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PFS Buyers Club has launched a new offer that can help you earn miles while making a profit on the transaction. There’s some risk involved, but it’s a great way of helping you meet minimum spend and making a few bucks in the process.
The Deal
- Buy Palladium Proof coin from the US Mint for $1,392.45 (inc. shipping) and resell to PFS Buyers Club for $1,443.00.
- Direct link to deal.
Key Terms
- Must be a member of PFS Buyers Club and must register to participate in the deal.
- Between 12:00PM and 12:10PM ET on September 6, 2018, you will purchase one American Eagle 2018 One Ounce Palladium Proof Coin and have it shipped to your home or office.
- You must input your Order Number in your “My Orders” page by 1PM on Thursday the 6th of September.
- When the order arrives, you must keep the (outer) US Mint box sealed – do not open the box at all.
- You must ship the coin to PFS via the prepaid return label within 2 business days of receiving them.
Quick Thoughts
Full disclosure – I’ve never personally participated in deals with PFS Buyers Club. Nick has done a couple in the past and they’ve gone smoothly and I know Shawn at Miles To Memories has mentioned in the past that he’s participated several times without any issues.
If you want to take part in this deal, you’ll need to register ASAP as my understanding is that these deals get fully signed up quickly. That’s not surprising given that not only do you get close to $1,400 of spend on a card, but also close to $50 profit.
The way this deal works is that you sign up for the deal, then purchase a limited edition Palladium Proof coin from the US Mint which is mailed to you. PFS Buyers Club will then provide you with a prepaid FedEx label (at their expense) for you to send the coin on to them. Once that’s received, they’ll issue payment of $1,443.00 by check or Paypal within seven days.
Note that there are some very specific requirements for this deal, so only register if you know you’ll definitely be able to fulfill its terms. You only have a ten minute window in which to order the coin, you have to input your order number within less than an hour and you must ship the coins within two days of receiving them.
PFS Buyers Club has also included the following note:
There’s a slight chance that the coins’s price will be $50 lower or $50 higher than what’s posted here. (This will only occur if Spot Palladium prices move drastically in the next two days.) Even if that change does take place, our deal will still be active – the commission will be the exact same – it’s just the total price will be adjusted $50 lower or higher. The price will become official on Wednesday.
Needless to say, you’ll need to assess your own risk tolerance as to whether this deal is worth it to you. If you’re happy with the level of risk, you’ll need to register ASAP.
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Just did my 1st deal with PFS Buyers Club on the Pride Of Two Nations coin sets and happy to report it went smooth and efficient. I was hesitant at first, seemed a little sketchy, but Aron eased my nerves with constant and timely emails every step of the way. Ordered my coins 7/3, delivered to me 7/9, mailed them to PFS on 7/10, delivered to PFS on 7/11, $750 credited the same day and I cashed it out to my Paypal on 7/14 due to the weekend. Used it to meet my bonus on my new Barclay Aviator Business CC. I’ll be in for their next deal for sure!
don’t send the coin to PFS.. I just sent mine this week and they refused to pay me.. they claimed the coin is lost and I won’t get paid…..it’s a loss of almost $1500!!! Think twice of the risk before you sending the coins.
Had you shipped it using the label they gave you? If so, I don’t know how it would’ve gotten lost along the way as it’d have tracking on it.
Packages with tracking get lost all the time. Usps “loses” millions a year
for those of who you have participated in the past, does the mint charge your CC immediately? or only upon shipping? haven’t gotten any confirmation email yet from mint nor a pending charge showing on my cc but i just have screenshot of confirmation page. first time trying this so i wanted to make sure i’m doing it properly. thanks for insights!
My card was charged and I can see a tracking number on the Mint site–looks like delivery early next week
does the coin itself have any face value – is it legal tender? or is it purely for collectors?
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Or you could just resell the coin yourself and make much more than $50.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-W-1-oz-Proof-Palladium-American-Eagle-25-Coin-w-Box-COA/153158565027?hash=item23a8f63ca3:g:z-sAAOSwHWJbjvF3
That’s just a listed price, not proof it will sell for that or near it. Plus you run risk a buyer return/fraud.
