I don’t really know about that, but which wallet are you using? Because the last time I did a transaction of over $200, which is more than the $100 threshold of yours, I didn’t pay up to the $5 you mentioned not to talk of the $8 for the sending fees.

The only problem I have had is with the waiting time, but with some of the wallets I have, like Blockchain and BitPay, I am able to spend unconfirmed funds (for my BitPay wallet I had to go to the settings and activate it, while for Blockchain the funds appear immediately and I am able to spend them.).