Adventures in Manufactured Spending- UPDATE

 UPDATE:  A reader has pointed out that physical gift cards are no longer available on the Sony site.  Only e-giftcards.  That seriously compromises the value of this deal since cardpool will only pay 70% for e-gift cards.  You still earn a profit, but only $2.80 per card.  That's probably not worth the effort for most folks.  Anyway, here's how the deal would work now:

1.  Sync card to Twitter @ sync.americanexpress.com.
2.  Tweet "#AmexSony Spend w/ synced Card & receive credit."
3.  Click-thru Topcashback to earn 5% back on Sony purchases
4.  Purchase $100 Sony gift card, pay with Synced Amex ($25 will post 1-2 days after transaction posts)
5.  Once GC arrives, sell to Cardpool.com for $70 after click-thru from Topcashback (earning 4% on the sale)

Sale price ($70) + statement credit ($25) + purchase rebate ($5) + Cardpool rebate ($2.80) = $102.8 for a profit of $2.80 per card.

Original post is below the jump.



I'm always on the lookout for ways to generate credit card spending that are "revenue neutral" to me.  Even better, some deals allow you to actually turn a profit from spending money.  I discussed one of those here last year.  Well, the Amex Sony deal is back again this year.

Amex has a Twitter Sync deal with Sony right now that gives $25 off a $100 purchase, including gift cards.  Each of your Amex cards (including authorized users) is eligible, if it is synced to a separate Twitter account.  Here's the way I've played it. 

1.  Sync card to Twitter @ sync.americanexpress.com.
2.  Tweet "#AmexSony Spend w/ synced Card & receive credit."
3.  Click-thru Topcashback to earn 5% back on Sony purchases (including physical gift cards but not e-gift cards)
4.  Purchase $100 Sony gift card, pay with Synced Amex ($25 will post 1-2 days after transaction posts)
5.  Once GC arrives, sell to Cardpool.com for $75 after click-thru from Topcashback (earning 4% on the sale)

Sale price + statement credit + purchase rebate + cardpool rebate = $108 for a profit of $8 per card.  You can do this once per card, provided each card is synced to a separate Twitter account.  Plus you earn the points for spending $100 on each of your Amex cards!  Since I set up twitter accounts for all my Amexes last year, I'll be on this deal like a duck on a junebug.

CAVEAT:  Several of the links above are referral links.  I'll benefit if you sign up through them, but my policy is to maximize the deal for the reader.  I do not offer referral links if a better deal is available.