I have purchased probably 40+ restaurant.com certificates off EBAY. The typical cert amount is $25, some $10 or $50. Some restaurants will see bidding to within 80% of the cert, but I buy ones to restaurants I wish to try only if they win for a max of 50% of cert value.

Many many restaurants listed are just so-so IMO and you have to wonder if they are good, why do they have to give away certs at a discount. But every once in awhile I find some gems such as Printer’s Row or Black Ram in Chicago. I recently snagged two certs from restaurants that I’m excited to try, one is Nine and the other MK.

EBAY makes it very easy to search for certs via your state as there are not that many restaurants participating (perhaps 50-60 per state) so it is easy to search for ones you may be interested in.

I have only had one problem where a cert was not accepted by the restaurant. I had the manager sign and date the cert for proof that I had tried to redeem it. I then simply sent an email to restaurant.com with the cert number and explained what happened. The next day I received an email from customer service stating they were very sorry and to please name a restaurant that they offer certs for and I would receive another certificate. Again w/in one day of my choice I received my new cert. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE.