gift cards

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 June 2024 23:35
Published: Thursday, 09 April 2020 14:55
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Gift Cards:

A lot of companies in USA issue gift cards to buy their items. These gift cards are touted as being perfect gift, as they do not expire, and are better than giving a gift (which the recipient may not like).

Most of the times you can get these giftcards for 10%-20% discount, which makes for nice savings. There are multiple places where you can buy these discounted gift cards. you should never buy a Gift card at face value, without any discount.

Risks of GC:

Gift cards carry a lot of risk, and are not worth the paltry discount for following reasons:

1. Gift cards get hacked frequently.

Gift cards may not expire, but they may get hacked, which is nothing in your control. Once giftcard is hacked and it's balance drained, there is no recourse. The retailer who sold you these giftcards will ask you to contact the issuer of gift card. The issuer of gift card will ask you to go back to the retailer, or they will out right deny the claim. Most of the gift cards have a clause stating that "Gift cards are not refundable if lost or stolen. Protect it like cash". So, basically any hacked gift card is your money lost.

I learned it the hard way with Southwest Airlines gift card that I bought from paypal. About $500 worth of multiple giftcards showed $0 balance on trying to redeem it. I called paypal, and they redirected me to southwest, stating that they are just the processing company, and have nothing to do with gift card themselves. Southwest asks them to facilitate their gift card sale, and they process it, collecting no money for gift card themselves. It all goes to southwest, and they are the ones who should deal with resolution of dispute on their gift cards. Sounded fair.

I called Southwest Airlines and they told me that I should ask Paypal since they sold me a giftcard which is not as what they promised. Paypal are 3rd party merchant, and any dispute has to be resolved with the merchant, from where the gift card was bought from. Kept on switching back and forth between these 2 companies for couple of weeks with no resolution. This is when I had valid receipt/email for the purchase. Ultimately got a southwest rep, who told me that even if the GC was hacked, Southwest would not refund the money as "lost or stolen GC are non refundable". I tried to explain her that a GC getting hacked was a issue on their side (not enough safeguards for preventing fraud), and I shouldn't  suffer. She said I didn't protect it adequately. She suggested that I should change my email password, keep GC number/PIN secret, and lots of other things, implying it was an issue on my side. Ultimately lost $500 trying to save $50. Learned my lesson, or did I yell

2. Gift cards have no clause for refund:

Almost all the giftcards that you buy have no clause for refund. So, don't expect to get paid back if it gets hacked. You can file a dispute with your credit card company, but most of the times, you come to know about the GC hack, only when you try to redeem the GC. Usually it's too late to dispute it with Credit card company. So, use the GC while within the dispute window. Don't hold for more than a month.

3. Returns on items paid with GC get messy:

When you buy an item with a GC, and decide to return it, it gets very messy. sometimes, you will not get any money back, and no one would be able to help you. Many companies have the standard language in their return policy that says that "refunds would be provided in the same mode of payment that was originally used". So, if you used GC, refund goes back to that GC. Most of the times, you have already gotten rid of that GC, so even if they return the money back on that GC, there's no way to access it. No rep can help you getting that GC+pin back, as it's not stored anywhere (at least not the PIN). To make matters worse, a lot of times, the refund amount never makes it back to GC. I had this issue with BestBuy refund, where $400 of refund amount never made it back to original GC. I had to fight for 6 months, and finally I found a nice BestBuy rep, who issued me new GC. Otherwise that money was toast, just because I decided to return an item. So, basically when you return items bought with GC, insist them to issue you a new GC. Otherwise, you can say bye bye to refund.

4. Most GC provide no purchase history:

Some GC allows you to see purchase history (i.e Walmart, ). But most of them don't allow that citing privacy, even though you might have the receipt. Then there is no way for you to see if you spent the GC, or if someone else drsined it off.

5. GC don't provide any protection at all:

Items bought with credit card can be disputed, but items bought with GC are sort of one way traffic. Once bought, you are at the mercy of the vendor.

