July 20th, 2012Top StoryHow to Buy Gift Cards for LessBy Melanie Pinola
All you need to do to get the best price on a gift card is buy with the right credit card at the right place: Use a Gift Card Exchange SiteSites like Plastic Jungle and Gift Card Granny are popular places to purchase (and sell) gift cards secondhand. You can save as much as 35% off the face value of a gift card (or more if you include eBay sellers) by using one of these sites. The selection of gift cards on these resellers, however, may be slim at times and they often are sold in odd amounts, so if you're looking to save on a specific gift card amount, you might not have much luck here. Also, when you're in a hurry, it's easier to just go to the store to buy a gift card. Here's another strategy that'll get you a discount on the most popular gift cards automatically: Buy Gift Cards with a Rewards Credit Card at Groceries, Pharmacies, or Office Supply StoresUse your rewards credit cards to save money on gift cards. If you have a credit card that gives you something like 3 to 6 percent back on purchases made at the supermarket, you can buy gift cards at the supermarket—and therefore, in essence, save that 3 to 6 percent. Other places where you can buy gift cards that may also have corresponding credit card rewards categories include office supply stores and pharmacies. If you have these cards, for example, you can get cash back on gift cards you buy from certain places: American Express Blue Cash Preferred (6% back at supermarkets), Everyday (3% back at supermarket), or the grandfathered Everyday (5% back at supermarkets and pharmacies) card; Chase Ink (5% office supplies stores), Amex SimplyCash card and other Amex OPEN cards (5% on office supplies stores). Use a Gift Card to Buy a Different Gift CardBoardingArea describes another gift card and rewards card buying strategy: use the (discounted) gift card for one store to buy a different gift card you might actually use. For example, you might get a Toys R Us gift card (which you can get 5% cash back through uPromise) and then use that card to buy an Amazon gift card. If you buy an OfficeMax gift card with a credit card that rewards you for shopping at office supplies stores, then you can use that OfficeMax gift card to buy a different gift card. Check out Boarding Area's full chart of gift card hacks. Buy Gift Cards with Your Credit Card Rewards Programs/PointsFinally, if you have a rewards credit card, it might make more sense to redeem your rewards for a gift card rather than any other type of reward (e.g., cash or miles), since gift card redemptions are often cheaper and also on sale from time to time. Recently, for example, Citibank credit cards had a redemption offer for a $100 Amazon gift card for 9000 points (a savings of 1000 points or about $10), whereas their typical cash back reward is $50 for 10,000 points. If you buy gift cards through credit card or travel rewards shopping portals like Chase Ultimate Rewards or Aadvantage, you can earn miles or points on that gift card purchase. In short, you don't ever have to pay full price for a gift card. Photo by 401(K) 2012  |
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