Trading gift cards for cash is a great way to turn useless gift cards into useful, easily accessible funds with no hassle at all. A huge industry has cropped up around this market, with consumer trading marketplaces, gift card buyers, and other gift-card related service providers readily available online.
But despite how common it is to trade gift cards for cash online, there are still quite a few questions that some people have when trying to make use of these services for the first time. Some gift card buyers can seem a bit scammy, and it’s sometimes hard to understand exactly how the gift card buying process works.
We’re here with an article to help clear all that up. We’ll take a look at the 10 most common questions that people ask when they’re learning how to trade gift cards for cash, and answer them, helping you turn your useless gift cards into cash quickly and easily.
Read on, and learn with us.
- Do I Get The Full Value Of The Gift Card?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. When you trade gift cards for cash online, the primary way that the buyers make money is by reselling the gift cards – by providing you a rate lower than the cash value of the card, the company can make a profit by reselling the gift card – still usually at a price below face value – to another consumer.
In this way, everyone wins! You get cash for your card, the company buying your card makes a small profit, and somebody else gets a cheap gift card that they can make use of themselves. However, this does mean that it’s exceedingly rare to find high rates from most gift card buyers – while rates upwards of 90% can be found for certain cards, you should expect to get 50-70% of face value of a gift card when you trade gift cards for cash.
- Do I Have To Send My Gift Card To The Company?
The answer to this is a confident “it depends”. Some gift cards must be sent physically – there is no way to easily and quickly confirm their balances and validity by a simple online check. Some Amazon.com gift cards fall into this category, as do many others.
In this case, each company has a different way of doing business. The most reputable companies will allow you to send the gift card and pay you as soon as you send them tracking information about it – and confirm that it has been mailed to them. Some companies won’t pay you until they receive the gift card and can confirm that it’s legitimate.
If you do end up selling a physical gift card, you’ll have to send it to the company you’re dealing with – but try to find one that pays you as soon as you send it, and not one that waits to send funds until they receive the card itself.
- When Will I Get Paid?
This can vary quite a bit. The best online gift card buyers allow you to trade your gift cards for cash, and give you a quick – or instant – deposit method for your money. Common methods include PayPal, direct bank deposits, or even wire transfers, in some cases. These all offer unparalleled convenience, as the money is sent to your bank account almost immediately.
Some companies don’t do this, and instead take longer to issue payments or even send physical checks through the mail. While this is a legitimate method of payment, it’s best to avoid these companies – mail can be lost, and take forever to arrive. If you’re selling a gift card, you probably want some real cash fast – and a payment method like PayPal offers a great way to get your money immediately.
- How Can I Be Sure I Don’t Get Scammed?
Find a great gift card buying website. Don’t just choose the one with the highest rates, or the one that pops up first on Google. Do research about the site – look at customer reviews, take a look at their website and make sure that they look like they’re a legitimate company, ensure that their customer support team is real (and responsive) and so on.
Finding a reputable, popular gift card buyer is the best way to ensure that you don’t get scammed when you trade gift cards for cash.
- Can I Trade My Gift Cards For Other Gift Cards?
It depends on the company. Direct gift card buyers don’t usually allow you to trade your gift cards for other gift cards – this complicates their business model. Instead, they pay you a flat cash payment, and that’s the end of it.
However, there are gift card “marketplaces” out there, where you can list your gift cards for sale and accept payment both via cash and other gift cards. If you’re looking for a specific kind of gift card this can be a good way to go, but these marketplaces often charge large service fees, so it’s often not a much better deal than just getting cash.
- Do Gift Card Buyers Charge Fees?
Most gift card buyers do not charge fees. In fact, a direct gift card buyer should never charge a fee – they don’t make their money from fees, but from paying slightly less than face value of a gift card, and then reselling that gift card at a discount. If you’re paying fees to trade your gift cards for cash, you’re being ripped off.
However, this is different for consumer-based “marketplaces” that allow consumers to list and trade gift cards directly with each other. These networks do take service fees from their users – that’s their primary method of making money.
So overall, it depends on your method of selling your card. If you sell directly to a gift card buyer, you should never expect a hidden fee. If you use an online trading marketplace, you should always expect some hidden fees.
- Can I Trade Store Credit?