Safe way to use GC:

  • GC should be used as soon as possible. We should never sit on GC for too long (I mean more than a month or so).
  • Get at least 20% off on a GC, else it's not worth the risk.
  • Grocery store GC, restuarant GC are usually safe, as these are used to buy consumable items  and not refundable anyway. Also, these are targeted less by the hackers, as they can't drain it easily.
  • When buying electronics with a GC, it's risky as there's no protection in case the item malfunctions, and you want to get a refund. There's no credit card company to file a claim. I would strongly recommend buying a "accidental protection plan" with such a purchase, usually if the purchase is of > $200. It usually costs < 20% of the purchase price for 2-4 years of protection. If you are buying from amazon, some of the items are offered 4 yr "accidental protection plan: for about 10%-15% of the price of the device, which you should definitely add. Similarly, ebay, Amazon and bestbuy also offer such protection plan on eligible electronics. Be sure to add "accidental protection plan", and NOT the regular "warranty plan". The default plans under "ebay certified refurbished" or "ebay refursbished" are regular warranty plans.Those regular warranty plans are useless, as they don't cover issues caused due to normal wear or tear, or due to user. Basically they hardly pay any claims, as they will point everything to being caused by user or as part of normal wear and tear. They only cover issues caused by "manufacturing defects" which are hard to prove for any electronics. Since these warranty companies are not regulated by the government, there's no where to file a complaint.

 

Popular GC:

Even though I've listed multiple reasons above for not buying GC, sometimes the discount is large enough to warrant such risk. Also, some GC are less prone to hacking, or are used frequently so that chances of them getting hacked are lower. Most popular GC that you can get on discount are below:

1 Kohls: Usually Walgreens and regional chain Grocery stores (as HEB, Kroger, etc) have sale on them. You end up getting free $10 GC with $50 GC purchase. These are in store offer only. They are offered couple of times every year. Kohls GC can be used to buy a lot of items at Kohls, especially those which are almost free after Mail in Rebate (MIR)

2. Macy's, GAP, JCP: Same story as with Kohls. These GC also go on sale at paypal, newegg and other online tores.

3. Lowes: Usually at Grocery stores as HEB for 15%-20% off. Other places like paypal regularly have them for 105 off, but not worth at 10%. Lowes has gone down the drain since 2020, and everything over there is overpriced compared to HomeDepot.

4. HomeDepot: Usually at Grocery stores as HEB for 15%-20% off. These are rare, since HomeDepot usually has better sales and clearance than Lowes.

5. Dominos: These usually are on sale for 20% about a dozen times a year at multiple grocery stores, walgreens, paypal, newegg, etc. Papa Johns go on sale very infrequently (may be once a year at Kroger online)

6. Chipotle, Subway: These go on sale for 15%-20% off at bestbuy, grocery stores. Taco Bell GC go on sale less frequently, so load up on them when you get them (not the e-card ones, but the physical GC. e-GC have no way to redeem except online or thru app, which may be a big pain)

7. BestBuy: These GC usually are not on sale in traditional way, but you may get these at discount when redeeming rewards for credit cards. These are good to have, since there's always something you can buy at bestbuy. As of 2020, I haven't seen much on sale at BestBuy, so may not be worth having anymore. They do price match, so sometimes you may end up with a good deal matching price with amazon.

8. Amazon: These GC usually are not on sale in traditional way, but you may get these at discount when redeeming rewards for credit cards. These are the best ones to have, as you can immediately load it to your account, so there's 0 risk of getting hacked.

9. Target: Target always has it's $500 GC on sale for $450 during black friday week. It's once a year event and lasts for a couple of days. Limit is just one GC per account. Look in "BF deals".

10. Visa, Mastercard, Amex Prepaid debit cards: You get these on sale where they waive the "purchase fee" of $5. Or sometimes you have 5%-10% cashback going on at grocery stores, drug stores, etc with particular credit cards (some Amex cards have 6% flat cashback at grocery stores). You can buy these debit cards and get the cash back. You lose 1% in purchase fee, but you can use these debit cards later to buy groceries, pay medical bills, etc and enjoy the discount. MasterCard debit cards are risky as they are hacked pretty easily, so avoid them. Amex cards are the best, but they aren't accepted everywhere. Visa are 2nd best. Never had them hacked.

  • As of 2024, lots of online stores don't take prepaid Visa, etc, Amex GC. The virtual prepaid cards are even worse because  99% of the online places may not take it, and you cannot use them in store. Of the whole lot of Prepaid cards, Amex cards are the most likely to be taken at online stores.
    • Tmobile takes only Amex cards for prepaid.
    • Spectrum takes no prepaid cards of any type except the serve Amex card from Walmart.
    • Trash pickup companies like TDS don't accept any prepaid GC at all.

 

Gift Card stores:

Even though I've you convinced that GCs are not worth the discount, I'll still list GC deals below where they are discounted by 20%+. Below are some of the stores that regularly have GC deal.

