Disney Gift Card Deals

[Lain]

I don't think I'm ever going to bow out of churning as my absolute worst case scenario is to buy something with high resale value (game consoles, I pad etc.) from whatever GC I'm stuck with and sell it back on ebay for cash back. I probably will net some loss and it would take a little more work, but the gains from ebay bucks are worth it for me.

Might be something to think about for those of you that are thinking about jumping ship.

I really like this idea.

I had some vague thoughts about what I would do if I got "stuck" with BB or GS GCs. First option could be to sell the cards to a GC reseller site and take the ~12-17% hit. Or, I'd buy some item(s) with a high resale value (I also thought iPad or game console) and liquidate it on eBay.

I'd prefer to be "stuck" with eBay GCs because I'm still hopeful that GCM will eventually restock Target GCs, and we can all somewhat get back to the normal routine; but alternatively I'd buy something with a high resale value on eBay (I often see new iPads marked down on eBay) and flip it back to cash out. I forgot about pairing the alternative strategy with eBay Bucks to offset any difference in sale price and costs of sale.

 

[Angrose]

What concerns me about the PayPal ban is that you need to login to PayPal to use your GCs and ebay bucks on ebay. There's no way around that, right?

 

[wolfies30]

What would be the goal in this? GS-Amazon-BB-Disney would not make money anywhere along the line. Just trying to accumulate volume on EBates?

Does Amazon sell Best Buy GC's? I've looked a number of times and haven't found them.

 

[JKalai]

What concerns me about the PayPal ban is that you need to login to PayPal to use your GCs and ebay bucks on ebay. There's no way around that, right?

Yeah, but the issue is coming from PPDG. I've been churning a lot within the past couple of weeks through GCM and have never had to verify anything. I would bet that Paypal is running some sort of report with errors such as security verifications etc. and looking at accounts with the most errors.

 

[JKalai]

Does Amazon sell Best Buy GC's? I've looked a number of times and haven't found them.

Nope, but whole foods sells them.

The idea is Ebay > Gamestop > Amazon > Whole Foods > Best Buy > Disney. The website states that it's store policy not to allow GC>GC purchases but the system might still take is as YMMV.

 

[BrandyCheryl]

Does Joanne's even sell 3rd-party GCs?

Yes, I went in yesterday to check, and they have a huge gift card section, including eBay gift cards.

 

[kristenrice]

What concerns me about the PayPal ban is that you need to login to PayPal to use your GCs and ebay bucks on ebay. There's no way around that, right?

I believe you are correct and that is concerning because, like a PP mentioned, this would prohibit you from using your gift cards AT ALL, which is illegal. Think about it...what if you purchased $1000 of eBay gift cards and PayPal suddenly said, "Sorry, we think your account is a security threat so we are going to close it and keep the $1K that you just paid us"? I'm fairly certain that would qualify as fraud (if not outright theft!) on their part.

Now, if PayPal and eBay are truly separate entities, then closing your PayPal account shouldn't effect your ability to use an eBay gift card...but the way it is set up, it does. I'm trying to figure out an equivalent scenario...I know that if a store closes or goes out of business completely, then any outstanding gift card funds are useless, but I'm not sure of the legality of simply banning an individual from using their gift cards when the store/business is in operation.

I don't know about everyone else, but I do feel a little "dirty" when I churn. I know that I am not doing anything wrong, but for some reason, I feel like I am raising suspicion with every purchase. I have combed over policies and rules and I have not found anything that remotely points to anything fraudulent in what we are doing. Best Buy and eBay both clearly do NOT prohibit purchasing gift cards with gift cards. In addition, they have no published limits on how much (value or quantity) an individual can purchase. Ebay awards eBucks on gift card purchases (which is where a bulk of the money is made in this process) and they certainly don't have to, but they do. Based on this, I would think that PayPal is in the wrong by simply stating that an individual's account is fraudulent or a security risk based solely on the volume of their purchases. If the individual is not in violation of any policies, then what is the alleged security risk?