Again, the answer is “it depends”. Some gift card buyers won’t allow the trading of store credit for cash, and others will. In addition, not all “store credit” is created equal. Some store credit takes the form of a gift card, with a code, preloaded value, and everything else functioning exactly in the same way as a gift card.
However, some store credits are issued with restrictions on who can use them, expiration dates, and other caveats that can make them unusable by a gift card buyer.
The best way to find out if you can trade your store credit for cash is by checking out the website of the gift card buyer – they may list that they do accept store credit. In addition, you can contact the customer service team of your preferred website when you trade gift cards for cash, and ask them directly.
Unfortunately, there’s no clear yes or no answer – it depends on the store, the company, and the policy of the gift card buyer. So inquire with your buyer, but don’t be surprised if a specialized store credit can’t be traded for cash.
- Can I Trade A Partially-Used Gift Card?
Most gift card buyers are willing to trade partially-used gift cards for cash. However, there are exceptions – it depends on the company that you’re working with. In addition, many gift card buyers have “minimum limits” that a gift card must hit before they will buy them. These can be as low as $10, or as high as $50 or more.
Even if a company does accept partially-spent gift cards, they won’t accept a card that is below their mandatory minimum limit. If you have a $25 gift card and spend 20 bucks of it, you’re unlikely to be able to find a direct gift card buyer – though you may have some luck on a customer-to-customer gift card marketplace.
On the other hand, spending $50 of a $100 gift card will probably be just fine to most gift card buying companies – it would just be treated at a $50 gift card instead of $100, as the price depends only on the remaining balance. If the remaining balance is above the mandatory minimum that the buyer accepts, they’re usually more than happy to accept it.
- Can I Trade A Gift Card With An Expiration Date?
Gift cards with expiration dates are fairly rare – and even those that do have expiration dates are required to set them at least five years into the future.
However, gift cards that do have expiration dates can be tough to sell to gift card buyers. Generally, they don’t appreciate the fact that the gift card has a set date upon which it loses its value, and will refuse to buy a gift card with a set expiration date.
Now, not all buyers are created equal – it’s totally possible you may find a company willing to buy your gift card, even if it does have an expiration date. However, these companies are few and far between.
If you have a gift card with a set expiration date and still want to trade it for cash, you’ll likely want to turn to a gift card exchange where other consumers can trade you other gift cards or cash for your card. You could also consider selling your gift card to a friend or acquaintance for cash – this is the oldest form of trading gift cards for cash there is, and it can still be effective.
- Can I Trade A VISA Gift Card Or Other Prepaid Debit Card?
No. While the name can be confusing, prepaid debit cards like the VISA Gift Card are not gift cards at all – instead, they function as a debit card or credit card, and are usually reloadable with funds.
While the purchase method of a VISA gift card or other prepaid debit card is similar to purchasing a standard, store-based gift card, they’re completely different. Often, they can be reloaded, and there’s no way to get cash out of these cards – even though you can use them as debit cards at credit card terminals, you can’t get cash back.
So no, you can’t trade a VISA Gift Card or prepaid debit card for cash. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing – these cards function as cash already. They hold a set amount of money, and once it’s spent, it’s gone.
So while you may be out of luck if you wanted to turn your gift card into cash to deposit into an account, there’s nothing stopping you from just using your prepaid debit card for your everyday expenses until it runs out of funds – which is just as good as having cash.
EJ Gift Cards – The #1 Provider of Gift Card Trading Services
If you’ve read this whole article, but still aren’t sure where to start, start with EJ Gift Cards. Our easy-to-use website ensures a quick and easy gift card trading experience, and your funds will be available through PayPal after the validity of your card has been confirmed. We accept a huge range of gift cards – literally hundreds of different kinds – and offer competitive rates, and an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand trading system.
In addition, we offer cash upon the transmission of tracking information for physical gift cards and confirming its authenticity, making it quick and easy to get paid if you have to send a physical card to us.
Finally, our customer support team is here to answer your questions if you have any trouble getting through the process, or any questions about payment. Our team can be reached through the phone, by email, our through the contact form on our web site, so you’ve got plenty of options if you need assistance.
So trust EJ Gift Cards. We’ll give you the best deals, quickest cash, and best service around – and we’re willing to prove it.
