The HfP chat thread – Friday 19th February

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• Travel Strong says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:10

  Ebay: This weekend is another £1 max selling fee weekend (which is a true £1 only if you enable the new option for funds to go to your bank direct instead of via PayPal).

  You must activate first.
  Not everyone gets an email, but if you open the app and keep refreshing the home screen, it will cycle through offers and one of them is an advert to click and active £1 max fees.

  • Rich says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:21

    Thanks. Just opted in. Good timing, as I have some relatively expensive items to list.

    Sold some low value items last week and the postage – min £2.90 for tracked – is really hurting the profit. Is it madness to send untracked? is that just an invitation for buyers to claim item not received?

    • Travel Strong says:

      19 Feb19 February 09:49

      Proof of postage only (not tracking) will cover you for basic proof. If you are selling low value items, it may be easier to just suck up the 1% of transactions that go awry for the sake of saving on the other 99%.

      However the general public have ever increasing expectations and some will harass you for a tracking number immediately, even if they did not pay for a tracked service, and even if the package is not late.

      • The real John says:

        19 Feb19 February 10:48

        POP covers you against stolen credit cards and hacked paypals, and you use it to apply for reimbursement of your lost items plus postage fee from RM (but you must refund the buyer beforehand).

        It is the seller’s responsibility to pay for a tracked service to protect themselves as buyers just bid less if they see a higher postage charge.

        Before COVID I would get annoyed at sellers who use tracking but don’t upload the tracking number immediately (and about 70% of sellers don’t ever upload it). If I had the number I could see that the postman attempted delivery and pick it up on my way home (my sorting office lets you do that same day). Now it doesn’t matter as the postman does the signing.

    • kevbar says:

      19 Feb19 February 09:53

      If the buyer has lots of good feedback I send non-tracked, but doesn’t seem worth it on expensive items.

      On the last £1 offer I sold a couple of things and had the full amount minus £1 credited to my bank within a couple of days, excellent service.

      • KBuffett says:

        19 Feb19 February 10:09

        It’s impossible for a buyer to have anything other than good feedback

        • Zoe says:

          19 Feb19 February 13:10

          True but looking at the feedback they have given as a buyer can be enlightening.

    • ChrisA says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:11

      Yes I would just go tracked – have been stung a couple of times by the buyer saying they hadn’t received the item, and PayPal always believes them.

    • The real John says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:31

      Buy stamps at a discount and/or wait for an Amex offer at a shop selling stamps.

      Most people are honest, unless you sell in a risky category. Don’t ever sell popular phones as you have about 20% chance of the buyer being a scammer who will pretend you sent them a brick.

      A business simply sets the prices to absorb the 0.5% of lying buyers or items genuinely lost, but if you sell only one item you could get stung.

    • the_real_a says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:55

      Also look at “Large Letter” size via Royal Mail. You can buy boxes that fit this size exactly. I send low value items under £10 untracked. About 1 in 100 items are reported missing for me (low risk, boring items). Printing off labels from eBay for Royal Mail prints a barcode – i saw a significant reduction in claims when i switched from stamps to eBay labels. I presume buyers “THINK” the item is tracked because there is a barcode.

    • Zoe says:

      19 Feb19 February 11:05

      I always used to send everything signed for, free postage for buyers, all buy it now. Now my listings still say 2nd Signed for (if buyers bother to look) but under about £20 I don’t do signed for anymore. But I do buy labels that have a fake barcode, QR code and Tracked Delivery no signature required which I stick on the back. They come from rapidlabels who have an obvious email address.

  • Andrew says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:37

    Seems to be every other weekend now. Presumably if you’re selling your own personal belongings and they’re not above the capital gains single article limit, then there aren’t any tax implications for selling on eBay?

    • The real John says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:33

      Correct, but HMRC has been writing to people with several thousands going into their paypal in a tax year. Lowest I heard of was £4000

      • MattB says:

        19 Feb19 February 11:41

        I got queried maybe 10-15 years ago, sold most of my dvd/cd/games collection over a few months. Can’t remember the value but less than £10k. Just called up and said I could send them hundreds of emails from the original purchases to show I hadn’t actually profited, thankfully they said not necessary they were just checking.

