There were lots of reports that CVS will no longer be part of the 5-Back program starting January 20 as we wrote yesterday. This has now been confirmed in writing by Simom Mall customer service, as reported by Frequentmiler.
Thank you for contacting Simon Customer Service,
Yes, CVS will be exiting the 5% Back program. They will officially be off the program on Jan 20th.
Thank you,
Simon Customer Service
A lot of people use this method heavily. Make sure to finish unloading all your 5-Back cards by January 19th. Purchases through the 19th should still work for 5% back.
DB: I called the number on the back. Today the money is on the cards.
I used the remaining balance on my cards at CVS on 1/17. I have not received the 5% back as I have before. Anybody else running into this issue?
There seems to be a confusion on whether CVS is still one of the participating merchants. Someone posted on reddit that CVS was no longer listed on the fivebackgift website as of yesterday. Saw this also on FT. I’m sure it was there when I logged in to check my cashback on the 9th. Therefore, I’ll wait n see more DPs before continuing the buy VGCs at CVS to see if they’re still paying the CB even if they’re no longer listed on FB’s website.
It is clear from the FB website that CBs are paid by the award sponsor, in this case we’re talking of CVS. If they are no longer part of the list, they can possibly reject all CBs based on date showing they’re no longer part of the program. If people complain to Simon, ya’ll think they’ll pay? I don’t think so.
This method was a bother to some people, took some time, but enjoyed by others. Without being able to buy 500s with these it will not be worthwhile to most. Very few chains sell 500s and those who do only sell in few locations and some of those have other limitations. This method was never a main thing for most, but a nice extra while it lasted.
I’m not sure you’re right about that- an extra $25 ($20 after fees) on EVERY single VGC you were going to liquidate anyway (e.g., I bought these instead of the regular VGCs when OfficeMax had their amazing negative-cost deals over the past few months, I’d have done those deals anyway) is pretty insane. Just one quick step, during which you can liquidate 4 cards at a time… it was worth it for most, and made our hobby that much sweeter.
And, now people are stoked up because of the GCM deal. There is going to be a rush on CVS over the next few days…
I didn’t say I thought it was a bother. I was like you. I just checked gcm and they’re out of 5 Back 500s again
Cvsexit, gold is going up. hah
Has anyone tried using the kiosk at the other store to see if you can purchase $300 visa gift cards instead of the $200 they have in store?
Which stores have a kiosk?
Bobby, that should work, I’d think. But there is a bug in Staples system which charges sales tax on kiosk order gift cards. Gets added on at the last step of store checkout. So probably won’t work out.
What kiosk is this, and how can you get $300 gift cards in store? Is it an in-store kiosk at which you can purchase whatever they have online, then it gets shipped to your home? Never seen one at my local Staples.
That’s exactly what it is. They often have them in the furniture section near the back of the stores.
Technically you could ask an associate to make an online order for you too if they didn’t have a kiosk.
But how does this help? We can just use the five back directly online to buy the $300 VGC… I’m pretty sure you still get the 5% for online purchases.
If you do indeed get the 5% back from Staples.com, then it wouldn’t be of any help. I was unaware that was the case.
Even with CVS going away, there are still more stores in the five back list to get visa gift cards 😉 And those even work to cash out via MO @ Wally World
AFAIKU the only one that’s not Metabank VGCs is CVS (which is a problem in New York City where there’s no Wally’s).
Good to know. Any way you can share the other stores?
What are some of other places you can use the 5 back to get Visa Gift Cards?
Which other stores sell 500 VGC?
So far, the only other candidates I found was BBBY and Staples, but both are 200/6.95, which is still a return, but a much smaller one than would be with 500/4.95.
Bed Bath & Beyond would be pretty good if VGCs worked with Ebates In-Store Cash Back… you have to give the billing address when you link a card and gift cards don’t have billing addresses attahced (most you can do is add a zip code.) But I haven’t seen any DPs either way. That would add an extra 2% and would lower the fee to just $2.95 for a $200 card, not much worse than CVS. Does anyone know if it would work?