Gift cards offer a convenient way to give a loved one a gift, especially for those friends or relatives who already seem to have everything. With a gift card, the recipient can then go and buy whatever they want.
What you may not realize is that there’s no need to pay face-value for your gift cards. In fact, if you shop around, it’s possible to find some great deals and save plenty of cash.
Here are some tips for finding deep deals on gift cards:
Gift Card Exchange Sites
Exchange sites like Cards2Cash cater specifically to people who want to buy and sell their gift cards. In most cases, the exchange sites buy unwanted gift cards from users and then sell them to others at a discount.
There are usually plenty of deals available from a huge range of stores and outlets. When exchange sites have an over-supply of cards from one particular store, they usually offer sales, so it’s possible to take advantage of even bigger discounts than usual.
Half-Price Websites
There are websites out there focused solely on half-price deals and offers, such as HalfOff Depot. While the gift cards available change frequently, if you keep an eye on the listings you’ll find plenty of deals for half off the regular retail face value.
Warehouse Stores
You have the potential to save up to 20% off the face value of a gift card from a wide range of outlets through warehouse stores like Sam’s Club and Costco. If you already have a membership for Costco, it’s possible to get cheap gift cards for outlets such as iTunes, Google Play, Dunkin Donuts, Starbuck’s, and even cheap movie tickets through Cinemark and AMC Theatres.
Credit Card Rewards
If you have a rewards credit card you can cash in your points in exchange for gift cards. Aside from not having to pay any cash to get the gift card you want, your points could add up to paying less than face value. The deals available from the rewards catalog can change from time to time, so it’s worth keeping an eye on the offers available and what’s on sale.
Frequent flier miles sitting in your account can also be redeemed for gift cards for a range of retail outlets or products. Check the catalog for your airline miles program to see what gift cards are available.
Restaurant Sites
Sites like Restaurant.com or OpenTable.com or iDine.com give you access to a range of gift cards and certificates for participating restaurants at deeply discounted prices. There are lots of different restaurants listed on the site, many of which offer as much as 50% discount off the face value of the card.
Employee Sites
Lots of employers offer their employees access to a range of discounts and other perks. Some might offer discounted movie tickets or gift cards from a huge range of retail outlets that represent huge savings off the retail price. While the discounts and deals are intended for employees, many companies will extend the offers to family and friends of staff members too.
Holiday Bonuses
The holiday season prompts plenty of retail stores to start offering discounts and bonuses. For example, you might buy a $25 gift card and the store will offer an extra $5 gift card as a bonus.
Pay attention to catalog sales, radio advertisements and online announcements from November to take advantage of bonus deals. Some outlets might also start offering bonuses and discounts through other seasonal holidays too, so keep your eyes and ears open before Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or Valentine’s Day.
Buy in Bulk
If your plan is to buy gift cards for several people, take advantage of the discounts offered if you buy in bulk. You could end up saving quite a healthy chunk of cash off the total value of the cards.
There are plenty of options available if you’re determined to save money on the amount you pay for gift cards. The person you’re giving the card to gets the full retail face value on the card, but you certainly don’t have to spend that much to get it.
Leon Oliver saves money on everything he buys. His friends and family are always asking him How he does it, now in his articles he shares some of his ways!
