Second hand Gift Card Conversion Tip

If you’ve ever bought a second hand gift card, then you know there’s always the inherent risk of the seller using gift card before you do. There are counter measures to prevent this from happening by simply buying something with the gift card and returning the item immediately.

This typically works well with retail stores as they will issue you a new gift card. For example, “a Target GiftCard will be credited back as a new Target eGiftCard” when one returns an item purchased with a Target GiftCard. If you happen to receive “store credit” or “merchandise credit,” then you will likely only be able to spend it at the physical store and not online. But that’s still better than running the chance of the seller “unloading” the card before you do.

So, if you purchase a gift card next time and don’t plan on spending it immediately, consider exchanging it for store credit via the method above.