(Update: This 5/24 opportunity is no longer available. You can still sign up for an account and be alerted of the next opportunity roughly 48 hours prior.)
New deal May 24th, 2021. The US Mint regularly releases limited-edition coins to collectors. The coin sets are often limited by household. PFS Buyers Club is a website broker that recruits regular folks to buy their allotted coin set with a set markup amount, with the agreement that they will sell only to PFS Buyers Club. For example, you might pay $300 for a coin and they’ll agree to pay you $350 for it – a fixed profit of $50.
On Monday, May 24th at 12:00 pm Noon Eastern Time, there is a new guaranteed profit opportunity. You can buy up to 10 sets of two different limited-edition Morgan Silver dollars. You can buy 10 of each coin at $85 each plus $4.95 shipping, which should cost you $854.95. PFS will pay you $1000 ($145.05 commission) for those 10 coins. If you do this for both of the two sets, you will spend $1,709.90 and get paid $2,000 for a total profit of $290.10. One minor wrinkle on this offer is that they don’t expect to ship until October, but they also won’t charge your card until October.
Note that the eventual value of the set may exceed that elsewhere – you may be able to get $120 for each coin on eBay, for example – but if you want to make that bet, don’t promise to sell to PFS Buyers Club. Just buy it on your own and try to sell it yourself. Keep in mind that eBay seller fees can be quite high, and you’ll be responsible for other costs like the proper shipping with adequate insurance. PFS Buyers Club will send you a free prepaid mailing label (including insurance) and pay you via eCheck, paper check, or PayPal.
You’ll also earn credit card rewards on your purchase (worth another $34.20 here at 2% cash back), or also possibly satisfying the requirements for some $500+ value credit card bonuses. This makes the total net profit safely over $300. Note the October wrinkle above though for timing purposes. (Added: There is concern that American Express and Fidelity credit cards might not award points on US Mint purchases, so to be safe I would use alternative cards.)
My past experience. I used PFS back in March for the first time, and everything went smoothly and I was paid my money in full without issue. The amount of communication was great and better than expected; I was kept up-to-date every step of the way. The total time commitment was about 30 minutes for $400+ profit, including the stop at the Fedex store to drop off the box with prepaid label. The eCheck option worked great – I printed the check out at home and deposited immediately via mobile app. PFS has a very solid reputation online, and I referred several blog readers last time and did not receive a single complaint. (Some folks were unable to buy the coins from the US Mint itself.)
Here are the two coins: Morgan 2021 Silver Dollar w/ O Mark and Morgan 2021 Silver Dollar w/ CC Mark. Here is a direct quote of the deal text:
On Monday, May 24th, at 12:00PM ET the US Mint will be releasing two limited edition Morgan Silver Dollars. Each has a purchase limit of ten per household, so you’re able to buy ten of each. The cost of each Silver Dollar is $85.00, and when adding the $4.95 shipping charge, each order will total $854.95.
You will have each order shipped to your own house or office and then ship it to PFS Buyers Club with a prepaid shipping label that we will provide for you. Please note: The Mint only intends on shipping these “beginning in October”. They will not charge your credit card until they ship.
PFS will be offering a commission of $145.05 for each order for a total payout of $1,000.00. To be clear, you have the opportunity to place two orders of $854.95 each or $1,709.90 in total, and we’ll be paying you $2,000.00 for a total profit of $290.10! This is also a great opportunity to earn valuable points/miles on your credit cards, as well as meet any spending thresholds..
If you want to jump on this, you can sign up to join PFS Buyers Club here. Sometimes these deals fill up, so I would sign-up and opt-in sooner rather than later. You can still opt out of the deal until an hour prior to the coins going on sale. They will provide very detailed instructions. Follow them carefully, and it was pretty easy for me as a first-time buyer. If you use that link, I will receive a referral fee if you successfully sell your coin for a profit. Thanks for those that use it, and for those that already used it last time! I will be opting in myself as well.
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Has there been a determination as to whether American Express is processing these orders from the U.S. Mint as a cash advance? I understand, effective 1/15/21, the AMEX terms state that the purchase of “precious metals or bullion” may be treated as a cash advance. That means that the purchase would not earn points and would also begin accruing interest immediately at the cash advance rate.
