Gift Card Reselling
 

I realized that there is not a thread about merchant gift card reselling here yet, so it is time to create one.

It is often possible to purchase some store gift cards such as iTunes or Best Buy at a discount, and resell them at break even or better. So it is a no cost manufactured spending opportunity.

One example is Best Buy had a deal for iTunes 50 cards for 40 each last month, they can be resold for 85%. These deals have no limits in-store, only depending on the cashier. Target has 10% off its own gift cards every year after Thanksgiving, and I heard people can buy 6 figures in a day.
Here is a blog post with lots of information: https://nomascoach.boardingarea.com/...ard-reselling/

It is considered safe for Amex, because the purchases are from real merchants such as Costco, Best Buy, Walgreens, Kroger etc.

The latest deals are posted on the Slack groups of the reselling groups, or gcgalore.com is a good blog to look.

These are the places I have sold to:

• https://brownmiles.com (best price, quick ACH payout in ~10 days, no floating)
• giftcardwiki.com (sometimes can take >100 days to get paid, fixed price)
• http://raise.com (set your own price, they take a 15% cut, most brands)

Note that all the exchanges require some sort of sign up process with bank accounts or credit card information and ID verification.

Feel free to ask any questions or chime in your experience.

This blog that you linked has this posted:
"The Plastic Merchant is based out of St Louis and I’ve found to be one of the most reputable and upfront purchasers out there."

That did not age well... at all

I thought about doing this but it seems very risky, especially with scams out there like The Plastic Merchant, etc. With VGC's, well at worst I could spend the money on the cards even if all liquidation methods dried up at once.

Another concern I have is the lack of seller protection on sites like Raise, eBay etc. It seems the buyer can easily drain the card and then file claim on you to get all their money back. I'd much rather sell to a reputable "middleman" who verifies the balance, pays me, and deals with the end consumer on his own. I'm sure the rates are lower for this type of transaction since that middleman is taking on most of the risk. What is Brownmiles btw? The site is just a log in page and sign up button. How can a newbie verify they're legit before handing over ID's and such?

Still, this is a concept I'm very much interested in, so thanks for this post! The more avenues the better!

I've recently stopped reselling gift cards after several bad experiences. I lost 200$ on a legitimate Home Depot gift card with Raise and I'm STILL going through the process to try to fight it months later. It is also possible for a new promotion to get announced which tanks the prices on gift cards you are planning to sell- it is really obvious on sites like Raise but I've also noticed Cardcash lowering prices in response to big sales. And then there are the risks from sites like The Plastic Merchant, the recent Gift Card Mart closure, etc. There is also pressure if you are a Raise seller to keep up sales volume for bigger discounts that may never really pay off. And you have tax implications to consider.

There are certainly opportunities here and occasionally sales take place which make it a no-brainer but I would strongly caution against anyone jumping into gift card resale in 2019 as a reliable, repeatable way to MS.

I'm glad you started this thread. I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about how to make gift card reselling work.
But I'm not ready to trust brownmiles. The website is less than 3 months old. I prefer places to have a longer record before I hand over my banking info and ID.
Looking forward to learning more :)

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That's one of the things that had me second-guessing if it's worth the effort. I couldn't find any info anywhere as to how much of a discount is offered for bulk sellers. There are a lot of offers that come up that would be just a couple % away from where I'd go for it, but I'm sure there are periods that it's harder to meet the minimums as well.

I discovered this niche after attending a local Reddit churning meetup. I learned 2 guys locally buy/resell, so most of my inventory goes to them. However, I eventually got into a national level WhatsApp group, and that private buyer seems to be legit too (no issues in a year). Sorry in advance, as I won't be referring anyone, as it's supposed to be for people I trust and know personally (per request of buyer).

But my experience so far has been 99% solid, except for the two transactions where iTunes were disputed by the end point buyer. I've been able to hit 5 figures spend on good months, and just a few grand on slow ones. I'm sure savvy people who can create multiple accounts and get away with it could make more. Actual net profit is quite small though; it's almost all for the points/miles.

Selling to "someone else" always has risk of losing all your money. Not interested. Finding creative, circular ways to get either something usable or cash is what I've always aimed for. For example, back when Gamestop would sell eBay gift cards and take a Gamestop gift card, Paying $5 cash when the giftcard balance got to $5, I'd go in circles. Buy discounted Gamestop card on eBay (even if a $50 card is $49.99 with free shipping) paying with an eBay gift card, then using that Gamestop card to buy a $44.99 eBay card with that at Gamestop and pocketing the $5......

Can Best Buy cards still be used to buy gift cards? I have not done that for years. They used to and carried Shell gas cards which was awesome.

I'm looking to unload some for non-MS purposes, and noticed rates are so low nowadays. Is it because all the competitors died and went out of business?

Probably more classic supply and demand.

Too much supply in the form of sellers trying to unload their inventory of cards, and too few buyers needing to purchase the same.

Basic truths still hold: If you don't have a way to monetize your cards, don't buy them unless you can afford to keep them ;)

Reckon it was a different basic truth, that after you factor in the fraud risk premium the margins are not there. Those resellers who had not properly built in a sustainable risk premium went out of business, and those that have done so, do not offer rates that make it worthwhile for MS. Essentially their model is as buyer of last resort, allowing people cash out unwanted cards with a minor loss