As D says, those are list prices. I wouldn’t expect that much. Prices are likely to dip and you’re looking at losing ~12% in eBay / PayPal fees plus the extra cost of shipping insured and signature required – you could certainly make something more than selling to PFS (after all, they are clearly counting on selling for more), but it’s not all that much more (and it’s not including the risk of a buyer returning a fake or claiming you sent them a fake, etc). Grant did a post the other day on how he tried to do this with a previous deal and ended up losing more than $200:
https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2018/09/04/psa-dont-try-to-beat-pfs-buyers-clubs-price/
I was into resale long before I discovered the world of miles and points. I am not averse to the risk of doing it on my own, but I’ll take a bird in the hand on this one — happy to take my $50 profit, easy spend, and points/cash back. The risk here is if PFS takes delivery of the coins and then closes shop and doesn’t pay out — unlike with eBay, you’re not getting the money up front (not that it really matters — eBay will just take the money back if the buyer convinces them that you sold a fake). I wouldn’t expect that scenario to happen since I’ve previously had good experiences with them — but TPM has certainly made it clear that anything is possible. As Stephen cautioned, I think everyone needs to evaluate his or her risk tolerance on this. I’ll take a small reduction in profit for the peace of mind of selling to someone who I know has at least paid me in the past. I wouldn’t buy ten of them to sell to PFS in a post-TPM world.
Sold mine to a local coin shop for $400 over list, cash in hand. no fees other than my gas to the shop which was 10 mins away. I’m sure the buyers of the PFS coins are paying the same premium, thus you get $50 and the risk of ultimate loss and PFS gets 80%+ of the profits. Sounds like a business partner i dont want to work with.
[…] Mint where you can make $50 profit and get $1,400 in credit card spending. You can read more on Frequent Miler and Doctor of Credit. Before you start thinking about making more than $50 by buying and […]
Is it safe purchasing from US Mint to meet Amex minimum spend?
Wondering same here.
I’ve made these purchases on an Amex before. I would think a collectible coin is not a cash equivalent, though I haven’t tested the theory.
I made a Mint purchase that counted as min spend for the biz plat. Though I’m not sure how it would be viewed if eyes were on the account.
I guess the above direct link to the deal gets you the referral credit?
No, it’s just a generic link – I didn’t include a referral link. I registered with PFS Buyers Club to see the full terms of the deal, but didn’t register for the deal itself.
It’s a little scary that you have to just send the coin to PFS and have to basically trust that they will pay you and not claim the coin wasn’t sent in the box or other ways they can get out of it.
It’s scary the first time, but they’re pretty reputable. My first deal with them was purchasing 4 iPhones, which came out to ~$4700…
Yep, there’s definitely some risk involved. There haven’t been any issues in the past that I’m aware of, but that’s no guarantee for the future. As we saw with The Plastic Merchant, there’s certainly the potential for things to go sour.
If they did try pulling some kind of stunt though, that’d put paid to any future deals they might want to offer.
Especially scary when they instruct you to not open the box when you received it. Perfect way to get scammed.
Not good. I understand the benefit to this offer to the churner, but you are enabling a company to hoard these coins and probably sell them at a higher price than one can get from the mint directly. I presume there is a limited supply. This site should not support this type of behavior, in my opinion.
I’d imagine that keen numismatists will be there at 12pm on September 6, so this deal shouldn’t take supply away from anyone that wants one for their own collection.
Ultimately, this deal involves buying and selling small, round pieces of metal. The US Mint, the buyer and PFS Buyers Club are all willing participants in the transaction, all three participants make a profit and nothing illegal takes place. It’s literally a win-win-win for all involved which doesn’t seem like particularly bad behavior to me.
If the price of the coins goes up afterwards, that’s because demand exceeds supply. The US Mint could fix that by minting additional coins.
Yup, or the Mint could charge more. Anyone who is offended by people making a profit, this is how a store works. Walmart, Target, etc. aren’t selling you items at cost.
I mean so what though? These are silly coins, not life-saving medicine. If someone hoards the coins and jacks them up to the real value people will pay for them, so what? Someone won’t get some dumb coin for as little as the mint would have offered? Eh.
I see where you are coming from (and I happen to agree about this offer) but if instead of coins these were concert tickets to your favorite artist, or a sporting event involving your favorite team, how would you feel? We (individuals) should not be helping companies skirt rules (one ticket or coin per person) to support their business model of carving out bigger profits from limited supplies of whatever item of interest is for sale.
Well, one, they AREN’T concert tickets. Nor are they lifesaving medicine.
Why shouldn’t companies skirt stupid rules when it leads to both myself and the company profiting? Something like a dumb coin should be sold at what it’s worth. Crazy, right? If people are willing to pay $2000 for a coin, well, derp, the Mint should charge $2000 for a coin. The Mint not charging that is their loss, and companies like PFS are making the market more efficient.
What is a derp? Just remember, when your favorite airline or hotel chain doubles or triples the points required for that redemption you want to make, it’s because “not charging that is their loss.”