Anyone use gift card resellers?

[REWahoo]

I'm about to start a long-procrastinated project to replace the flooring and railing on our ~700 SF wood deck. 16 years of brutal South TX sun has done a real number on the exposed treated pine surfaces.

I saw where a gift card reseller is offering an 11% discount on Lowe's gift cards. Anyone ever purchased from one of these resellers? If so, what was your experience?

 

[Aiming_4_55]

I've purchased a handful of gift cards (McDonald's, Auto Zone, Claire's, etc.) from a reseller. It can be in the form of a gift card or refund credit. The one I used had a 45 day protection policy and warning to use. I used my credit card also for added protection. Overall, it worked fine as I had planned uses within 30 days. I would avoid if it's for a gift. It was shipped 1st class mail, so it took about a week to receive.

You may want to see if you can stack a 10% discount coupon. I see them in USPS change of address packs, usually Home Depot, Lowes, Menards will honor the competitor discount coupon.

 

[utrecht]

The selling of gift cards is one of the biggest scams of this decade so be very careful. I don't know anything about whatever 11% discounted cards you're referring to so I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it...but...

There is an ever growing problem with 2 different gift card scams. The first one consists of people stealing merchandise (Lowes and Home Depot are the biggest victims) and then returning it without a receipt for a gift card. The thief then sells the gift cards at a discount. This scam wont cause the buyer any problem and the buyer will most likely never even know he was part of a scam (and most wouldn't care anyway as long as he got a deal).

The second one is the biggie. The thief acquires the gift card either thru the above listed scam or sometimes by actually buying a gift card. Sometimes they buy the card legally because its hard to steal enough merchandise for a large value gift card. They then list the gift card for sale. The card has a number on it and that number can be used to verify the balance on the card but it can also be used to spend down the card. The retailers will allow purchases without being in physical possession of the card. The thief will meet the buyer sometimes at the Home Depot or whatever store it is so that the buyer can verify the balance on the card. As soon as the buyer is convinced the card is legit and pays for it, the thief calls his friend who is across town at another Home Depot who immediately drains the card by buying merchandise which he then sells on Craigslist. The buyer is left holding a worthless piece of plastic

 

[Bestwifeever]

Another strategy--buy someone's coupon. DS bought a 15% off Crate and Barrel coupon on ebay just a few weeks ago (discussed here: 3 Easy Ways to Save Without a Sale - Finance - CBN.com) for $4 and saved about $200 on the couch he wanted. He figured $4 was worth the risk.

 

[REWahoo]

The one I used had a 45 day protection policy and warning to use. I used my credit card also for added protection.

+1

We probably purchased from the same location. I also plan on using mine in the next few days so I can dispute CC payment if needed.

 

[REWahoo]

The selling of gift cards is one of the biggest scams of this decade so be very careful.

Thanks.

See above for my 'be very careful' strategy.

 

[utrecht]

+1

We probably purchased from the same location. I also plan on using mine in the next few days so I can dispute CC payment if needed.

If the seller accepts credit cards, you are probably 99% safe.

 

[ProGolferWannabe]

We purchased 2 large gift cards for $1800 worth $2000 at a well known luxury hotel chain for a long planned vacation from an established website that facilitates the reselling of gift cards. The site has been around for some time, and they guaranteed (so they said) our purchase, and we paid for the cards with a credit card. Worked out for us...maybe I am naïve, but I really wasn't worried too much about being ripped off. I would do it again.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[pjm-7]

I have used Raise.com to purchase discounted gift cards. I have only purchased low amount cards. I have never tried to sell one on the site.

 

[Ready]

I have used Raise.com to purchase discounted gift cards. I have only purchased low amount cards. I have never tried to sell one on the site.

I see a Target gift card on this site worth $67.65 is selling for 6.7% off at $63.12. It hardly seems worth the effort here.

I do frequently purchase gift cards at Costco, where they typically sell for 20% off. So a $100 PF Changs card is $79.99, and sometimes when they have a special, they lower the price to $72.99. I only buy them if I would normally frequent the establishment anyway. I've never had a problem with any gift card I purchased at Costco.

 

[Sesq]

I do it all the time for HD or Lowes.

I use gift card granny.com to find the discounts. I'll use Raise, Cardpool but not e-bay. I like electronic gift cards only. I only like the ones where they seller had to enter a credit card to back up the sale.

After I have the gift cards my next move is to use a shopping portal (topcashback, upromise, chase ultimate rewards, befrugal, shopdiscover - I use cashbackholics to find the highest rate) to buy the materials and pick up at the store. I actually will use a portal to buy the GC's too, though the discount is pretty low.

I dropped about $2k at HD for garage stuff (Gladiator) and I was saving around 17% or so (2% credit card rewards, 10% gift card discount, 5% shopping portal). HD will take up to 10 GC per order (and requires a captcha per card), so I don't waste my time with low dollar cards.

Make sure your browser doesn't use adblock if you want the portal savings to track. I just disable adblock in my incognito mode to make things work. Portals take forever to pay, though.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've never purchased a discounted gift card. However, anytime I'm going to make a large purchase (either online or at a store), I first purchase the relevant gift card at Kroger using the AMEX Blue Cash card. This immediately results in a 5% "grocery" cash back. Then Kroger gives 2X (sometimes 4X) fuel points on all gift card purchases. On a $500 purchase, the total discount is $60 or 12%.

$25 = $500 * 5% (grocery cash back on AMEX Blue Cash)
$35 = $1.00/gal fuel discount * 35 gallons ($500 * 2 = 1000 fuel points or $1.00/gal discount up to 35 gals)
$60 = total savings (12% of $500 purchase)

It's well worth a stop at Kroger on my way to Lowes... and fill-up the Suburban with $0.65/gal gas in between.