1+ MILLION Points! How I Earned $30,000+ Worth of Travel Selling Sewing Machines on eBay – Here Are the 4 Chase Credit Cards That Made It Possible

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Imagine earning thousands of dollars worth of free travel just by doing online shopping for other people.  Well, that’s how I continuously earn millions of credit card miles & points!

I apply for the best travel credit cards to take advantage of lucrative sign-up bonus offers.  Then, I use the cards to make purchases for my eBay drop shipping business.  Here’s the premise – I list an item for sale on eBay or Amazon (I’ve had lots of success with a particular sewing machine).  Then, once it sells, I find the same product cheaper at another online retailer or supplier.  I can usually combine credit card bonus spending categories with other deals, like earning bonus points through online shopping portals, which helps to boost my points balances even faster.  Over the past 24 months, I’ve sold 500+ sewing machines and generated $5,000+ worth of cash profit.

But the real reason I invest time in the reselling hobby is for credit card points.  Thanks to reselling, I’m currently sitting on a balance of 1 million+ Chase Ultimate Rewards points!  This doesn’t take into account the many millions of points I’ve earned and redeemed already.

One million Chase Ultimate Rewards points are worth $10,000 in cash back or $15,000 in airfare or hotels booked through the Chase travel portal if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card.  But there are plenty of ways to use these points to get $30,000 or more worth of travel, including 2 round-the-world First Class tickets on Singapore Airlines, 8 round-trip Business Class flights to Europe, or a month-long stay at a 5-star Park Hyatt hotel!

These are the 4 Chase credit cards I use to earn millions of Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

• Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card – I actually have 2 of these cards.  It has the highest sign-up bonus among any card earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points
• Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card – This no-annual-fee card is terrific because I earn 5% cash back (5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points) on select purchases for my drop shipping business
• Ink Business Unlimited℠ Credit Card – Another fantastic no-annual-fee Chase small business card because it earns 1.5% cash back (1.5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points) on every purchase
• Chase Sapphire Reserve® – Having the Sapphire Reserve makes all of the points I earn with the above cards more valuable!  Points linked to this card are worth 1.5 cents each through the Chase travel portal

You might ask why online shoppers wouldn’t just buy it themselves from another online store.  Great question!  In my experience, most folks get used to doing their online shopping at 1 or 2 websites (i.e. Amazon).  But researching and taking advantage of certain shopping portal promotions can allow you to find products at a much cheaper price elsewhere!  Also, eBay has an awesome international fulfillment program, which allows resellers to ship items to an eBay logistics center in Kentucky.  Then, eBay takes care of getting the item to the international buyer.

While I’ve had success drop shipping sewing machines, you can follow a similar strategy to sell other products.  I shared a guide to reselling on eBay last year, which shares tips on what you should know before you get started.

And if you’re wondering how opening a lot of credit cards for reselling impacts my credit score, be sure to check out my post from earlier this year explaining how I started the year with 15 credit cards and an 836 FICO score.

3 Tricks to Boost My Balance of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

1.   Shop Through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal

Even if you’re not an online reseller, you can supplement the rewards you earn with online purchases by adding one simple step – going through an online shopping portal.  You can earn 1X to 10X (or more) Chase Ultimate Rewards points just by being redirected to the online retailer through the Chase portal.  These points are in addition to any points you earn with your credit card.

2.   Buy Gift Cards in Advance

Certain credit cards offer bonus points or cash back at select retailers that sell gift cards.  For example, Staples and Office Depot are known to sell gift cards to many retailers, including Amazon, Home Depot, and several others.  And office supply stores are included in the bonus category for certain Chase credit cards.

So you can purchase gift cards before making your online purchase to earn additional rewards.  I regularly purchase Amazon gift cards before making a purchase at the online retailer, which helps me accumulate more points.

3.   Earn New Cardmember Sign-Up Bonuses With Chase Ultimate Rewards Cards

The quickest way to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to apply for the best Chase credit cards, many of which are on our monthly list of best travel credit cards.  Another awesome part about reselling on Amazon and eBay is it makes you eligible for small business credit cards, which unlocks a huge door when it comes to taking advantage of lucrative credit card offers.

For example, the Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card is one of the best small business cards offers available.  It has the highest sign-up bonus among any Chase Ultimate Rewards point earning credit card.  That’s one reason I recently added a second Chase Ink Business Preferred card to my wallet.

And having a reselling side gig comes in handy when it comes to meeting minimum spending requirements.  On average, I make ~$5,000 worth of purchases per month for my Amazon and eBay business.  So I can typically knock out minimum spending requirements for a new card bonus within a month or two.

What Can You Do With 1 Million Chase Ultimate Rewards Points? (Hint: Get $30,000+ Worth of Travel!)

The main reason I have 7 Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards is because I love earning valuable points that can save my wife and me from having to pay for airfare or hotels.  We’ve used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to take an around-the-world honeymoon, First Class trip to New Zealand, and lots of weekend trips in between.

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are extremely flexible.  You can redeem them for cash back at a value of 1 cent each.  So my stash of 1 million+ points is worth more than $10,000 in cash.

Or I could use points to book airfare, hotels, car rentals, and travel activities through the Chase travel portal.  As a Sapphire Reserve cardholder, my points are worth 1.5 cents each.  This makes my 1 million+ points worth more than $15,000 in travel when booking through the Chase travel portal.  And using points through the portal means I don’t have to worry about blackout dates!

But to maximize the value of my Chase Ultimate Rewards points, I usually transfer them to Chase airline and hotel partners to book award travel.  Chase has fantastic partners, including Hyatt, Marriott, Southwest, Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines.

Here are a few ways you could redeem 1 million Chase Ultimate Rewards points for outsized value:

• 1-month stay at a Category 7 Hyatt hotel, like the Park Hyatt New York, Park Hyatt Sydney, or Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome (worth $30,000+)
• 2 round-the-world Singapore Airlines First Class tickets (worth $50,000+)
• 5 round-trip First Class Lufthansa First Class flights to Europe (worth $65,000+)
• 8 round-trip United Airlines Business Class flights to Europe (worth $60,000+)
• 20 nights at top-tier Marriott hotels, like the St. Regis Maldives (worth $30,000+)
• 28 round-trip United Airlines coach flights to Hawaii using Singapore Airlines miles
• 130 short-haul American Airlines flights using British Airways Avios points

I Recommend the Chase Ink Business Preferred If You’re Considering Reselling

Apply Here:   Chase Ink Business Preferred

Read our review of the Ink Business Preferred 

Right now the Chase Ink Business Preferred card offers the best welcome offer of any Chase Ultimate Rewards card.  You can earn 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.

With the Ink Business Preferred, you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back at 1 cent per point, get even more value by redeeming them for travel (including airfare, hotels, and car rentals) through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, or transfer points to hotel and airline partners.  At a minimum, the sign-up bonus is worth $1,000 in travel through the Chase travel portal!

The Ink Business Preferred has a $95 annual fee which isn’t waived for the first year.  However, given that the welcome bonus alone is worth at least $1,000, this makes the card well worth it for virtually everyone who qualifies!

If you have a reselling side gig, I’d love to hear if you’re using credit cards to boost your returns!  Let me know in the comments below.