  1. Wholesale Discount Stores: Wholesale Discount stores as Costco, SamsClub have discounted GC in their stores and on their website all the time. The discounted GC are Southwest Airlines and many fast food chains as Taco's Bell, Dominos, Subway, etc. Discounts are usually from 10%-25%, but sometimes they will have a sale where you get extra 10% off.
  2. HEB: If you live in Texas, HEB grocery stores have a deal on giftcards at least once a month, where they discont specific GC by 20%. Previously they used to have coupons in store, so you could potentially buy unlimited GC. However, now they have digital coupons which are limited to one per account, so you have to make multiple accounts if you want to get multiple of these.
  3. Walgreens: Right after HEB comes Walgreens, which have offers every year during Thanksgiving/Christmas, and also about once a month or so. You buy 2 GC and you get $10 Walgreens GC for free. Depending on the lowest denomination card you can buy, your discount will be from 20%-50%. i.e if you bought 2 Cinemark GC = 2x$10=$20, you will get $10 in WGC => 50% off. The best part is you can use walgreens GC for anything in store or at pharmacy for your prescriptions, so it's equal to cash value.
  4. Kroger: They also have both online and instore GC deals. They also have 4X fuel points on GC, which gives you $1 off per gallon upto $35 (35 gallon is the limit)
  5. Grocery stores: A lot of local grocery chains have discounted GC on sale from time to time. Keep looking or asking employees about any such offers.
  6. Paypal digital gift card stores: Paypal on ebay usually has 10% off on bunch of gift cards from time to time. However, these are all egift cards, so if they get hacked, there is no recourse. As of 2023, Paypal is no longer affilaited with ebay, so they have GC on sale directly on paypal.com.
  7. Newegg: Newegg has multiple eGC (usually gap/old navy, lowes) on sale from time to time. Look on slickdeals. However, whatever newegg sells is also available on other sites, so I avoid newegg.
  8. Staples / OfficeDepot: Staples have multiple GC on sale almost every few months. As of 2024, OfficeDepot also has few GC on sale (OD gives 20% back in points which can be redeemed for stamps).

 

 

Sticky Gift Card deals:

 

 

 

Costco/SamsClub Gift Card Offers - Buy Various GC on discount online and in store (expiry - ongoing):

Costco/SamsClub GC deals keep coming at least once a month. You get extra 5%-10% discount on top of regular discount. You need to be a member to get full discount, else you will pay 5% fees for buying as a non member. Best to Below are the deals for 2023:

SouthWest Airlines GC deals:

These are under "Airlines" section => Look in "flights" under travel section for details of the offer: flights

 

 

HEB Gift Card Offers (in Texas stores only) - Buy Various GC on discount (expiry - ongoing):

HEB GC deals keep coming at least once a month. You need to load digital coupon in your account. Then at checkout you scan the barcode from your HEB app. Sometimes they have physical coupons in store too. HEB GC deals usually last a week (deals start from Wednesday and continue until Tuesday of following week). Below are the deals for 2023:

 

 

 

Walgreens Gift Card Offers - Buy 2 GC, get a $10 Walgreens GC free (expiry - ongoing): BEST GC DEAL YOU CAN FIND ANYWHERE !!

Walgreens GC deals keep coming at least once a month. You need to buy 2 of same kind, and add $10 WGC to purchase, which will come out as free. So depending on the lowest denomination card available, you can either get $15*2=$30 cards with $10 WGC free, or $25*2=$50 cards with $10 WGC free, resulting in 20%-50% off on GC. Most of the times you can 33% off with Dominos, TacoBell, etc, while 50% off with Cinemark, etc. No other store can beat that ever. Take 2 GC along with one Walgreens GC, and checkout like normal. At the final checkout, the price of Walgreens GC will be deducted. Always grab the right Walgreens GC (one with W logo on it, and NOT one with "Walgreens" written on it). Else Walgreens may not scan as free GC, and it might be embarrsing to figure out why?

Link with more details => https://thekrazycouponlady.com/coupons-for/walgreens/walgreens-gift-cards

Below are the deals for 2023:

 

 

OfficeDepot and Staples Visa/MasterCard Gift Card Offers - Online and in stores

OD stores regularly have deals on Visa (V) and Mastercard (MC) GC. Usually instore is $15 discount on $300 Visa or MasterCard GC purchase. Since activation fee is about $7 per card, and OD sells max $200 GC, you will end up paying $14 in fees. So, net you get $400 GC for $400 (i.e activation fee is nulled by discount). It's better to buy two $200 GC.Other offer is online where they offer three $100 GC for net $285. Not much of a deal as such.

Satples stores also have deals for Visa and Mastercard where they waive the activation fee. It turns out to be the same as the deals at OD.

