It’s no secret that I use gift cards in an effort to live a more frugal lifestyle.  I’ve discussed using gift cards both to save money when shopping and also the pitfalls involved with gift cardsIt would sound like that buying gift cards can do no wrong, but that is not exactly the case.

A few years back, I purchased several gifts on eBay that were almost 25% below face value.  It was kind of strange since most of the stores I was looking at purchasing gift cards for were going for almost face value after shipping.  I got the cards without a problem and they worked out fine.  Great value for me…but at what cost?

I then checked up on these sellers later on when I was going to give them feedback and saw that they no longer were registered members on eBay.  Interesting.  I started to dig a little deeper and saw that the sellers were selling gift cards exclusively.  The alarms went off in my head. These gift cards were most likely stolen.

I do my best to research a sellers history to make sure I’m not a part of a scam, even though I may benefit from it.  I want a good deal, but I want it to be legit.  So when looking for gift cards on eBay, I suggest looking at the following:

How long has the user been an eBay member? The longer the member has had their account, the more trustworthy they can be.  I avoid buying items of any eBay member who is new.

Are they a buyer AND a seller? Seeing that a user buys and sells on eBay is another clue that they are an honest eBayer that you can trust.

Do they have a good feedback rating? Important for any purchase on eBay. It’s important that they have a good, positive track record.  If they do have a few bad marks on their account, I’ll be sure to see exactly what it is for.  Sometimes people can be picky when handing out negative feedback.

What have they been listing lately? Another warning sign is if they have a plethora of gift card listings.  Not to say they are not legit listings, but it will make me think twice if I’m dealing with a swindler.

Alas, following these steps are not always foolproof. Last Christmas I purchased a Netflix gift certificate off eBay.  The seller passed all my checks of a legit gift card seller.  The transaction went smoothly and I entered the code successfully into my account.  After a month went by, I got an e-mail from Netflix that my gift certificate was invalid due to theft.  Ouch.  Luckily, eBay (Paypal) refunded my money.

I’ll continue to purchase gift cards when I have an upcoming planned purchase.  Just have to be a little more cautious.  Why can’t people just be honest?

Stupidly Yours,

Matt

Matt

Matt

StupidCents was founded by Matt in 2009. His thoughts are shaped by his family and career and seasoned by his endless motivation to succeed personally, professionally, and financially.