That’s an intriguing consideration that I think bears doing some additional research, though it almost sounds like maybe you already have your answer, no? I had a similar issue when looking into purchasing cryptocurrency with a credit card, where it would be treated as a cash advance…
I’ve seen lots of discussion announcing this change on various message boards, but I have not seen anyone actually confirm whether AMEX is treating purchases from the U.S. Mint as cash advances since the change went into effect.
I also don’t know the details of this, one way or the other. Buying gold bullion and precious metals as a commodity is different than these collectible items from the US Mint (which cost way over spot price), so I don’t know if the US Mint purchases are a cash advance for AmEx. I would probably err on the safe side, though, if I had multiple options. I used my BofA rewards card with no issue.
Thanks Jonathan. I called AMEX, and they indicated that if the merchant codes the item as a cash equivalent, it will be treated as a cash advance. I then called the U.S. Mint to see if they knew how these purchases were coded, and they essentially had no idea. I have to believe there are folks that used their AMEX during the last PFS Buyers Club offering that could share the results of their experience!
I just checked my BofA account and it was coded under the MCC #9399 (Government Services), adjacent to things like tax payments and court fines.
Interesting Jonathan, thank you for that. This would suggest they may not be coding them as the purchase of cash equivalents.
There are reports of Fidelity 2% back card not awarding points on US Mint purchases. AmEx says they don’t award points for bullion and precious metal, but I don’t see reports that US Mint purchases are coded as bullion or precious metal by AmEx. These seem more likely buying Supreme clothing or Louis Vuitton bags, actually, given that the cost much more than the raw goods.
Jonathan,
Any reports on Capital One and the Quicksilver card? Fidelity is my go-to card, but I would try for at least 1.5% cashback if points are not earned with Fidelity.
No, I haven’t seen any negative reports on Capital One credit cards.
I purchased the cold coins in March using an American Express card. It was NOT coded as a cash advance.
Great, thanks Greg!
So you buy these coins and how long before you have to mail them off? Why Do they want us to buy the coins, why can’t they just buy them. Are they turning around and reselling them for a lot more?
>>So you buy these coins and how long before you have to mail them off?
The contract with PFS Buyers Club obligates you to send out your package unopened to them within two days of receiving it from the US Mint (in October).
>>Why Do they want us to buy the coins, why can’t they just buy them.
Each household is allowed to place one order of up to 10 coins. Since PFS Buyers Club wants more coins than that, they are paying their members to aid in this process.
>>Are they turning around and reselling them for a lot more?
Yes, that’s the business model.
Thanks for the post and opportunity. I signed up for another PFS using a different email address this time, hopefully it will trigger a referral.
not worth the risk
What’s the risk?
Just received another email which I understood as having two separate PFS ids if planning to get in on both deals. can someone confirm if that is true
I think that was not the best choice of words on Aron’s part. He means you have to opt in to two separate deals, one for each coin (Morgan O + Morgan CC). So two PFS deal id #s, not two different PFS accounts.
Does the pre-paid label just go on top of the existing labels on the package, or do they include a box as well to place the box(es) from the mint inside of?
Thanks!
You place labels (sent via email or downloaded) on the existing packaging. Every step is laid out for you. Email communication is almost overkill. Its a well defined process and easy process if you are sucessful getting the order in at the Mint. That is the hardest part by far.
Do you have to do the full 10 coins for $850 or could you opt to do just 1-2 coins for $85 ea?
‘ if you are sucessful getting the order in at the Mint.”
What is the difficulty & process there?
Is this something that you have to be sitting at your keyboard at 6am the morning the deal goes live like a black friday doorbuster or something?
You have to do all 10 coins. Yes, you have to be sitting at your keyboard at 12 noon Eastern on Monday, May 24th. So not in the middle of the night.
Do you get a 1099 from PFS?
These are the parts i would worry about:
– Risk of Loss. Risk of loss for the Coin shall pass to PFS upon Federal Express, UPS, or United States Postal Service, as the case may be, acknowledging receipt of the package containing the Coin utilizing the applicable Prepaid Shipping Label. To the extent that Federal Express, UPS, or United States Postal Service, as applicable, does not acknowledge receipt of the package containing the Coin utilizing the applicable Prepaid Shipping Label, PFS shall not bear any responsibility for the Coin and responsibility for risk of loss shall remain with Member.