        • BP says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:25

          I was turning over £35k+ on ebay about 17 years ago. There was no HMRC interest at that time.

        • Rhys says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:26

          Did HMRC even know what the internet was 17 years ago? 😉

        • Rob says:

          19 Feb19 February 12:59

          It’s no better now. If you pay VAT you will know that, since April 2019, you have had to submit the 9 relevant numbers electronically – this means they must be sent via an electronic software package (ie a direct link to Xero or similar) and not simply typed into the HMRC website. This was a George Osborne initiative to show how hi-tech we were in the UK.

          According to reports, HMRC then had to hire 1,000 people to take all this submitted data and re-input it into their system in the original format, because they couldn’t actually process the electronic version.

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          19 Feb19 February 13:54

          I do miss the old days of the local tax office picking out arithmetic errors in my tax return and refunding the 23p payment error that resulted :D.

  • Travel Strong says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:41

    Just listed my HP301 ink cartridges as the Tesco round here has no envelopes for points!

    • Travel Strong says:

      19 Feb19 February 09:43

      … and now sold! Took all of 8 minutes.

• James. says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:17

  Following on from my post a few weeks back. I have finally got Virgin Money to get my Reward posted for credit card spend. Met the spend back in October and have been chasing for it ever since. Only took multiples emails and calls. Got there in the end. Now have to do the same for my wife card. Clearly something went wrong with their systems over the COVID period

• Definitas says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:43

  Having lost faith in VIrgin Atlantic weathering the storm, I shifted my points into IHG. I would normally try to use them in the US or for airport stopovers but, with foreign travel looking unlikely, I am hoping I might be able to have a fe nights in the UK. I am not interested in London but any tips for leisure locations for IHG group hotels would be welcome

  • Andrew says:

    19 Feb19 February 09:54

    Voco St David’s on Cardiff bay is a very nice 5* hotel with balconies looking over the bay and a very nice spa. Always a steal on points (or cash rates too).

    • Rhys says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:06

      …And I reviewed it in 2019! https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2019/03/03/review-voco-st-davids-hotel-cardiff/

      • Aston100 says:

        19 Feb19 February 10:10

        And I’m staying there this summer! (assuming Malaysia and Thailand say no)

  • Aston100 says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:09

    Yorkshire.
    CP Harrogate is reasonable and the town itself is a good base for exploring, as most of the major attractions seem to be within 30 minutes drive.

    York is another option.
    There is an Indigo there that is often available at good points or cash prices.

    Depending on your interests, there is enough activity to take up a couple of weeks when basing yourself in both of these two locations.

    • the_real_a says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:58

      Had a decent stay at CP harrogate in the summer. Very nice hotel room, walk-able to anywhere in Harrogate – 5 minutes from free on street parking area. Surprised at the number of attractions within a short drive. Prices were just silly at £40-50 a night.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Feb19 February 11:36

      Did you come across anywhere nice to have tea in Harrogate? I’m not really a fan of Betty’s

      • Aston100 says:

        19 Feb19 February 11:51

        Alas, we only did Bettys, but in York not Harrogate.
        The queue to get in to the Harrogate branch was longer than when King Kod (Preston) do their occasional £1 fish & chips offer. And that takes some beating!

      • Yorkieflyer says:

        19 Feb19 February 12:31

        Wetherspoons at the Royal Baths deserves an honourable mention

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      19 Feb19 February 12:27

      Yorkshire the one place in the UK worth bothering with for a staycation, sadly can all be done on days out 🧐

  • Anna says:

    19 Feb19 February 12:26

    The Indigo Durham is lovely. You’ve got Durham, obviously, plus Newcastle nearby to explore and the wider area which is beautiful.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      19 Feb19 February 12:28

      Wider area being Gods Own Country?

  • Ash Raj says:

    19 Feb19 February 12:52

    I stayed at the Indigo Stratford Upon Avon last year. Was an excellent stay great location and service.

