I recently reported on Frendgiftr and GiftCardMall.com, both of which are convenient because they have a large number of gift cards available in one place. Today I came across this site, snapgifts.com, which carries lots of different gift cards and appears to have quite a few more (750 different retailers) than the other two. If the convenience of buying just about any gift card from one place, saving you the trouble of visiting the stores directly to purchase gift cards, this seems to be the place to go. The convenience will set you back a $2.95 shipping and handling fee per card.
Archive for the ‘Tips’ Category
From our friends at the Federal Reserve comes this consumer friendly version of the new gift card rules.
www.giftcardconverter.co.uk is the first UK focused gift card site I’ve seen. An interesting tidbit in the article about this site is the claim that up to 25% of gift cards in the UK are unspent. The site will buy cards, trade them, or customers can donate them to charity. Cards donated to charity do not incur commissions, something we have yet to see from similar US based sites that provide the ability to donate to charities.
Sometimes the fine print doesn’t even tell you the full story. Like this customer who received a $50 promotional gift card from Hollister for purchases she made there. The purchases were made on Dec 16 and when they tried to use the card the following February, they were told the card expired on Jan 31st. That sure doesn’t seem very generous of a promotion to give someone a gift card good for only a month. In addition to that, neither the gift card or the packaging had any expiration date on it, and in fact the gift card said “no expiration date” right on it.
But Hollister customer service wouldn’t budge from its position that the card would not be honored because it had expired. But then the customer contacted the local newspapers consumer advocate who contacted Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister’s parent company. They immediately changed their position and even went as far as to give the customer double what they were entitled to, a $100 gift card.
What can we learn from this story?
a) Companies regularly make a habit out of nickel and diming people through the small print, even when it doesn’t say what they intended it to say.
b) Resolving an issue with a company through the media almost ALWAYS works! Contacting your local TV, radio, or newspaper’s consumer advocate, if they have one, is a very good tool for getting a company to budge on its unreasonable position.
I’m not sure why I haven’t thought of this before, but since Amazon.com sells lots of different gift cards, and they have a pretty healthy and well-respected product review system, it is a perfect way to find out which kinds of gift cards people like the best, and what kinds of problems they might have.
I haven’t verified the legitimacy of this site, but GiftCardGiver.com will take any and all gift cards with any amount left on them. This is a much better way to get rid of your card with just a few bucks left on it. You simply write how much is on them with a Sharpie and mail them in. Sites like DonorsChoose.com will only take gift cards with full value on them.
If you try to use your open-loop (Amex, Visa, Mastercard) gift card for certain purchases, you will find out just how futile it can be. The problem is that certain retailers will routinely try to authorize a certain amount just to pre-validate the card. For instance, if you want to use your card at the pump to buy gas, the pump will authorize $50 or $75 just to allow you to use the card, so if you have a card that is only worth $25, there is no way it will get accepted. People don’t notice this with credit or debit cards because they typically have a much higher credit limit or balance so it is never a problem. Restaurants also typically do this when running your card to leave extra room for a tip, even if you tell them to put a certain amount on the card.
From what I have seen, most of the gift card auction/trading/buyback sites are focused on the US or Canadian markets. It is nice to see other markets getting some of these useful tools, like the new site Cardlimbo.com.au, which serves the Australian market.
As smart phones become more ubiquitous, applications related to gift cards are bound to appear with greater frequency. We’ve previously reported on an iPhone app from Wildcard Network that allows you to store your gift card information (so you have it when you need it), but few gift cards are supported. Joining the ranks of imperfect but promising applications is an iPhone app from GiftCards.com that allows you to activate or look up the balance your your Visa gift card, presumably only the ones sold by GiftCards.com. The main problem with this is the disconnect between the buyer and recipient of the card. The buyer might think it is a cool idea but the recipient might not have an iPhone or not know about the app, so it does them no good.
But, these apps may be imperfect, but they are a step in the right direction. What might make gift card apps more practical is the acceptance of a purely virtual app based gift card, possibly a counterpart of a physical card (i.e. you could use either/or) that is accepted by retailers. Consider this: I recently flew and used nothing but a bar-code displayed on my iPhone to get through TSA security and board the airplane. If this works with TSA, surely it has to be possible eventually with retailers.