Yes, I agree that it is a complete PITA to have to spend 45+ minutes on the phone to get my PP account verified and unlocked so that I can make a purchase, but it is a heck of a lot better than having to go through the same thing (or worse!) to try to get your funds back when someone has hacked your account. That happened to me several years ago and I have no problem going through the rigamarole of security checks if it means that I don't have to spend WEEKS trying to recoup money that has been taken from my account. What I do have a problem with is PayPal getting sick of their own security checks and saying, "to heck with this...if we have to keep verifying you, we will simply close your account". THAT'S not right...

 

[smellyia]

Is there no way to use another PayPal - like sign DH up with his own and just link to a cc rather than checking to get through the eBay gc's and get those ebucks?

Neither of our eBay accounts are linked to a PayPal and I have 2 pay pals both linked to different cc - no checking. That way I have a backup for crap like a lockout through pp but I think eBay blocks as well on their end otherwise why else would you not be able to load your cart with different items after issue with PayPal.

 

[Angrose]

I believe you are correct and that is concerning because, like a PP mentioned, this would prohibit you from using your gift cards AT ALL, which is illegal. Think about it...what if you purchased $1000 of eBay gift cards and PayPal suddenly said, "Sorry, we think your account is a security threat so we are going to close it and keep the $1K that you just paid us"? I'm fairly certain that would qualify as fraud (if not outright theft!) on their part.

Now, if PayPal and eBay are truly separate entities, then closing your PayPal account shouldn't effect your ability to use an eBay gift card...but the way it is set up, it does. I'm trying to figure out an equivalent scenario...I know that if a store closes or goes out of business completely, then any outstanding gift card funds are useless, but I'm not sure of the legality of simply banning an individual from using their gift cards when the store/business is in operation.

I don't know about everyone else, but I do feel a little "dirty" when I churn. I know that I am not doing anything wrong, but for some reason, I feel like I am raising suspicion with every purchase. I have combed over policies and rules and I have not found anything that remotely points to anything fraudulent in what we are doing. Best Buy and eBay both clearly do NOT prohibit purchasing gift cards with gift cards. In addition, they have no published limits on how much (value or quantity) an individual can purchase. Ebay awards eBucks on gift card purchases (which is where a bulk of the money is made in this process) and they certainly don't have to, but they do. Based on this, I would think that PayPal is in the wrong by simply stating that an individual's account is fraudulent or a security risk based solely on the volume of their purchases. If the individual is not in violation of any policies, then what is the alleged security risk?

Yes, I agree that it is a complete PITA to have to spend 45+ minutes on the phone to get my PP account verified and unlocked so that I can make a purchase, but it is a heck of a lot better than having to go through the same thing (or worse!) to try to get your funds back when someone has hacked your account. That happened to me several years ago and I have no problem going through the rigamarole of security checks if it means that I don't have to spend WEEKS trying to recoup money that has been taken from my account. What I do have a problem with is PayPal getting sick of their own security checks and saying, "to heck with this...if we have to keep verifying you, we will simply close your account". THAT'S not right...

It seems to me that if Ebay and PayPal are no longer the same company then Ebay needs to find a way to let us enter our gift card numbers or Ebay bucks vouchers into the payment fields without having to login to PayPal.
I have only made a few purchases from PPDG, but I was locked out yesterday when trying to purchase $300 in BB GCs from them. I verified my account 4 times and it still wouldn't go through and I didn't have time to sit on the phone for an hour trying to get it unlocked. I was eventually able to buy GS GCs thru GCM. I have churned THOUSANDS thru Ebay/GCM using GCs as payment, so I definitely meet the profile for being banned by PayPal if that is the direction this is headed.
I think I will stay away from PPDG completely, it's just too risky now.

 

[Deirdres]

Is there no way to use another PayPal - like sign DH up with his own and just link to a cc rather than checking to get through the eBay gc's and get those ebucks?

Neither of our eBay accounts are linked to a PayPal and I have 2 pay pals both linked to different cc - no checking. That way I have a backup for crap like a lockout through pp but I think eBay blocks as well on their end otherwise why else would you not be able to load your cart with different items after issue with PayPal.

I believe you have a solution here. If you have a family member or close friend, and purchase a non PPDG item, you should be able to use another paypal account. My DS uses mine once n awhile. I bet it would work.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

I believe you have a solution here. If you have a family member or close friend, and purchase a non PPDG item, you should be able to use another paypal account. My DS uses mine once n awhile. I bet it would work.

