branches. 1 branch didn't stock them, others had stock ranging from 4-10
veedubjai
9 Oct 17#100
Well played if the branches are not that far between but quite the effort then. :thumbsup: Not sure if they get new stocks everyday.
gunnersaurus
9 Oct 17#101
My local store were only willing to sell me 1. There seems to be no proper guidelines or information on the max amount you can buy and customer service weren't much help either
Anyone else have trouble buying more than 1?
Vid21
9 Oct 17#102
Can this card be used online?
kayleys
9 Oct 17#103
I use a similar one for work, when entering cardholder details I put in 'Mr Giftcard' (or words to that effect, whatever it says on the front). Can't comment on the address though as I know where the one I use is registered
plokij
9 Oct 17#104
I've swapped out of all 10 of my cards. Initial attempt to convert to Amazon failed, due to no address/verification and the website to register didn't work.
Managed to get 6x £50 gift cards from my local Morissons, all in separate transactions during yesterday and today. Now they've said they're no longer accepting "Vanilla" cards... So I loaded one on to Revolut, and used that to buy a gift card from Morissons.
Then I went to the local coop, they didn't have any decent gift cards, so I got a 2 x £25's and used the Vanilla without any issues. Final 3 I just topped up Revolut, and transferred cash out to my bank out... Deal is over for me. Hope you all benefited.
josh971
9 Oct 17#105
say again?!
Evil-Muffin
9 Oct 17#106
I bought 37 of them
plokij
9 Oct 17#107
Those who bought in bulk, it might be worth extracting from them asap to limit exposure to "Vanilla card"..
E.g. my local Morisson has decided not to accept "Vanilla" cards, unsure why and they couldn't tell me... They're quite happy to sell pre-paid cards themselves, as is Wilko. But when it comes to accepting them as payment, they have decided to stop accepting them....
Didn't have any problems on Revolut or Coop though, but still worth limiting exposure to a "Vanilla" failure.
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#108
ran into this in one store.. had to threaten to call head office in front of them. They then allowed me to buy all 10 with my Amex card
newfoundglory
9 Oct 17#109
Did revolut unlock your account? I've done three top ups not sure if I should risk a 4th.
ssc1
9 Oct 17#110
Fees?
cuddykid
9 Oct 17#111
not yet, they've passed me to another dept. 4 worked fine, it was just the 5th.. though I had another card on there so maybe the 6th? If they haven't unlocked it by tomorrow morning I will call them
Deal_hunter1234
10 Oct 17#112
Has anyone paid for fuel using these? Is it bettee to use the value all in one go or can bits be used at a time? (if using in-store)
ma6jrp
10 Oct 17#113
Not a bad idea but you will end up with lots of cards with £4.14 on them, which might be a bit of a pain to use up. Although it is free money. You might also get an awkward CS person who doesn't like what you are doing as it will look strange....
ssc1
10 Oct 17#114
whats the best way to transfer the amount back to bank account without fees, or paypal sounds good but surely there are fees?
radles
10 Oct 17#115
Do you actually have to go through the registration process, or do these work straight away without registering
ma6jrp
10 Oct 17#116
It doesn't look like there is a way without some fees. Looks like Revolut is 1% but people's accounts get locked after a fee cards. Paypal is the usual around 3% fee.
radles
10 Oct 17#117
Just as an update. I bought one from Wilko's 5 mins ago. Went straight into Sainsbury's and bought a bottle of water as a test. I used the self serve to had to call the staff member over to confirm the signature but all was good.
I didnt go online online and register.
They work straight out of the packet.
karlie88
10 Oct 17#118
I guess the important question is, how much did you pay for the water?
radles
10 Oct 17#119
Shhhhh. It was actually a beer
jacobyoung74
10 Oct 17#120
My revolut account is finally unlocked. They have not refunded the 3 cards that sucessfully went through however they have said not allowed any more pre paid cards (their terms do state no pre paid cards accepted)
jacobyoung74
10 Oct 17#121
However at least first 3 went on and stayed there. There is no fee as it registers as a mastercard debit
moonfruit
10 Oct 17#122
I purchased one of these Vanilla cards a few hours ago, loaded it to my Revolut account, then transfered out to my bank account. Is the limit you're referring to due to the £200per annum limit, or just a general rule on prepaid cards?
radles
10 Oct 17#123
I just bought one from Wilko's then went to Burger King and spent £4. Went back into Wilko's to buy another one with my £46 balance thinking I'd had a free lunch. However. In restaurants the vanilla card charge an extra 20% for some reason so the transaction in Wilko's failed.
I rang rang them up fuming but evidently it's in the terms and conditions. The terms and and conditions inside the pack that you can't read until you've bought the pack.
Im good on the phone when arguing but didn't get anywhere. I even hung up and redialled but the next person told me the same thing.
NonContributer
10 Oct 17#124
Use it to credit your mobile phone account. Simple.
veedubjai
10 Oct 17#125
Share the T&C's.
