UPDATE: It’s been confirmed that Walmart has in fact increased money order fees at most locations to $0.88.
Before I dive in, I want to point out that literally no one else on this planet cares about the possibility of Walmart increasing their money order fee to $0.88. Yet people in this community are getting out their calculators and figuring out what an $0.13 cent difference would mean for their manufactured spending costs (guilty).
Does it make a difference? Not unless you’re spending millions of dollars on Walmart money orders every year. In other words, this only affects me. 😉 In all seriousness, there’s one thing everyone seems to be overlooking: Not all Walmart stores charge the same fee for money orders, so chance are not everyone will be affected by this change, if it is indeed implemented.
I came across this story on Twitter via @deppilf, who shared a tweet from Doctor of Credit. Apparently there’s a rumor that Walmart stores will increase money orders to $0.88, starting Thursday.
Walmart MO fee going up to $0.88
— Doctor Of Credit (@Drofcredit) February 28, 2018
Walmart money order fee increase: Regional?
It’s unclear whether this is a regional change, but I don’t think it’s likely that Walmart would impose a flat $0.88 fee on money orders at all their stores. After all, Walmart money order fees typically range from $0.25 – $0.75 depending on the store and region.
I’ve been to Super Centers that charge $0.25 and Neighborhood Markets that charge $0.70 per $1,000. The most common fee is $0.55. These fees are location-based and I doubt Walmart would increase all fees to $0.88.
My guess is that this money order fee increase, if it does indeed happen, will be regional. And only at Neighborhood Market locations. Otherwise, it would be pretty ridiculous for some stores to go from charging $0.25 to $0.75 to $0.88.
Does the fee increase make a difference?
That being said, I’m sure most of you are wondering whether an increase as low as $0.13 would substantially increase manufactured spending costs for those who churn hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Visa gift cards every year. The answer? Not really. Even on a $100,000 monthly gift card churn, a $0.13 cent money order fee increase would translate to just $13.
If you’re still concerned about a $13 increase for that Japan airlines business class award, there are plenty of ways you can reduce that fee. For starters, iBotta lets you upload one “Any Item” receipt from Walmart everyday. The payout is just $0.25 but it takes literally 10 seconds to do.
Get a significant other to download the app and you’ll generate enough cash back every month to off-set that extra $13 liquidation fee on $100,000 worth of Visa gift cards. There are lots of other ways to off-set manufactured spending fees, but I’m using iBotta as an example of how easily this money order fee increase could be off-set.
I’ll update this post if I find out more about this. Meanwhile, if you hear anything please share it in the comment section.
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$398.81 and counting. I just signed up with your link so hopefully you will get a few more dollars.
Thank you!
I must be blessed to have a WM with no MO fees.
How is this even possible? Is there even civilization where you are (joke)?
After over a year, now they want to see the cards.
“In the Walmart of my dreams, there are no money order fees.” 😉
Say what?
Why do I only get “Any Item” offers every four or five days?
same here – I only get “Any item” offers on Ibotta every several days
That app is wonky. I’ve had people complain that they sometimes see it once a week. When I was still buying mo’s a couple of months ago, I could log on every 24 hours and see the Any Item option.
Hello to my favorite blogger ! I have been gift card reselling as of late. Not sure it’s worth all the time and headache. Thinking of going back to money orders. Are you still doing Office supply stores and buying 300s? And then converting to MO’s? I am guessing it’s costing you around $28 for 900 points (x5 with Ink)?
Thanks Brianne! I wouldn’t do it solely – for me, Visa gift card churning is easier (both in terms of effort and volume). However, merchant gift card reselling is a good way to diversify spend.
I am probably more limited by the restrictions at GC.com and GCMall.com. My preference is GCMall since their cards come activated and require signature upon delivery. My WM’s are spread over a big area and only do $2K each unless I can find the one WM clerk that will just keep doing the gift cards and does not care about a limit.
All WM’s in my area charge $0.70.
Lucky you! Still can’t get a GCM order approved to save my life.
My last order from GCM came in a box. I picked it up and straight to WM I go. I love not having to activate their cards. I have 2 accounts with them. My 1st account all goes well and just did $9500. My other account I do in incognito with topcash and then GCM. I cannot get an order to go through correctly at all. Might have something to do with IP address of the computer. Might try my desktop and see if that works, instead of the laptop. Also found that my 2nd account, would sometimes process a credit card payment and not an actual order. My Barclay account would show a $5K order, and it takes 5-7 days to drop off. That just eats up my credit line.
My local WM SUPERCENTER has a new sign up for $0.88 MOs, effective March 1. Clerks at other WM’s have not heard of a pending fee increase.
Mine also increased today. Though I’m still hearing from readers whose WM’s have not increased the fee.
My local walmart has updated the MO price to 88c on the board, but actual cost was still 70c as of yesterday. I guess March 1 effective date, that is it.
Yep!
Brian, I’m in the same boat. I contacted the Ibotta Twitter account and they said it was a minimum of 48 hours before the Any Item would reappear. But I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and tried to scan one on Monday and the Any Item didn’t show up for me.
Very odd, considering mine has usually replenished within 24 hours.
“Any Item” receipt from Walmart everyday? good for you, mine shows up weekly most time, never daily. Wish ariana can get an answer from ibotta?
can those who post about seeing (or not seeing) any increase in MO fees mention the state those WMs are in?
I’m in CA and my local store increased the fee. Heard from a reader in VA who says it hasn’t increased over there.
I thought we can’t buy MO at Walmart stores in CA
Yes, you can.
Since the average MO fee up to $1000 face value is 0.70, it’s not 13 cents difference but 0.18 which started today with 0.88 up to $1000 at a lot of WMs. There may be stores that have not increased their fee yet, I’ll not be surprised if some even have a fee rollback. LOL.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that bad although it can be significant for those pushing $100K++ per month. I’d rather focus on the rewards than this fee increase; at least they didn’t hardcode NO more VGCs for B/P and/or MO that many stores have enforced now. With the increase in MO fee at WM, I may be visiting my grocery stores a lot more since the fee is .75 per $1000 and allow up to 6 swipes to drain up to $3000 w/o filling a form. I’d still visit WM to load my BBs and Serves for free ; )
“At least $0.13” – some MO fees are as high as $0.75.
Paid $.88 today in Florida
Thanks for sharing Jay! I went to WM with my GC.com Master card and it only processes as a credit . WM couldn’t show a debit option, neither could the Post office and Amscot only takes cash for MO’s. It’s been a day of failures and I really want to succeed at this! Did you buy it with a visa or master card? Where did you purchase the card?
Keep trying Andreene! The debit option only shows up after you hit the “cancel” button on the screen. See this post: https://www.pointchaser.com/the-trick-to-buying-money-orders-with-mastercard-gift-cards/
Ariana… The visa cards I got from giftcard.com through Yazing will not work at Walmart for MO.. so then I tried to just buy a pack of gum at the register and it still would not work.. I went to two different Walmarts and they said they wouldnt work.. They are the exact same cards I have been getting for two years.. any idea what may be wrong.. should I contact the number on the back??
Did you activate them? If that’s not the problem, then I would call giftcards.com.
Yes, call the number on the back.
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I also have luck at Kroger’s. They charge me 0.90
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The slight increase to .88 per $800 now pushes me to more ubiquitous, shorter-lined, zero-drama locations like Publix (@.89 per $500), even though high-volumes can raise eyebrows at a few locations
Lucky! I wish I had a Publix around here. Way to look at the glass half full!