Every year, billions of dollars sit locked away in unused gift cards. They are handed out as holiday presents, corporate incentives, and promotional rewards. Some people eagerly spend them, but many end up forgotten in wallets and drawers, gathering metaphorical dust. For those who don’t want to let store credit go to waste, selling gift cards has become a practical solution—and for some, even a profitable industry. But behind the simple idea of exchanging a gift card for cash lies a complex, largely unregulated economy that retailers tolerate, customers rely on, and scammers exploit.
The Demand for Secondhand Gift Cards
At first glance, selling gift cards seems like a small niche. But in reality, it fuels a massive secondary market. Many consumers are eager to buy discounted gift cards because they can get more value for their money. If someone regularly shops at a specific store, buying a gift card for less than its face value is an automatic discount on future purchases. On the other side of the equation, sellers want to convert store credit into cash, even if it means taking a small loss.
This demand creates a thriving trade where people sell gift cards for slightly less than their worth, and buyers snap them up to save money. Marketplaces have emerged specifically to facilitate these transactions, making the process smoother and safer than it used to be when people had to rely on informal exchanges.
How and Where People Sell Gift Cards
Selling a gift card can be as simple as finding a friend who wants it or as complicated as navigating the risks of online marketplaces. Today, there are multiple ways to offload an unwanted gift card, each with its own trade-offs.
Many turn to platforms like Raise, CardCash, or Gameflip, which act as middlemen. These sites allow sellers to list their gift cards at a discount, while buyers browse for deals. The platform handles the transaction, ensuring that both parties get what they agreed upon. However, they take a percentage of the sale, cutting into the seller’s profit.
Others prefer peer-to-peer sales on sites like Reddit, Facebook Marketplace, or even Craigslist. By selling directly to buyers, people can avoid platform fees and negotiate better prices. But these transactions come with higher risks—scams are rampant, and there are no guarantees that the buyer will actually pay or that the seller won’t disappear after receiving payment.
The Risks of Selling Gift Cards
For something as simple as store credit, selling gift cards can be surprisingly risky. One of the biggest concerns is fraud. Some buyers use stolen credit cards to purchase gift cards and then resell them before the fraudulent activity is detected. If a retailer flags a card as stolen, it can be deactivated, leaving the new owner with nothing.
Chargeback fraud is another issue. In many private sales, buyers use PayPal or Venmo for payment. After receiving the gift card code, they file a dispute, claiming they never got it. Since gift card transactions are hard to verify, the payment processor often sides with the buyer, and the seller loses both the card and the money.
Some scammers exploit the fact that gift cards are often sold without physical verification. They might list a card for sale that they’ve already spent or provide a card number that has been drained. This is why many resale platforms require proof of balance before allowing listings.
The Psychology of Selling Gift Cards
There’s something interesting about the way people view gift cards compared to cash. A $100 bill and a $100 gift card technically have the same numerical value, but psychologically, they feel different. Cash represents freedom—unrestricted spending power—while a gift card is a limitation. It forces a choice upon the recipient, dictating where and how the money must be spent.
This is why so many people are willing to sell their gift cards at a discount. Even if they lose 10-20% of the value, they regain control over their money. The trade-off is worth it because the alternative is letting the gift card go unused or spending it on things they don’t really want.
The Gift Card Flipping Economy
For some, selling gift cards isn’t just about getting rid of an unwanted present—it’s a business. There are entire communities dedicated to flipping gift cards for profit. These individuals buy discounted gift cards in bulk, hold onto them until demand rises, and then resell them at a smaller discount, making money on the margin.
Others use gift cards to take advantage of retail promotions. Some stores offer bonus gift cards with purchases—buy $100 in store credit, get an extra $10 free. Savvy resellers scoop up these deals, then sell the cards at a discount, ensuring they still make a profit.
Another strategy involves credit card rewards. Some credit cards offer extra cashback or points for purchases made at grocery stores or office supply stores, which often sell third-party gift cards. A reseller can buy gift cards with a rewards-earning credit card, sell them for nearly full value, and pocket the cashback as profit.
The Retailer Response
Retailers aren’t blind to the fact that people are profiting from their gift card programs. Some have started placing restrictions on gift card purchases, such as requiring ID, limiting how many can be bought at once, or preventing customers from using gift cards to buy other gift cards. Others are monitoring accounts for suspicious activity and banning those they suspect of being resellers.
But at the same time, stores don’t completely shut down the resale market. A gift card that gets resold is still a gift card that gets used, meaning that money stays within the company. Retailers may not love people flipping gift cards, but they prefer that to gift cards sitting unused.
The Future of Selling Gift Cards
As the world of digital payments continues to evolve, the gift card resale market is likely to change as well. Some companies are experimenting with blockchain-based gift cards that would be harder to resell or steal. Others are moving toward direct-to-account credit, where gift card balances are tied to an individual’s account rather than a freely transferable code.
Still, the demand for selling and buying gift cards isn’t going anywhere. As long as people continue to receive store credit they don’t want or need, they’ll look for ways to convert it into cash. And as long as there are buyers looking for a discount, the trade will continue to thrive—an unspoken but deeply embedded part of the modern economy.
In the end, selling a gift card is more than just a transaction. It’s a way of breaking free from a financial restriction, of taking back control of money that was temporarily out of reach. Whether done casually or as a full-time hustle, the act of selling a gift card reveals an important truth about money: it’s not just about how much you have, but about how much freedom it gives you to spend it however you choose.
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