However, the real deal in this offer is if you have 5% cashback on your credit card (Chase Business cards give 5% cashback on office supply stores). Other deal that frequently shows up is on Chase Freedom cards or Bank of America cards where they have regular OD offers (in deals section) for 10% CB with a max limit. You can split the payment among 2 or 3 credit cards that have such offers. So, you net about $20 in cashback. But that is valid only for instore purchase. Online purchase is thru giftcardmall and doesn't code as office supply store. So, either way you make $15-$20 on $400 purchase. These deals run for a week, and seems like Staples run their deals, a week after OD runs their deals.

OD: $400 Visa GC for $400 (in Store) => https://www.doctorofcredit.com/office-depot-max-stores-buy-300-in-visa-giftcards-get-15-instant-discount-12-19-12-25/

OD: $300 Visa GC for $285 (online) => https://www.doctorofcredit.com/officedepot-com-gcm-10-off-100-visa-giftcard-limit-2/

Staples: $200 MC/Visa (in Store) => https://www.doctorofcredit.com/staples-no-activation-fee-on-200-mastercard-gift-cards-12-5-12-11-limit-5-per-day/

NOTE: Visa GC are always less prone to hacking than MasterCard GC for whatever reason, so I prefer Visa GC when looking to bite. Also, drain these as soon as possible (within a week or so), or else you may not be able to dispute it with your credit card company if the card has incorrect amount (Lots of discussion on DOC website links below where people got cards with $0 balance on them) 

Below are the deals for 2023:

 

 

Lowes MasterCard Gift Card Offer - $200 MC Card + $15 Free Lowes egift card  for $215

This deal pops up couple of times a year. It's in store only. Lowes egiftcard has to be redeemed online (i.e submit your receipt online to get $15 Lowes egiftcard, they are not given in store). It's only worth doing when you have 5% cashback in rotating categories on any of the CC. Usually Chase Freedom and Discover CC have 5% cashback at Lowes for at least one quarter every year. Limit of 2 per email addr. So, only get 2 per receipt. If you want to buy more, get separate receipt. Effectively you are getting $15 Lowes GC for $8. Not worth it for such meagre savings.

 

 

 

Current Gift Card deals:

 

 

2024:

 

 

 

04/07/2024: Target Git Card Offer - 10% off  (valid only on  04/13)

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/target-circle-week-4-7-4-13-10-off-target-giftcards-more/

Limited to $500 in Target GC per person. Both in store and online.

 

 

 

2023:

 

 

 

03/10/23: Groupon Gift Card Offer - Buy Various GC on discount (expiry - unknown):

Groupon is offering various e Giftcards for 20% off. Popular ones are Lowes $20 for $16, CVS $20 for $16, Papa Johns $10 for $8, Cinemark $26 for $20, etc. 

https://slickdeals.net/f/16502152-16-for-20-lowe-s-egift-card-groupon

 

 

 

2022:

 

 

 

10/28/2022: OfficeDepot Visa Git Card Offer - $200 Visa Card for $192  (expires 11/03/2022):

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/officedepot-com-gcm-10-off-100-visa-giftcard-limit-2/

Free $8. Visa GC may be used anywhere. If you have a credit card that gives 5% cash back for office store purchase, use that (not sure if that will work, as seller is giftcardmall and not OfficeDepot)

 

 

05/24/2022: Kroger Gift Card Offer - $5 off $40+ on any eGiftCard  (expires 05/26/2022):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15806071-5-off-your-40-or-more-egift-cards-purchase-from-kroger-35

Free $5. Buy ebay GC which are never on sale, amounts to 12.5% off.

 

 

04/27/2022: Ikea Git Card Offer - 20% off  (expires 04/27):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15752218-ikea-egift-cards-email-delivery-50-20-off

Limited to $1000 in eGc per person (or per email). They are 20% off. Comments indicate prices are jacked up by 20% or more.

 

 

04/11/2022: Staples Git Card Offer - Buy Groupon, Wayfair, Chipotle, Gamestop $50 GC for $42.50  (expires 04/15):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15721423-50-electronic-gift-card-to-chipotle-groupon-wayfair-and-gamestop-for-42-50-at-staples?v=1

Groupon and Wayfair are the ones worth it. They are 15% off and limited to 3 per user.

 

 

04/06/2022: PayPal Gift Card Offer - Buy $50 JCPenney GC for $40  (expiry=unknown):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15712087-paypal-has-dominos-old-navy-jcpenney-and-h-m-gift-cards-on-sale-40

Buy $50 JCP eGC for $40, GAP eGC is also 20% off, but that's regular discount. Others not worth buying.