Problem is DH's account got banned too since I made a purchase through his PP also and it's the same checking account. I could make an account under my mother's name but I'm wondering if there would be a linking between Ebay/Paypal with the banning. It's probably worth a shot! I have quite a few Ebucks. I also looked into appealing but from what I've read once PP makes a decision to close you down don't even bother reappealing. My argument was if you don't want me paying with gc's then why allow the payment to go through at all. She just said "we have to part ways". Talk about a bad breakup!

 

[wolfies30]

Can someone comfirm to me that I am, in fact, engaging in a fruitless endeavor? First, a little background on myself and my churn.

I just started this, with a trip on the near horizon. I already have the cash to pay off the trip. So, I am still in the process of finding my churn OOP. What I'm doing is churning, and then buying Disney cards to immediately replace the funds I put in. Once I have a comfortable amount churning, with all initial capital repaid, I will "churn with reckless abandon!"

So, my basic path is SB->Raise->GS->EBay->BB or GS

At the end, GS is back to eBay, and BB is eBay or Disney.

With Target out of the loop, for me, for now, I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how to get a Walmart GC into the cycle at the usual spots (GS BB, Sears, etc). I don't have a Kroger, Publix, or Any other grocery chain mentioned here.

So, how can I insert Walmart into my churn? Amazon? I didn't find it there. Any help would be extremely appreciated.

 

[redgokart]

How much have you bought so far from this GS?

i have bought random amounts on and off for 6 to 8 weeks total prob between 3 and 4K.

Did the manager just recognize you? How much was considered "unusual"? And we're you using e-cards?

she probably recognized me. she is always there but this was the first time she rang me up. she looked at my gamestop account before she called for back-up. this was the only store i was using because it was going so smoothly. i have never bought over 500 at one time. i've been using e-cards from PPDG whenever i can get it to work so no issues with that. i don't think my amounts are off the charts.

 

[MichelleB]

i have bought random amounts on and off for 6 to 8 weeks total prob between 3 and 4K.
she probably recognized me. she is always there but this was the first time she rang me up. she looked at my gamestop account before she called for back-up. this was the only store i was using because it was going so smoothly. i have never bought over 500 at one time. i've been using e-cards from PPDG whenever i can get it to work so no issues with that. i don't think my amounts are off the charts.

Can you quit using your GS account? That's how they're tracking you. Just tell them you don't have or want an account if you go to a different GS.

 

[eeyoresmom]

Does anyone know of a grocery store chain in New England that sells Target giftcards ?My amex gives me 6% off at grocery stores. If I can get 13% off as a minimum (with ebates), at least that's something.

 

[linzjane88]

Geez this has been a rough month in the churning department. Between the out of stock and bannings, breakups, and manager involvement .

I kind of just want Targets to come back in stock so I can cash out and be done with it all until the dust settles. Our next trip is in September and I don't want to deal with having our vacation money tied up.

 

[PerfessorZ]

i have bought random amounts on and off for 6 to 8 weeks total prob between 3 and 4K.
she probably recognized me. she is always there but this was the first time she rang me up. she looked at my gamestop account before she called for back-up. this was the only store i was using because it was going so smoothly. i have never bought over 500 at one time. i've been using e-cards from PPDG whenever i can get it to work so no issues with that. i don't think my amounts are off the charts.

Obviously if you're giving her your GameStop account, she can pull how much you've purchased. I'm not sure how much you've made in loyalty points doing this, but at the risk of making it really hard on yourself in the future, it may not have been worth it. I have avoided getting an account for that reason - I prefer anonymity for anything YMMV.

 

[mgoodm1]

I worry about Best Buy tracking me too. I tell them that I don't have an account and I only get a paper receipt so can't track me by email either.

 

[ras1121]

Any chance target runs a gift card promo for Memorial Day?

 

[smellyia]

Any chance target runs a gift card promo for Memorial Day?

Not sure but I got in the mail today a target coupon $15 off $100 and it specifically says I can use with my 5% discount and there is nothing on it about not using for third party gc. I thought maybe this was their Memorial Day promo.