Short of that, I would love to see someone create an app that allowed you to look up the balance on ANY gift card (each retailer/issuer would have to be accommodated separately – a lot of work) simply by using the phone’s camera to view the front of the card, much like apps that can do a price check by using the camera to view a bar code. Now THAT would be useful!
While the details are as of yet thin, Target announced gift cards that can be kept on mobile phones. Hey, I am for anything that makes it more likely you will have your gift card with you when you shop.
This story reminds us that it isn’t a good idea to purchase gift cards that are not packaged with the numbers clearly inaccessible where anyone can access them.
According to this story, getting a general purpose (Visa/MasterCard) gift card from a bank is a royal pain in the butt. I understand that banks have financial reporting regulations but do they really need to make you jump through all the paperwork hoops for a $50 gift card when you can buy one at CVS or Safeway with zero documentation? My guess is that the share of gift cards sold directly from banks is a VERY small part of the market because of this.
GiftCards.com recently launched a new service where people can trade in their unwanted gift cards and pay bills (electric bill, cell phone bill, car payment) with the cash they get. The first question that comes to mind for me is, is this something people actually want? Why wouldn’t someone just get cash for their unwanted gift card on any number of the available sites that offer this service and use the cash for whatever they want?
I haven’t quite made up my mind about electronic gift cards (e-gift cards?). Electronic only gift cards like one we recently received for Barnes & Noble have been around for a while but have mostly been online only, but a new offering by CashStar, for stores such as Home Depot and CVS, allows for gift cards that can be printed out and taken to a store to use in person, as well as online. I like the idea of having an email trace of the gift card as it makes it less likely that I will lose it completely (such as I might lose an actual plastic gift card) but I am less likely to have a gift card with me when I visit a store if I have to print it out first.
Amex seems determined to provide the best gift card product. One customer reports their gift cards being lost in the mail, so Amex simply invalidated the old cards and send him new ones. (story)
This article in the Chicago Tribune’s Consumer Help column tells us a couple of things anyone should know: First, contacting either a newspapers or TV stations consumer help guru is possibly the best way to get stubborn banks or other companies to change their minds and give you what they want. Almost every story I have read in one of these columns has resulted in the company reversing its previous position. Second, ridiculous policies still exist for gift cards, like in the reference article where a Visa gift card expires and loses ALL of its value in less than one year. Despite the best efforts of legislators, this behavior will continue, as trickery is the way many companies and most banks make their money these days. With gift cards, you must ALWAYS be on your toes, even after the new gift card laws take effect next year.
If this app from Wildcard Network works the way it claims, it may solve a problem I’ve always had with gift cards, not having them with me when I am at a store and want to use them. The app allows you to virtually store your gift cards in the iPhone so that you can use them at any time. You can even check balances right from the app. The app is free.
What is the downside? Very few supported cards right now. For instance, I have in my wallet two Barnes & Noble gift cards and a Home Depot gift cards. Neither of them is supported at this time. They also don’t support open-loop (Visa/MasterCard) gift cards (yet?). If they are able to widen their support to most gift cards, this could be a very cool app.
Consumers Union released their annual reminder list of gift card gotchas.
Here is a handy guide that compares gift cards on fees and other things.
I recently came across a story about an IRS employee arrested for stealing gift cards from the mail being delivered to the IRS facility where he worked. Apparently stealing gift cards from the mail isn’t limited to Postal employees. Now you have to work about the workers in the mail room at your business.
If you send gift cards by mail, some simple precautions will make them more likely to arrive.
Don’t put them inside a holiday card. Thieves look specifically for holiday cards and can feel the shape of the gift card inside. Instead, ship them in a box, a padded envelope (to make it look like something other than a holiday card), or a larger manila envelope (so it won’t look like a holiday card). If you can feel the gift card in the packaging, so can someone else.
If you do mail it along with a holiday card, make sure the envelope is sealed properly and the contents inside aren’t too loose. If they are, the Post Office’s automatic sorting machines may shred the envelope.
Buy Postal Service insurance to protect the gift card. To insure an item up to $50, it costs $1.75. Up to $100 costs $2.25. You get the idea.
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