• Tom says:

  19 Feb19 February 09:58

  Morning,

  I’ve just cancelled my Amex Gold card. I know I now need to wait 24 months before I am eligible for the New Cardmember Offer (Earn 20,000 Membership Rewards® points), but how long until I am eligible for the Annual Fee Waiver (in First Year)?

  It seems not to be explicitly mentioned anywhere. Has anyone got any guidance on this? Is it also 24 months?

  Thanks

  Tom

  • Travel Strong says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:16

    Next time you apply and are approved, you will get the first year free. No gap requirement.

  • Jay says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:17

    IME, if you cancel then take it out a new card, you get another year free. No need to wait 24 months but obviously no welcome bonus unless you wait 24 months.

    • BJ says:

      19 Feb19 February 10:39

      Correct, but still sweet as you can be referred for it, refer from it, and add a supp for more points. IMO, there is no point passing up on those plus 2x lounge access plus amex offers for 24m just to get a 20k sign up bonus that might well be enhanced or disappear in the interim.

  • Rob says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:31

    No gap. You can apply tomorrow and get a free year AFAIK.

    Remember that you can apply for a Business Gold/Plat in 6 months (if you have a business) and it doesn’t impact your 24 month wait for a personal card.

• KBuffett says:

  19 Feb19 February 10:20

  I need to spend £7k today to get a 10k AmEx MR bonus on Gold. Any ideas how I can achieve this?

  • Rob says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:28

    You can book a £7k refundable flight ticket.

    The problem is that when you refund it in your next card year, it will add to your spend target – so next year needs £22,000 of spend.

    • Charlieface says:

      19 Feb19 February 15:19

      Doesn’t the 10k get taken off when you refund? Or am I mixing this up with the sign-up bonus?

      • Rob says:

        19 Feb19 February 17:23

        Possibly – it depends if they treat this differently to a sign-up bonus (and indeed if you move all your points before the refund hits).

    • KBuffett says:

      19 Feb19 February 22:24

      I find BA’s cancellations terms contradictory:

      Refunds
      If you cancel a refund is permitted, subject to recalculation of the fare for any journey flown. There are no cancellation fees.

      Service fees
      To cancel your booking it is £15 online or £30 by phone. To make changes to the date/time it is free online or £30 by phone.

  • Alex D says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:32

    Top-up a utility provider account? PayPal a friend(small fee maybe)? Fully refundable hotel stay and cancel in a week?(will just tak into next year most likely, so you’ll need to earn more)
    Gift vouchers?

  • The real John says:

    19 Feb19 February 10:37

    I don’t see the point unless you will easily spend £15k (not including this £7k) next year. Otherwise you might as well put this £7k to some other target and cancel the card.

  • Harry T says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:09

    Send me 7k on PayPal 😂

  • Vit says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:20

    Haha, I was on the same boat but decided not to be bothering with.

  • MattB says:

    19 Feb19 February 11:46

    Get someone to sell something on eBay for £7k with the current £1 max fee deal, buy it and don’t pay via PayPal.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    19 Feb19 February 16:17

    Forget about it cancel the card and sign up again in a few weeks from a friend/partners referral link

• estrangeiro8 says:

  19 Feb19 February 10:35

  OT. Just received an email from Amex offering cardmembers one month free subscription for National Theatre at Home. Limited numbers of subscriptions every day. Plenty of excellent theatrical productions if you’re getting bored of Netflix and iplayer. I watched some of the free shows on their Youtube channel last year which were great. The subscription will auto-renew, so remember to cancel before the month is up.

• Alexis says:

  19 Feb19 February 10:50

  Anyone having trouble finding how to initiate a switch on Virgin account?

  • Peter K says:

    19 Feb19 February 13:05

    If you mean for three bonus 15k Virgin points then you need to go via Virgin Red (website or app).

  • Clive says:

    19 Feb19 February 13:28

    Yes had the same problem and discussed in chat which didn’t resolve the problem. Have them a call and it was done in 5 minutes

• Simon says:

  19 Feb19 February 10:52

  Hyatt datapoint (for those who went for the 30-day mattress run for full Globalist) • the full Milestone awards have posted exactly 10 days after the initial account change to Globalist.

  @MinR – you were spot-on! 😉 Thanks again.

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