OT: Selling gift cards on ebay?

[Belle0101]

I'll admit to being naive but I don't get how people are selling gift cards on ebay and making money? Any insight to this?

For example, I found a seller who has a $25.00 card at a starting price of 99 cents and $2.25 for shipping. They aren't going to be making any money from that sale.

Like I said, I'm a bit naive, and really bored tonight, my reason for looking at auctions, but I'm missing something here.

 

[lbgraves]

GCs tend to sell for close to value for some odd reason. I think that some people get them thru rewards programs but can't or don't want to use them so they ebay them & get the cash instead.

 

[HLAuburn]

I'll admit to being naive but I don't get how people are selling gift cards on ebay and making money? Any insight to this?

For example, I found a seller who has a $25.00 card at a starting price of 99 cents and $2.25 for shipping. They aren't going to be making any money from that sale.

Like I said, I'm a bit naive, and really bored tonight, my reason for looking at auctions, but I'm missing something here.

If you watch that item until it closes, I can almost promise you that it won't go for 99 cents or even close to that. Like the PP said, most GCs go for pretty close to the value of the card. I guess people are getting them for like $20, and they make a few bucks on each card.

 

[Belle0101]

See, I told you I was naive, although you'd think that at my age ... never mind

I never considered the possiblities that the both of you posted. Or, maybe getting one for a gift and not caring for that store, along that lines.

I also found an auction for a B&BW coupon, $10 off $35, for in-store use. Maybe I should sell mine? No, just kidding, I'm hoping they have a really great sale soon so I can go get some early Christmas gifts for myself.

 

[kilee]

I recently sold some airline credit I had. I started it off super low. It went for only $40 less than the credit. Not bad considering it was a couple hundred.

 

[dizagain]

Hi! I also discovered this recently and was shocked! Then I actually tried it and made some $$...I actually SOLD two of those same B&BWorks coupons and made after the 37 cent stamp and fees about $1 for each - woo hoo!
Then I had a free candle from B&BWorks coupon that I sold for I forget how much but around $5. I sold my Toys R Us free $10 gift card for close to $7 - I was finished shopping and didn't need it in December when it expired. I also sold a $30 Lowe's card that we got as a gift because we don't have a store anywhere near our home - got $26.50 for it. So, I guess if you don't pay for the gift card in the first place or earn it as a cc reward, it's profitable!

 

[sophie81]

Kilee?? How do you sell an airline credit? I have one I would like to sell but I really don't know how I could sell it??

 

[Shelby5514]

While all these examples are legit, be aware that some of these gift cards could have been received from returning stolen goods. I know our store stopped issuing gift cards for returns (without receipts) because of this. We had a group of "gypsy's" that would shoplift from one of our store's (usually in LA, AK or TX) then come here to Indiana and return the merchandise for a gift card. They would then go to a different store and use the gift card for the odd amount to buy more gift cards for more "normal" amounts. (Turn a $205.99 gift card into 8 $25 cards.) Our Loss Prevention dept. was able to track the cards and were eventually able to purchase these cards on Ebay, that's when our poilcy changed.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Buyer Beware!!! The only time I've ever been ripped off in my life was a Starbucks giftcard on ebay. It was a $100 card and I won the auction for $72...should have been suspicious due to the fact that seller would only accept money orders. Anyway, I did my part and promptly mailed off the money order.

About a 7-10 days went by and I received a message from someone that had bought another giftcard from the same seller. When she didn't receive her card, she did some research and found out the seller had listed over $5,000 worth of giftcards in one weekend and none of them had been received by anybody. I alerted ebay as well as an internet fraud group. They in turn had me file a police report with the state of New Jersey...never heard another word about it and just chalked it up to a bad experience.

 

[cepmom]

While all these examples are legit, be aware that some of these gift cards could have been received from returning stolen goods. I know our store stopped issuing gift cards for returns (without receipts) because of this. We had a group of "gypsy's" that would shoplift from one of our store's (usually in LA, AK or TX) then come here to Indiana and return the merchandise for a gift card. They would then go to a different store and use the gift card for the odd amount to buy more gift cards for more "normal" amounts. (Turn a $205.99 gift card into 8 $25 cards.) Our Loss Prevention dept. was able to track the cards and were eventually able to purchase these cards on Ebay, that's when our poilcy changed.

I was going to post the same thing...we have people come in to our store, return stolen merchandise and then turn around and sell the merchandise credit cards on ebay (suspected). I just hope that our store finally gets around to changing the return policy like your store has.