Cash Your Economic Stimulus Check At Walmart

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In summary: Brand B for $60.In summary, Wal-Mart is offering stimulus money to those who don't have a bank account and it's free to load onto the Wal-Mart MoneyCard. The card has no annual fee and is accepted at places where Visa debit cards are accepted. Additionally, Wal-Mart is selling big screen TVs and cases of twinkies.
  • #1
edward
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Food stores lure stimulus money with varied incentives

No bank account needed at walmart

Wal-Mart's stimulus deal apparently targets those who don't have a bank account at all.
At Wal-Mart stores or Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets the company will cash the stimulus check without charging the customary $3 fee.
If you load any portion of the stimulus money onto a Wal-Mart MoneyCard and you are a first-time MoneyCard holder, the store will credit the normal $8.94 card issuance fee back to the card account once you activate it.
MoneyCard is a reloadable prepaid Visa card that is accepted everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted, not just at Wal-Mart stores.
The maximum amount is $2,999, and the offer is good until July 31.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/240494.php

With the cost of food going up apparently a basket full of food is now considered a big ticket item. And remember that the prepaid Visa debit card can be used to buy gasoline.:rolleyes:
 
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  • #2
edward said:
Food stores lure stimulus money with varied incentives

No bank account needed at walmart



http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/biz-topheadlines/240494.php

With the cost of food going up apparently a basket full of food is now considered a big ticket item. And remember that the prepaid Visa debit card can be used to buy gasoline.:rolleyes:

You can buy more than just food at WalMart. It's very clever of them to get people to sink the whole check into a store card so you have to spend it all at WalMart. I wonder how many people are stupid enough to do that though? Then again, if they don't even have a bank account to cash their own check, they already have money management problems. I guess if someone pretty much only shops at WalMart anyway, and doesn't have a bank account to put the money into, it's not a bad deal to not have to pay a check cashing fee. On the other hand, $600 is enough to open a bank account.
 
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  • #3
Moonbear said:
You can buy more than just food at WalMart. It's very clever of them to get people to sink the whole check into a store card so you have to spend it all at WalMart. I wonder how many people are stupid enough to do that though? Then again, if they don't even have a bank account to cash their own check, they already have money management problems. I guess if someone pretty much only shops at WalMart anyway, and doesn't have a bank account to put the money into, it's not a bad deal to not have to pay a check cashing fee. On the other hand, $600 is enough to open a bank account.

Most Walmarts also sell big screen TV's. Come to think of it all I need is a 52 inch TV and a case of twinkies.:smile:
 
  • #4
A while back, we got a letter from the IRS telling us that we would be getting a check. Postage and processing for that letter must have been $1 at least. Today we got second letter telling us that our check would be arriving on the 30th. There goes another buck. The check itself will cost another buck. All so that the govt can take credit for giving me my own money. What a rip.
 
  • #5
I didn't make enough money last year to qualify for the government to stimulate my economy.
 
  • #6
Moonbear said:
You can buy more than just food at WalMart. It's very clever of them to get people to sink the whole check into a store card so you have to spend it all at WalMart. I wonder how many people are stupid enough to do that though? Then again, if they don't even have a bank account to cash their own check, they already have money management problems. I guess if someone pretty much only shops at WalMart anyway, and doesn't have a bank account to put the money into, it's not a bad deal to not have to pay a check cashing fee. On the other hand, $600 is enough to open a bank account.

Well to be fair, it looks like this "MoneyCard" is just a check card with a Walmart name on it. I usually don't carry any cash with me, and just use my Visa check card for everything. So as long as the MoneyCard can be used anywhere, it doesn't seem like a disadvantage versus having actual cash. I think Walmart is just trying to get people to come to their stores. Sure, it's still an evil corporate scheme, but not quite as insidious as having people put their stimulus checks on a gift card.
 
  • #7
I love Walmart, I save a ton of money there on the same brand names I would buy somewhere else. I'm not stupid, buy Brand A at Walmart for $50 or buy Brand A at another National Chain store for $95.
 
  • #8
I'm sure these kids are happy that you saved $45.

chinese-workers.jpg
 
  • #9
Poop-Loops said:
I'm sure these kids are happy that you saved $45.
That has to do with what? It's the same brands that are sold everywhere. It doesn't matter if I buy it at Fred's store for $150, or $95 at Best buy or $50 at Walmart. The retailer has nothing to do with the manufacturer. If I buy a Sony TV, I'm going to buy it at the best price I can find. Where I buy it is not going to affect the factory workers.
 
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  • #10
Evo said:
I love Walmart, I save a ton of money there on the same brand names I would buy somewhere else. I'm not stupid, buy Brand A at Walmart for $50 or buy Brand A at another National Chain store for $95.

Actually, I've found that their brand name items still aren't exactly the same as the brand at another store. They persuade manufacturers to put their brand on a cheaper quality item by sheer volume of promised sales. If you look closely at model numbers and such, they aren't quite the same. Everything I've ever bought at a WalMart has broken within a few months.
 
