Save money with gift cards

[disneysteve]

I almost hate to share this because I don't want to give away my "secret" but I actually learned about it in another thread when I posted about Plastic Jungle no longer buying gift cards. There is another site that buys and sells cards called Cardpool.com. I haven't looked into the deal when they buy your unwanted cards but for selling, each company card sells at a fixed discount ranging from 1.5% to 21% below face value. For example, I ordered my wife a Jo-Ann Fabrics card at 10% off face value. Paying with the gift card, you still can use any other coupons or discounts that you may have so you get that 10% off in addition to anything else. They ship the cards free so there is no other cost involved.

So head over to the site and check out the offerings. They have a wide range of popular national companies. I may pick up some other cards, like AMC theaters at 18% off which would make going to the movies a more affordable treat or 4% off at Target where we shop all the time. It's a great way to save some money without actually changing what you buy at all.

[creditcardfree]

Great tip! I've known about it, but have not used the tactic yet.

[dawnwes]

Just remember that these gift cards will only save you money if you don't buy them and then promptly lose them.

I am still hoping my $115 Boston Market gift cards I purchased for $90 will be found somewhere.

[moneybags]

or 4% off at Target where we shop all the time. It's a great way to save some money without actually changing what you buy at all.

I recently got the Target debit card. You can only use it at Target, but it is an automatic 5% savings (and free shipping from target.com). The savings is even applied to non-Target gift cards sold at Target such as Starbucks, Chipotle, Disney Store, etc. I usually use my credit cards for points, but this 5% savings beats them.

[disneysteve]

I recently got the Target debit card. You can only use it at Target, but it is an automatic 5% savings

True, although that means an extra account. It also means forgoing credit card reward points. With Cardpool, I use my rewards card to buy the gift cards.

[rennigade]

Buying the discounted gift cards is nice along with using a coupon...but the real magic happens when you combine cash back sites along with cash back credit cards...for example:

Home Depot

7% Home Depot Discounted Gift Cards
10% Lowes mover coupon (that home depot typically takes unless you are really unlucky)
5% Fat Wallet Cash Back (or other cash back sites, theres a bunch)
1% Discover Card Cashback (credit cards used to purchase gift cards)
=
23% savings

The problem is popular gift cards such as home depot/lowes are becoming harder to find because of this. More and more people know about these types of deals. But for those who dont know...enjoy.

[sam042013]

Thanks for sharing your ideas. It's so helpful!

[phantom]

I'm a big fan of using gift cards together with coupons and sales to maximize savings. It's fun when you can get everything to line up perfectly.

For popular retailers like Target and Walmart that sell goods that almost everyone needs to buy anyway, I don't think the secondary market is very good. There is just too much demand for those cards. Most people who receive those cards find a use for them, and the few cards that do find their way into the secondary market, get snatched up quickly without much of a discount.

In such cases, I usually find it works better to use a credit card that offers bonus cash back on groceries to buy gift cards at a grocery store with a good loyalty program. Right now, my favorite grocery is offering $0.20 off on up to 30 gallons of gas for every $50 spent in their store. So, I figure that's like 12% off right there.

But, there are definitely some great deals to be had on the secondary market on gift cards for more specialized retailers. Movie theater gift cards are great. My theory is that a lot of people receive gift cards for theaters that they can't easily get to, so they have to sell them.

The one store I hate gift cards for is Kohl's. They almost always have some coupon that you can only use with you Kohl's charge, so if you use a gift card, you pay more. I have received Kohl's gift cards as gifts that have taken me years to spend. Kohl's has taught be to always check a store's coupon policy before buying gift cards for it.

The other thing I try to avoid is buying things I might want to return later from stores that I shop at infrequently using gift cards. Understandably, when you return an item to a store that you bought with a gift card, you usually get store credit back rather than cash, and it can be a pain to keep track of that store credit until you're ready to buy something else from that store.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I'm glad to learn about cardpool.com if plasticjungle.com is no longer going to offer the same services I'd used before. I had earlier this year noticed that plasticjungle no longer had cards for certain big retailers.

The previous two years when I knew I needed to buy a lot of supplies for my garden, I bought largish GCs for Lowes. And yes, I was able to buy with a cash (or hotel stay) rewards card. Really liked that, of course. This year, I did not find any GCs for sale from Lowes.

[moneybags]

The one store I hate gift cards for is Kohl's. They almost always have some coupon that you can only use with you Kohl's charge, so if you use a gift card, you pay more. I have received Kohl's gift cards as gifts that have taken me years to spend. Kohl's has taught be to always check a store's coupon policy before buying gift cards for it.

If you charge $1.00 of your purchase, you can use the coupon. I learned this from my Kohl's cashier.

[phantom]

If you charge $1.00 of your purchase, you can use the coupon. I learned this from my Kohl's cashier.

In my experience with Kohl's, whenever there is a percentage off coupon, if you pay with a combination of payment methods (Kohl's cash or a gift card or a coupon for a flat amount and a Kohl's card), the percentage off only comes off the amount charged to the Kohl's card. I always ask the cashiers to be sure of how it will work before deciding how to pay. But, it's usually the same. Maybe different Kohl's stores are different or maybe it's the way the coupons I tend to use tend to work. On this past Black Friday, there was actually a good coupon that didn't require a Kohl's card at all, so I was finally able to unload all my Kohl's gift cards. Whether or not waiting in line to use it was worth it is debatable, but I'm glad to be rid of those stupid cards.

[ShawnaC123]

Be careful of fraud though. I have heard stories of people going to use the cards that they get and the cards have been emptied. I suppose the sellers clone the cards or write down the numbers so that they can use them after they are sold or something like that.

Also some of the cards are bought with stolen credit cards and will get cancelled when the fraud is discovered. My advice is to only buy what you're going to use fairly quickly.

[creditcardfree]

Be careful of fraud though. I have heard stories of people going to use the cards that they get and the cards have been emptied. I suppose the sellers clone the cards or write down the numbers so that they can use them after they are sold or something like that.

Also some of the cards are bought with stolen credit cards and will get cancelled when the fraud is discovered. My advice is to only buy what you're going to use fairly quickly.

Cardpool has a purchase guarantee that that the card will work at the merchant and for the amount purchased for 100 days and up to $1000.

[Baby_nurse]

Just remember that these gift cards will only save you money if you don't buy them and then promptly lose them.

I am still hoping my $115 Boston Market gift cards I purchased for $90 will be found somewhere.

You caught me. I do that at least once a year. Right now I'm looking for a gift card my daughter gave me for my birthday. I stuck it some place "safe" so I wouldn't lose it. Except I forgot where that "safe place" was...

[sam042013]

Never heard that before. I wanna try it.