Mudlark13
10 Oct 17#126
Bought 5 cards and Revolut have blocked me from topping up using them! :P anybody got a good way to extract the funds?
chudeeras
10 Oct 17#127
Bought 5 with my credit card then went back a bit later and tried to buy some using the others :wink: it was the same woman who served me and she got a bit funny and called her supervisor... After one girl said no and I queried why not? She called someone else. He came over and asked what i was trying to do? (All the while the cashier saying he's already spent hundreds on them) He knew what but didn't understand why... So I just straight up told him they were 15℅ off and he said oh OK. Put it through. :grin: now I need to see if I can pay my MasterCard with these to make the ultimate loop.
ma6jrp
10 Oct 17#128
Reading the T&Cs I would think that the 20% extra is just pre auth charge as it is to cover the potential of a 20% service charge being added to the bill later. I would think it will be released back to the card after a day or so.
Sounds like a American thing, where they swipe you card and then the come over with the receipt to then you add the extra tip on the receipt (and also we never tip 20% in the UK!). It always seems a big dodgy to me in the US, but all the restaurant do it, and update the how much they charge the card after you leave the restaurant based on what you wrote on the receipt. Seems highly open to abuse!
Cos2k3
10 Oct 17#129
Is this store specific? They are full price at my local store
Opening post
The full cost of the card is £53.95, but with 15% off total payable is £45.86, so overall an immediate 9% return on your investment of £45.86.
The card is not chip & pin, and can't be used to withdraw money.. After 6 months, I believe a £2/£3 per month fee is deducted. So best to use it immediately to pay for £50 of petrol, or another £50 purchase!
All comments (129)
Gift cash to your wife's account, have her Xfer it back and WD as cash back to your bank a/c.
3v cards were classes as debit cards by paypal, if it's same case here I'm off to clear shelves of all my locals. Can also spend love2shop vouchers cards here, get 8% off.
I make that £7.91 profit per card.
Edit - This offer expires 12/10
Think of it as buying £50 notes cheaply.
I believe they are clearing "Old Stock", as the newer £50 card packs look more festive...
From time to time I do see Tesco & Morisson running a deal on Gift Cards, selling them below face value. But usually, they're Google Play, Apple credit or Pizza Express...
It was an argument against money laundering post.
A glitch in being able to buy cheaply and pay back into your account and repeat.If possible of course.
I bought mine from Tesco and used to clear the shelves.
I'm still spending the Tesco points. :grin:
However, I used it in a supermarket by swiping on the side of the chip & pin machine, and there were no problems. You are asked to sign, like before the times of chip&pin.
Calling the 0333 number and entering the card number gives the Balance as £50.
Got a few toys I need to buy for Xmas.
Argos, should be possible if the have "swipe" card terminals.
I used mine at the local Morissons, the side of the chip & pin reader has a swipe slot. The receipt is printed with a signature area, which you are asked to sign..
Those 3v cards had no fee.
(£1 bananas got £1.10 worth of Tesco points; he took a trailer to the supermarket with him, then gave the bananas away in the city centre).
Also, does anyone know if these can be paid into a bank account? And if they can be bought using a credit card? (Or is it classed as a cash advance?)
I got one back in the summer when Sainsburys were doing a similar offer. It was accepted in Morrisons, but refused in Tesco, accepted in Asda but then refused in Home Bargains.
It was initially accepted in Toolstation, but when I went back the next week to buy something else it was refused.
On each occasion I swiped it down the slot on the side of the reader because I knew it had no pin, so that wasn't the issue.
It was more hassle than the small saving was worth and I was glad to get rid of it, but obviously it does work for some people in certain situations so I haven't voted either way.
Just don't expect to be able to use this everywhere like a normal credit card, because you can't.
So they could then be used to buy any other Gift card. A wide selection of shops, Amazon, etc were on offer if you want to then "get out" of the Vanilla Mastercard due to difficulty using them elsewhere.
Most shops don't allow them due to how easily they can be copied, and also with advent of chip and pin, in some shops they don't instantly authorise the transaction.
so you could have £1 on your card use it for a purchase of x amount and the shop would just authorise it to process the transaction later on.
A pity, because if you could use this everywhere like a normal card, it would be a winner.
Not seen as a cash advance because Wilko don't pass what you are buying to your card issuer. Card issuer just sees it as Wilko - so you could be buying an expensive lunch or lot of kitchen utilities for all they know.
I got them on my credit card. Sadly I can't use them to then pay off said credit card (worth a shot). Seem to be registering ok in PayPal. Might use them for my council tax too, assuming they're accepted.
I can't imagine they'll work for petrol using pay at pump, but might try at the kiosk and see what happens.
Wilko staff looked a bit amazed at how many I got - our local had so many on the hanger they were falling off. Usually they only ever have 4 or 5 of anything!!
They do take a good 20 seconds a card to go through the till though as previously mentioned!
Can confirm inactivity fee is £2 a month after 6 months of non-use. So assuming you can find somewhere that will take them (Tesco self checkouts but you have to wait for staff to come over and validate your signature... not that mine ever check properly!!) to buy something small every 5 months, you shouldn't get charged.