  • #11
Chinese sweatshop worker kids strike back!
 
  • #12
arunma said:
Well to be fair, it looks like this "MoneyCard" is just a check card with a Walmart name on it. I usually don't carry any cash with me, and just use my Visa check card for everything. So as long as the MoneyCard can be used anywhere, it doesn't seem like a disadvantage versus having actual cash. I think Walmart is just trying to get people to come to their stores. Sure, it's still an evil corporate scheme, but not quite as insidious as having people put their stimulus checks on a gift card.

So, basically, they're holding your money to earn interest until you spend it, like a bank, but without a bank? When I heard the ads, I thought it was just a gift card type thing.

Anyway, looking into it, it seems it comes with a monthly maintenance fee, in addition to the fees that are being waived the one time (there's a reload fee too).

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/AcctMgmt/Controls/Walmart/Support/CardholderAgreement.aspx?siteid=walmart

These people would be better off putting that money into a bank without all those fees.
 
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  • #13
It is kind of funny cause if everyone spent their economic stimulus checks at walmart, it really wouldn't do any economic stimulation would it?
 
  • #14
I never buy any electronic items at Walmart as most, are refurbished. I know for a fact that this applies to televisions, computers and computer accessories such as sound cards, video cards and disk drives.
 
  • #15
I just read a bit about Wal-Mart on wikipedia and found that Hilary Clinton is a former member of the board for wal-mart. I just thought that was interesting. 1985-1992.
 
  • #16
B. Elliott said:
I never buy any electronic items at Walmart as most, are refurbished. I know for a fact that this applies to televisions, computers and computer accessories such as sound cards, video cards and disk drives.
They offer refurbished products online and they are clearly stated as refurbished. They sell new electronics in the stores and they are the same brand names and the same model numbers, I know, I've checked model numbers, it was for DVD players. Only thing I've bought there though was a small $79 tv for a spare bedroom. Worked great. When you look for a certain brand and model, you need to make sure that the specs are the same, for example with computers. Walmart might have less bells and whistles on an item, but it's not made with inferior parts.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3985243

Except this is no longer available.
 
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  • #17
Evo said:
They offer refurbished products online and they are clearly stated as refurbished. They sell new electronics in the stores and they are the same brand names and the same model numbers, I know, I've checked model numbers, it was for DVD players. Only thing I've bought there though was a small $79 tv for a spare bedroom. Worked great. When you look for a certain brand and model, you need to make sure that the specs are the same, for example with computers. Walmart might have less bells and whistles on an item, but it's not made with inferior parts.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3985243

Except this is no longer available.

My experience was with accessories where the performance can be rated. I've seen 'new' video cards form Walmart that either don't meet the performance level of the other sellers product, or have inherent problems... then taking them back for a refund. I've also seen these issues with a few CD data drives... The Walmart product either being noisier or reading/writing at a much slower rate.

At the same time, I have seen perfectly good products come from Wally World that function as they should. It's just that I haven't seen this level of 'hit and miss' with products form other retailers.
 
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  • #18
Did you say wally world?

http://blogs.chron.com/cougars/Vacation.jpg
 
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  • #19
Cyrus said:
Did you say wally world?

Something that's funny, pull up Google and type in 'Wally World' and look at the first thing that pops up.:biggrin:
 
  • #20
Moonbear said:
Actually, I've found that their brand name items still aren't exactly the same as the brand at another store. They persuade manufacturers to put their brand on a cheaper quality item by sheer volume of promised sales. If you look closely at model numbers and such, they aren't quite the same. Everything I've ever bought at a WalMart has broken within a few months.

Good point.

An important point you mentionned, is the sheer volume of sales Wal-Mart produces for a manufacturer. This leads to Wal-Mart being responsible for a large portion of the manufacturers revenues up to the point that they can not afford to lose a contract with Wal-Mart or it would result in large lay-offs or closure of many plants or even the company itself. Why is that bad? Well, Wal-Mart uses this edge to choose it's own prices. If a manufacturer offers it's lowest possible price of at say $1 a unit, Wal-Mart can and sometimes will reject the offer and offer to purchase it for $0.50 a unit. Clearly, the company can not cut its costs in half! What happens? The company is forced to relocate plants to places like China, Mexico and so on. Hence, to answer Evo's implicit question. Yes, retailers do play a role where the manufacturer produce their products that you purchase.
 
  • #21
JasonRox said:
If a manufacturer offers it's lowest possible price of at say $1 a unit, Wal-Mart can and sometimes will reject the offer and offer to purchase it for $0.50 a unit. Clearly, the company can not cut its costs in half! What happens? The company is forced to relocate plants to places like China, Mexico and so on.
Please post sources that backup what you say. (why are people so tempted to believe rumours?) You're going to sit there and claim that companies that sell their products like General Electric, DELL, Honeywell, Sylvania, Sony, Samsung, RCA, etc... have all been forced by Walmart to move their manufacturing plants to other countires. :rolleyes: Some of these companies aren't even American. hmmmmm.

