Anyone ever buy a gift certificate from an ebay auction?

[Mouse House Mama]

I just saw people selling gift certficates from all different stores for really cheap. Anyone ever get one from there?

 

[DLANGE3386]

I Bought A Coupon Code For Southwest That Saved Me A Ton For Our Trip Next Week! Just Be Sure To Check The Sellers Feedback Really Good!

 

[formernyer]

I sell on ebay for a living. I've sold GCs and I've also bought them more times than I can count.

My advice is to just be VERY selective about who you purchase from and also be VERY sure that you've read every word in the listing before you purchase. GCs are one of the things that scammers claim to sell, so you need to be more careful with GCs than most other types of items.

Things to keep in mind:

(1) Check the seller's feedback. Look for a seller who has at least 50 feedbacks reported and no lower than a 98.0% feedback rating.

(2) Make sure that your purchase price for the GC plus s/h is still lower than the face value of the GC by an amount that is acceptable to you.

(3) Be sure to verify the expiration date on the GC. If the seller doesn't state an expiration date in the auction, DO NOT BID/PURCHASE until you email the seller first and find out what the expiration date is. SAVE THIS EMAIL as your proof in case you get ripped off.

(4) Be sure that you are bidding on an actual GC and not a "special offer." Many scammers will send you the GC only after you do certain things like joining a "free" club for 30 days. If you forget to cancel after the 30 days they'll charge your credit card some astronomical membership fee.

(5) I've never been ripped off on a GC purchase, but be sure to pay with Paypal in order to protect yourself in case you are. If the seller rips you off, file a grievance with Paypal and they will investigate the matter and refund your payment if the seller can't prove that he wasn't at fault.

 

[disneysteve]

I've bought and sold GCs on ebay. I think formernyer has given excellent advice. Read the listing very carefully so that you understand exactly what you are bidding on. Also pay close attention to the expiration date. Some people decide to ebay a GC when it is almost expired and they realize they won't be able to use it. And that is fine, as long as the you know you'll get to use it before it expires.

As for formernyer's point #4, pay attention to that too, but there are some times when it is okay not to be bidding on the GC itself. Some companies say their GCs are nontransferable and can't be bought or sold. To get around that, sellers will run an auction for "a plain white envelope" and include for "free" a $50 GC. Those types of auctions are fine, as far as I'm concerned. I've bought those a few times myself. But I agree with avoiding the ones that make you join some type of club.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[imsayin]

Some companies say their GCs are nontransferable and can't be bought or sold. To get around that, sellers will run an auction for "a plain white envelope" and include for "free" a $50 GC. Those types of auctions are fine, as far as I'm concerned.

I have no problem buying a gift card that is nontransferable. The type of auction you listed is still selling a nontransferable gift card, not a white envelope. It would never hold up in a court of law as a sale of an envelope, only as a disguise to sell a gift card that shouldn't be sold. Sellers do the same thing with event tickets that aren't suppose to be sold above face value. I believe Ebay says that this is not allowed. Anyway, I would buy (and have sold) gift cards on Ebay, regardless. As always, buy with caution.

 

[cats mom]

I'd add one more caution... because I got burned on it.

Most Gift cards are treated like cash and cannot be reported lost or stolen. This is a good thing when you're buying one on e-bay.

I bought one from Limited Too and they have this quirky rule that if the original purchaser has their receipt and the GC is lost or stolen... they get their money back. (this is in VERY fine print)

Yep - you guessed it... seller (with very good feeback both as a buyer and seller up to this point) listed several of them then reported them all stolen.

Pretty embarrasing to be standing at the register trying to use a GC that has been reported lost/stolen.

I did eventually get my $$ back, but it was a long process with lots of paperwork.

 

[KarenAylwood]

I'd add one more caution... because I got burned on it.

Most Gift cards are treated like cash and cannot be reported lost or stolen. This is a good thing when you're buying one on e-bay.

I bought one from Limited Too and they have this quirky rule that if the original purchaser has their receipt and the GC is lost or stolen... they get their money back. (this is in VERY fine print)

Yep - you guessed it... seller (with very good feeback both as a buyer and seller up to this point) listed several of them then reported them all stolen.

Pretty embarrasing to be standing at the register trying to use a GC that has been reported lost/stolen.

I did eventually get my $$ back, but it was a long process with lots of paperwork.

Wow that's pretty ballsy! I just stopped working at a well-known retailer and we would also do this. The original GC would be deemed "invalid" or a balance of zero (it wouldn't come up in the system as lost/stolen) and we would reissue the customer a new one. This is of course after we check the number of the GC on the receipt and see that it hadn't been used yet.

It's not that uncommon for places to do this.

A friend of mine's mother is big into buying GC's on ebay and has never had a problem. Of course, you'll find scammers in all areas of ebay

 

[LisaInNc]

I have bought a lot of gift cards and gift certificate type things for hotels and travel. They have been awesome I am counting on some for an upcoming trip! Just make sure you know exactly what you are getting and you check the feedback.