 

 

01/31/2022: Best Buy Gift Card Offer - Buy Delta Airlines and hotels.com $100 - $500 GC, get 15% in Best Buy GC (expiry=unknown):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15596401-100-or-500-delta-gift-card-or-100-or-250-hotels-com-gift-card-15-back-as-bestbuy-egc

Buy $500 Delta eGC, get $75 back in Best Buy eGC. Also, buy $250 in Hotels.com eGC, get $40 in Best Buy eGC. Limit 2 for each type of card. Even though the Best Buy GC don't expire, last 2 years, there hasn't been anything at BestBuy at prices worth buying. So, don't accumulate too many of these Best Buy eGC.

 

 

01/05/2022: HEB Gift Card Offer (in Texas stores only) - Buy Southwest, Delta, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and hotels.com $150 GC, get $25 HEB GC free for each (expires 11th Jan, 2022):

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/h-e-b-purchase-150-airbnb-uber-delta-southwest-get-25-h-e-b-giftcard/

You need to load digital coupon in your account. Then at checkout you scan the barcode from your HEB app. Make sure you add $25 HEB GC to the order along with other GC. You can buy all GC in the same order.

 

 

2021:

 

 

11/25/2021: HEB Gift Card Offer (in Texas stores only) - Buy Home Depot, Kohls, Academy, Childrens's Place, Vanilla Visa $100 GC, get $20 HEB GC free for each (expires 30th Nov, 2021):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15440479-h-e-b-grocery-texas-buy-100-select-home-depot-kohl-s-academy-children-s-place-vanilla-visa-gift-cards-get-bonus-20-heb-gift-card-free

You need to load digital coupon in your account. Then at checkout you scan the barcode from your HEB app. Make sure you add $20 HEB GC to the order along with $100 other GC. You can buy all GC in the same order.

 

 

11/25/2021: Walgreens: Gift card deal: Free $10 Walgreens GC with purchase of 2 $25 Apple GC.

https://slickdeals.net/f/15454639-ymmv-walgreens-stores-2-apple-gc-for-25-each-10-walgreens-gc-for-50

Look in weekly ad for walgreens on walgreens.com. Terms as below:

FREE $10 Walgreens Gift Card with myWalgreens and purchase of any two $25 Apple, Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops Gift Cards.

 

 

10/14/2021: Kroger Gift Card Offer online - Buy any $25 GC for $20 (expires 10/17/2021):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15333310-kroger-buy-any-25-egift-card-email-delivery-for-20-earn-4x-fuel-points

This is free $5. Buy an ebay GC as it's never on discount. If you buy other GC, those usually go on discount elsewhere, so you aren't maximizing your profit. This will expire pretty fast, won't last until 17th.

 

 

06/16/2021: HEB Gift Card Offer (in Texas stores only) - Buy Lowes $100 GC, Home Depot $100 GC or Academy $100 GC, get $15 HEB GC free (expires 06/22/2021):

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/h-e-b-purchase-100-in-giftcards-get-15-h-e-b-giftcards-home-depot-lowes-more/

You need to load digital coupon in your account. Then at checkout you scan the barcode from your HEB app. Make sure you add $20 HEB GC to the order along with $100 GC. This is essentially 15% off, which is not as good as 20% that you get most of the times. You can buy one each of Lowes, Home depot and Academy in the same order. I don't think Academy is worth the 15% discount, as you can easily get it at 20% if you wait.

 

 

06/02/2021: HEB Gift Card Offer (in Texas stores only) - Buy Lowes $100 GC or Home Depot $100 GC, get $20 HEB GC free (expires 8th May, 2021):

 https://slickdeals.net/f/15067939-buy-100-00-in-home-depot-lowes-gift-cards-get-free-20-00-h-e-b-gift-card

You need to load digital coupon in your account. Then at checkout you scan the barcode from your HEB app. Make sure you add $20 HEB GC to the order along with $100 Lowes or Home Depot GC. This is essentially 20% off, which is as good as it gets for these 2 stores. You can buy one each of both Lowes and Home depot in the same order.

 

 

05/09/2021: Walgreens Gift Card Offer - Buy Kohls 50 GC or Burlington $50 GC, get $10 Walgreens GC free (expires 15th May, 2021 - will run out of stock fast !!):

https://slickdeals.net/f/15013942-free-10-walgreens-gift-card-when-you-purchase-any-two-kohl-s-chili-s-burlington-fanatics-or-spa-wellness-gift-cards-in-store-only-30

The other cards in the deal aren't of much value. You will need to buy two of $25 GC and then add $10 Walgreens GC in store. At checkout, it will show discount of $10, making Walgreens $10 GC free. I Came to know that it has to be Walgreens GC which has Walgreens logo on it. There is some specific Walgreens GC that doesn't get discounted.