– Liquidated Damages for Non-Delivery of Coin to PFS. To the extent that Member does not deliver the Coin to PFS, Member acknowledges and agrees that Member shall be in breach of this Agreement and that as a result, PFS shall sustain lost profits as a result of same. Accordingly, if Member fails to deliver the Coin to PFS, then Member agrees that Member shall be liable for liquidated damages as a penalty equal to the lost profits sustained by PFS from non-delivery of the Coin. PFS shall advise Member of the amount of the lost profits sustained by PFS from non-delivery of the Coin and Member shall remit payment of such amount of lost profits within five (5) days thereafter.
Let’s say you buy them, you receive them and them ship them to PFS and they end up saying they didn’t receive them. You’re out the money for the coins and you have to pay out whatever damages they deem appropriate.
My reading is that if you get a receipt from the shipper when you hand them your package, that is your proof that risk of loss is then passed on to PFS. You could take a photo of your package with the shipping label to prove that’s what you handed over to the shipper if you’d like additional proof.
FedEx will give you a receipt upon drop off acknowledging the package was accepted and should payoff if they cannot prove it was delivered to PFS. The only real unsecured risk is PFS going bankrupt or going out of business or “braking bad” (like owner embezzlement) in between the time you ship the coins and they pay you off – just like every other commercial transaction where goods/services are not paid at time of receipt (like a retail store).
Jonathan,
Can we do this for two separate PFS account (each account opting for both the coin), say one for me and one for my wife – with two different email & credit card – but same home address – so effectively, doubling the $300, making in $600 profit.
Thanks
Richard
Just found this – “Make sure you have multiple US Mint accounts each consisting of another billing and shipping address if you plan on placing more than 1 order of 10 coins”
so looks like one per address.
Yes, the US Mint limits based on “household”.
Everybody makes money, what can go wrong?
You are acting as an unsecured middleman, so your entire investment for one should PFS decide to keep your coins and not pay you for any reason. I hold several gift cards from Sharper image and other well known retailers that are worthless after bankruptcy, same concept here, giving assets (cash) in advance before delivery of goods or payment. This is simple Arbitrage, PFS is exploiting a difference in the cost our government is selling limited “collectibles” at far less than they are willing to pay in the open market. I was a coin & stamp collecting fanatic until I discovered girls and beer around 14 yo then I never looked at them again.
I suppose another realistic risk is that the US Mint decides to up the production level this time around and they are less scare and therefore now less valuable to PFS who refuse the coins and close up shop. You’d be stuck with coins paid at far higher than the spot price of silver.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow!
True, your risk relies on PFS solvency between the time you ship them off and are reimbursed. The coin runs are limited editions and should otherwise be easily liquidated for a small profit if PFS went insolvent before then. I am also watching this to see whether these coins are worth the additional effort in the future to separately sell and/or grade & sell on my own online. There is a whole submarket on flipping collectibles which has come to light during COVID times – from sports cards to things as simple as inflatable pools last year.
Also, as a general note, you can find on eBay multiple sold/completed presales of these Morgan dollars for ~100% markup. If you had time/patience, you could easily double your $1700 investment. Also, per the Mint, it appears there is a second release June 1st with different mint marks
was just able to get one set of coins. Could not finish the order for second one. Thanks Jonathan
Many thanks again JP for sharing this deal. Took 20 minutes of around and around but got both eventually. I combined the 2 coins into 1 cart out of frustration and eventually got charged, hopefully this won’t mess them up. I don’t get this collectible fanaticism of late, especially with these coins that are re-productions. To have, hold and toss around the originals that are 100 years old, especially with the rare mint marks, would be cool for a few minutes but after that… Hope others fared well.
I was able to buy both sets, though it did take about 15 minutes of constantly refreshing. Given the $290 profit, plus 2% back on my credit card ($34),. the total return will be $334 for what will likely be an hour’s work. Assuming PFS follows through. Otherwise, you will see these for sale on EBay. A lot of them.
Congrats to everyone who was able to purchase coins. Cloudflare didn’t like the internet connection I was using this time for some reason, it kept saying “Bad Gateway”, and always right after pushing the final payment button for some reason. I never got this error last time.
I saw that too several times and also a “the Mint website is down” message. Likely entered my CC info 20+ times in 20 minutes (thank god for Chrome saving everything but the CVS digits). As MT noted above, there maybe another opportunity 6-1-21 with the same coins with 2 different mint marks.
I had the same experience and was only able to order the second set of coins. Reported that to PFS and they canceled my “arrangement” for the first one, but I’ll at least get half of this deal.