1-800-Flowers Ninja Tricks
I have never been huge on the 1-800-Flowers deals that surface from time to time. Yes, there seems to be incredible opportunity, but it always appeared too complicated for me. Sometimes 1-800-Flowers would change the rules of a promo in the middle and other times things wouldn’t track, etc. I guess it finally took a KILLER deal to get me on board.
Putting Deals Together
A few weeks ago Shop at Home offered 3X their normal cashback rate at a number of stores. Among those stores was 1-800-Flowers where the normal 12% rate became 36%. Seeing that number piqued my interest and I began looking at how best to leverage it. Then I remembered there was a $15 off $50 Amex Offer on all 32 of my family’s cards.
After a quick review of the portal terms (gift cards weren’t excluded), I purchased 32 X $50 1-800-Flowers gift cards on separate orders. Each order was paid for with a different Amex card linked to the Amex Offer. It took me about 90 seconds per order or just less than an hour total. I instantly received the email confirming I had used my Amex Offer.
The Math
According to my math, the cost for a $50 card should have been $17. (A 66% discount off of face value!)
- Cost of gift card: $50
- Minus 36% cashback: -$18
- Minus Amex Offers credit: -$15
- Total cost: $17
Then I remembered that Amex OPEN business cards receive an additional 5% off at 1-800-Flowers. In theory if everything worked, this would trigger an additional $2.50 discount bringing the cost down to $15.50 per $50 card. (Only on cards purchased with an OPEN business Amex card.)
Did It Work?
While Shop at Home isn’t the quickest portal to post transactions normally, my purchases all posted within the night. By the next day I had 32 X $18 transactions pending on my account!
It did take a couple of days to show up, but the Amex Offers credit also came through.
And on my Amex OPEN business cards, the additional $2.50 credit showed up as well.
I ended up using 12 business cards and 20 personal cards to make purchases, meaning my total cost was $514 for $1,600 worth of 1-800-Flowers gift cards. A total discount off face value of $1,086 or 67.88%.
What to Do Now
Some of you may be wondering why I want so many of these gift cards? Well, from here I will wait for another good promo to come along and then use Frequent Miler’s Extreme Stacking techniques to redeem the gift cards. I am fairly confident that I will be able to get my total cost for merchandise purchased very close to $0. If worse comes to worse, I could always sell them at 61% of face value and still make a decent profit.
What to Buy
You may also be wondering what I might buy for that much money. Well, of course there are flowers which I will need from time to time, but these gift cards can be used at any of their brands which opens up the options. Harry & David for example has some nice food baskets and even some appetizing steak and lobster options!
Conclusion
Beyond buying 1-800-Flowers gift cards, this is an example of seeing a deal and figuring out how to best leverage it. I woke up in the morning and saw the portal payout and then was able to put together the other pieces with a little help from Frequent Miler. Deals like this do exist still and there are plenty of opportunities out there. Now does anyone want some “free” lobster?
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[…] Pro tip: really savvy shoppers might even take this a step (or two) further. For example, if you know there is a good discounted gift card at eBay, you might be able to find a discounted eBay gift card FIRST (then use that discounted eBay card to pay for your next discounted gift card). If you’re having trouble wrapping your head around that one, check out this post on the art of gift card churning. Once you think you’re ready to earn your black belt in churning & stacking, check out these money-saving ninja tricks. […]
I’ve not received Celebration Rewards when using gift cards (purchased at 50% off on Raise.com) in the past 2 months. On one occasion where I split payment between a gift card and credit card, I received Celebration Rewards only for the portion I put on the credit card. I have not purchased gift cards directly from 1-800-Flowers so can’t speak to earning Celebration Rewards that way.
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I dont understand why you dont just come clean and admit that you have yummie hotties all over you and you have to buy them flowers to maintain the relationship. I just hope $1600 is enough to cover them all around the world…
The only hottie I have is my wife of 15 years, but you are right $1,600 is probably not enough to maintain that relationship. She is a saint! 🙂
Could you use these during one of the southwest promos (1750 per $30) to get almost 100K miles?
I’m trying that again.
Does the purchase of a gift card earn CELEBRATION reward points? I am imagining not. If so, that would be another $5 value per $50 card.
32 family cards!? My respect! mom, dad, wife, yourself 4 charge cards and 4 co-branded?
AU cards have unique numbers and their own offers.
Does the purchase if a gift card earn CELEBRATION points? I am imaging not. If so that would be another $5 value per $50 card.
No it doesn’t, but I will earn Celebration points when using them.
@Shawn-
“on all 32 of my family’s cards”
Now that’s just downright obscene my friend! Jamaican me cRaZy here!