Walmart hasn't been a name in big ticket electronics in the past, but they have started. I suggest you read the attached article.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/12/news/companies/walmart_electronics/index.htm

And don't forget to link your articles proving your claims specific to Walmart.
 
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  • #23
Evo said:
Please post sources that backup what you say. (why are people so tempted to believe rumours?) You're going to sit there and claim that companies that sell their products like General Electric, DELL, Honeywell, Sylvania, Sony, Samsung, RCA, etc... have all been forced by Walmart to move their manufacturing plants to other countires. :rolleyes: Some of these companies aren't even American. hmmmmm.

Walmart hasn't been a name in big ticket electronics in the past, but they have started. I suggest you read the attached article.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/12/news/companies/walmart_electronics/index.htm

And don't forget to link your articles proving your claims specific to Walmart.

Here you go:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/30/business/walmart.1-64381.php

I suggest you read them.

Note: I'm not sure what link demonstrates. Anyways, the first link is a very good link about Wal-Mart and China.

Oh, they aren't American but you're still buying the products. You are implying that American products are ethically superior to foreign products. Do you have sources backing this claim?
 
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  • #24
JasonRox said:
Here you go:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/30/business/walmart.1-64381.php

I suggest you read them.

Note: I'm not sure what link demonstrates. Anyways, the first link is a very good link about Wal-Mart and China.
Jason, that's is about importing from existing foreign markets, and your link states "Sears, Kmart, Target, and JCPenney all had established procurement networks in Asia long before Wal-Mart arrived". Walmart just took advantage of what they had put in place.

Jason said:
Oh, they aren't American but you're still buying the products. You are implying that American products are ethically superior to foreign products. Do you have sources backing this claim?
Since I never said any such thing as "American products are ethically superior to foreign products", I guess not. :rolleyes:
 
  • #26
Evo said:
Some of these companies aren't even American. hmmmmm.

Then the purpose of this comment is...?
 
  • #27
JasonRox said:
Then the purpose of this comment is...?
In response to your claim that Walmart forced the companies they buy from to open manufacturing plants in other countries such as Asia, well they are Asian companies. :smile: You do remember what you wrote?
 
  • #29
Evo said:
In response to your claim that Walmart forced the companies they buy from to open manufacturing plants in other countries such as Asia, well they are Asian companies. :smile: You do remember what you wrote?

Which one is Chinese? :smile: I never said Asia. :smile:
 
  • #30
JasonRox said:
Another little reference about General Electric, the nice strong American company...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-tasini/general-electric-killing_b_94420.html

Note: That's just April 1st, 2008!
This has nothing to do with Walmart or your claims about Walmart.

You can say that you don't like Walmart, you can say you disagree with how harshly they negotiate, you can say you had a bad experience at one of their stores, but you cannot make "truth statements" based on your personal opinion.
 
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  • #31
Evo said:
This has nothing to do with Walmart or your claims about Walmart.

You can say that you don't like Walmart, you can say you disagree with how harshly they negotiate, you can say you had a bad experience at one of their stores, but you cannot make "truth statements" based on your personal opinion.

I never did say it was about Wal-Mart nor did I make personal opinions. I suggest that you don't insert artificial facts in your head.
 
  • #32
JasonRox said:
Which one is Chinese? :smile: I never said Asia. :smile:
You said
The company is forced to relocate plants to places like China, Mexico and so on.
 
  • #33
Evo said:
You said

Of course Japan isn't one of them. :smile:

Mexico isn't in Asia. So, I have no idea how you picked out Asia as a pattern. :smile:[/quote]
 
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  • #34
JasonRox said:
Of course Japan isn't one of them. :smile:

Mexico isn't in Asia. So, I have no idea how you picked out Asia as a pattern. :smile:
[/QUOTE]I have no idea what you are talking about. Go back and read what I posted within it's context.

I said country, :smile: Obviously Asia is not a country. :-p
 
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  • #35
JasonRox said:
I never did say it was about Wal-Mart nor did I make personal opinions. I suggest that you don't insert artificial facts in your head.
I suggest that you read what you posted.

JasonRox said:
An important point you mentionned, is the sheer volume of sales Wal-Mart produces for a manufacturer. This leads to Wal-Mart being responsible for a large portion of the manufacturers revenues up to the point that they can not afford to lose a contract with Wal-Mart or it would result in large lay-offs or closure of many plants or even the company itself. Why is that bad? Well, Wal-Mart uses this edge to choose it's own prices. If a manufacturer offers it's lowest possible price of at say $1 a unit, Wal-Mart can and sometimes will reject the offer and offer to purchase it for $0.50 a unit. Clearly, the company can not cut its costs in half! What happens? The company is forced to relocate plants to places like China, Mexico and so on.
 

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