🚨 Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only. Misusing financial tools or engaging in deceptive practices can lead to closed accounts, forfeited rewards, or even legal consequences. Always follow card issuer rules and the law.

What is Manufactured Spending (MS)?

Manufactured Spending (MS) is the practice of spending money on a credit card while getting all or most of it back, to earn rewards like:

• Points
  
• Miles
  
• Sign-up bonuses
  
• Cash back
  

You’re essentially cycling money through purchases on your credit card, and then depositing that money back into your bank to pay off the balance on your credit card. 

✅ Why People Do It:

• Hit minimum spending requirements for sign-up bonuses
  
• Earn ongoing points or cash back
• Hit milestone spending requirements like a hotel free night certificate
  
• Travel for free (or almost free) for individuals, couples, or families.

🔁 Common Manufactured Spending Methods

These change often. What works today might not work tomorrow, and what works in one location may not work in another.

1. Gift Cards + Money Orders

• Step 1: Buy Visa/Mastercard gift cards with your rewards-earning credit card.
  
• Step 2: Use those to buy money orders.
  
• Step 3: Deposit the money order into your bank account.
  
• Step 4: Pay off the credit card.
  
  

⚠️ Risks: Fees, shutdowns, fraud flags, gift card limits, or money order rejections.

🛑 Avoid cards that treat gift card purchases as cash advances (YMMV, but Amex is more strict about this than other banks).

2. Bill Payment Services

• Services like Plastiq let you pay bills (rent, tuition, etc.) with a credit card for a fee, which can range from 2.5–3%, so it's mostly useful as a one-off for hitting a sign-up bonus.

3. Online Portals + Gift Card Arbitrage

• Buy gift cards through a shopping portal for rewards and resell them for cash.
  
  

4. Buying Groups (More Below)

Buying groups are organizations or individuals who pay you to purchase products using your own credit cards. You send the items to them, and they reimburse you, and sometimes even pay you a small commission for your efforts. They are not exclusive clubs, and anyone can join. Active members are the lifeblood of their business.

Before getting involved, it's a good idea to do your due diligence on specific buying groups and check their reviews, payment timelines, and transparency.

🔍 How It Works:

1. You sign up with a trusted buying group like the ones on our Recommended Groups Page.
   
2. They will have listings on their webpage with their current deals (e.g., echo dots, air pods, laptops, game consoles), which will note the price of the item, the price they will pay you for the item, the address where you send it, and the expiration date of the deal.
   
3. You purchase items with a rewards credit card that earns points or cash back.
   
4. Ship the items to the buying group’s address as listed on their website.
   
5. They reimburse you + sometimes pay a small additional commission.
   
6. You get the credit card rewards without actually spending your own money.

✅ Pros:

• Easy way to hit high spending goals
  
• Can be scaled
  
• Great for new credit card churners
  

❌ Cons:

• Risk of non-payment if group is unreliable
  
• Some items are out-of-stock fast which can cause frustration
  
• Can tie up your credit line or bank funds if there are shipping or payment delays.

💳 Best Credit Cards for MS & Buying Groups

Cards with:

• High sign-up bonuses
• Milestone spending requirements (like a hotel free night certificate)
• Good fraud protection
• Strong rewards on non-category spend
  
  

Popular options:

• AmEx Blue Business Plus 
• AmEx Hilton Surpass 
• Chase World of Hyatt 
• Citi Double Cash
• Capital One Venture X

📊Track Everything to Stay Safe and Profitable

Anyone who purchases our Buying Groups 101 course or a membership in our Elite Community gets free access to Coda, which is our tracking software which allows you to easily to track:

• Purchases
  
• Shipments
  
• Reimbursements

🧠 Start Small

Begin with one card and a small buying group order. Don’t overextend right away.

🧾 Keep Receipts

Save invoices and screenshots for everything.

📉 Watch Out for:

• Gift card fraud
  
• Store limits or bans
  
• Credit card shutdowns
  
• Mistakes in shipping or payment
  
  

🧠 Final Thoughts

Manufactured Spending and Buying Groups can be powerful tools for earning points and miles, but they’re not risk-free and require discipline, tracking, and constant learning.

If done wisely, it’s a way to:

• Travel for pennies
  
• Hit spending goals
  
• Profit modestly
  

But if done recklessly, it can lead to:

• Financial loss
  
• Account bans
  
• Legal gray areas