Prepaid to prepaid is high risk so card issuers usually block it. Can't link it with Curve either
If you're buying a £500 laptop from PcWorld. Buy 10 of these cards from Wilko, all on the same transaction so won't take long. Total cost will be £458.60 on a single receipt.
Then open the packets, and use them to buy 10 x £50 PcWorld gift cards from Wilko. This bit could take longer, as they may have to go as individual transactions. But the cashier will be familiar with the process by the time you finish, even if they are not when you start!
Then go to PcWorld and buy your £500 laptop with the PcWorld gift cards bought from Wilko... A quick £40 saving on your new Laptop!
A word of warning with these prepaid cards and these "Vanilla" in particular. They don't like you logging in to see what credit you have left in the hope you can't check and they get to keep your money. Their login doesn't like iPad it fails to recognise date of birth. Login on windows is ok. If after spending you have a bit left on the card you can top up your Amazon account (min £1) to zero out your card.
Maybe these are good for ZEEK will have to check later.
You could use these to buy gift cards from other stores that have an offer on gift cards like when Tesco have 20% off iTunes, pizza express etc. Would make great XMAS gifts too
Capital One & Aqua reject it. But they work to pay my Vanquis card. Just done 7. So worth logging in individually and checking - assuming it depends on the payment processor.
11% instant ROI for me as they won't be taking the direct debit this month (payments take 3 days to show but I'm cancelling the DD)
Tempted to get a hat full and put the Vanquis into credit and take it out at the cash machine - no interest as the card is in credit but £3 cash handling fee per withdrawal - they get funny if they catch you though. Aqua went mental when I did it abroad, blocked my card, threatened to close it etc etc.
There are obviously degrees of taking the michael.... they determined I'd pushed it a little too far!
Council tax bill is small and spread over several months.
This has just realised the best part of £40 profit in less than 30 minutes.
You could even buy them on the same card you're paying off....useful for anyone with a high limit where these are accepted. £2k at 56 days interest free doesn't really make it anymore worthwhile than just paying with cash!
Or would a paypal card reader work (3.5% fee?)
AMEX don't accept them for bill payments, can't top up Monzo with them. Have resorted to using PayPal Gift, lost £1.85 per card, still about £2 profit per card and gets me Membership rewards as well as putting me closer to the Amex spending incentive. Thanks OP :smile:
PS the packaging on these cards is bloody awful! :poop:
so anyone done it at Argos Sheffield ?
so it’s £3.95 on every £50 not 4 and 1 £3.95 ?
Money laundering is trying to make illegally earned(dirty) money appear legally earned(clean).
Nothing here is illegal.
Offer ends 12/10 though!
On the Tills, it originally scans at £53.95, but then it subtracts the reduction at the end of the transaction or just prior to the next item being added if you have multiple items.
10p? What 10p?
Snooze and you lose.
Fantastic deal.
Used one of the four on revolut and it worked fine for top up. Just used my own address. No fee applied to top up either !!!
Think it might trip my account out if I used all 4.
Can get 5x on each Wilko transaction. So should take a couple of minutes...
ppssecure.myvanillagiftcard.com/cho…icv
edit - confiriming balance on phone works at least. Its a s**t website though!
Busy day - scooped up 40 in total
Anyone else have trouble buying more than 1?
Managed to get 6x £50 gift cards from my local Morissons, all in separate transactions during yesterday and today. Now they've said they're no longer accepting "Vanilla" cards...
So I loaded one on to Revolut, and used that to buy a gift card from Morissons.
Then I went to the local coop, they didn't have any decent gift cards, so I got a 2 x £25's and used the Vanilla without any issues.
Final 3 I just topped up Revolut, and transferred cash out to my bank out... Deal is over for me. Hope you all benefited.
E.g. my local Morisson has decided not to accept "Vanilla" cards, unsure why and they couldn't tell me... They're quite happy to sell pre-paid cards themselves, as is Wilko. But when it comes to accepting them as payment, they have decided to stop accepting them....
Didn't have any problems on Revolut or Coop though, but still worth limiting exposure to a "Vanilla" failure.
I didnt go online online and register.
They work straight out of the packet.
Is the limit you're referring to due to the £200per annum limit, or just a general rule on prepaid cards?
However. In restaurants the vanilla card charge an extra 20% for some reason so the transaction in Wilko's failed.
I rang rang them up fuming but evidently it's in the terms and conditions.
The terms and and conditions inside the pack that you can't read until you've bought the pack.
Im good on the phone when arguing but didn't get anywhere. I even hung up and redialled but the next person told me the same thing.
Sounds like a American thing, where they swipe you card and then the come over with the receipt to then you add the extra tip on the receipt (and also we never tip 20% in the UK!). It always seems a big dodgy to me in the US, but all the restaurant do it, and update the how much they charge the card after you leave the restaurant based on what you wrote on the receipt. Seems highly open to abuse!