I’m sure some of you knew this already, and I knew some of it, but I went to Walmart this past Sunday at around noon local time. The Moneycenter was practically empty while 2 employees were working the stations. I bought some money orders, and after I was done, there was still no one waiting behind me. I then asked to buy some more money orders, and the rep said, “Sure. We’re not that busy. If we were, I would have told you no.” Then as she was done with the 2nd set, she actually asked me, “You want some more?” I said “SURE!” I then asked her when are the best times to go to Walmart, and this is what she said:
- Avoid the 1st of the month since that’s when people are cashing checks.
- Avoid the end of the month since that’s when people are paying bills.
- Avoid the middle of the month since some people get paychecks then.
- The best time to come is Sunday mornings, when people are in church.
I had known that Sundays are usually better than Saturdays and knew to avoid the beginning of the month, but never considered to avoid the middle and end of the month as well. And I’m usually too busy sleeping on Sundays to get there in the morning, but I may have to get out of bed earlier now if I can crank out 3 rounds of money orders without a single person lining up behind me. I ran out of cards to do a 4th round, and even when I left, it was empty.
How many MOs do you buy at a time? And how many splits do you do per transaction? I go to WM all the time to buy MOs but now have a need to convert several Visa GCs I got at the grocery store. Appreciate your input. Thanks!
It depends on the store and cashier. I usually buy 2 x $999.30 for a total of $2K since 4 swipes is the max. If there is no one waiting behind me, then I’ll nicely ask, “Do you mind if I buy 2 more?” If there is a long line, I leave and call it a day. Don’t be the guythat holds up the line bec that cashier will not like you going forward.