Are the gift cards offered on eBay legit, or scams?

I am amazed how many people on eBay and such sites can sell dozens if not more of gift cards "claiming" to be worth a mystery amount, is this a scam? Also, I see people bidding on them for $500 dollars that reach near that amount and the sellershas dozens of them? How can anyone afford to lose money and purchase such high dollars amounts? where is the profit in that. I am tempted to bid but but something is fishy about those auctions. Where do they get all those gift cards? thanks for your time, dave

Dave's Answer:

There are legitimate gift cards that can be sold or transfered, according to the terms of the purchase from the store. For example, a card that I buy for the local health market, Vitamin Cottage, has a printed value of $100 on it. If I could somehow buy it for $80 and sell it on eBay for $90, then theoretically I'd make $10 and the buyer would save $10, a win:win.

But that's not typically how it works. I believe that there are three categories of gift cards that make there way onto eBay, personally:

Gift card with purchase promotions (legit)
Low value gift cards misrepresented as high value cards (scam)
Stolen or used-up gift cards reprogrammed to have a higher value (scam)

The key is whether these cards are stored-value devices or not. If they're just paper documents (think gift certificates) then they should be uniquely serial-numbered and you should be able to ask the seller for the number and call the store to confirm it's legit.

But stored value cards just use a magnetic strip to record key information like the card ID number (on good systems) or the actual value left on the card (in older, more easily fooled systems). If you happen to have a mag-strip reader/writer, you can easily imagine how it might not be too difficult to swipe a card, decode the data on the mag strip, change it, re-encode it, and write it back onto the strip, all without leaving any apparent trace.

The problem, of course, is that the card doesn't actually have any legitimate value and it's just as possible you'll be busted for using a counterfeit card as get some merchandise at a discount.

This really seems like a good case of "there's no such thing as a free lunch", in my opinion.

There's additional reading you can do on this too, if you're more curious:

• Gift card scams
• Watch out for discount gift card scams
• Missouri sues man after $9000.00 eBay gift card scam
• iTunes Music Store Gift Card Scam

There's plenty more out there, but as a general comment, I'd skip trying to buy gift cards from someone you don't know. The chance of fraud is just too high.

Categorized: Auctions and Online Shopping (Article 5876, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: ebay, fraud, gift card scam, scams
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Comments

There is a 4th category. People take back items to Lowes, etc and only recieve a merchandise card. They can take it to pawn shops, etc. and get 50 cents and up on the dollar for it.

Many pawn shops and the like sell them quite legitimately. As you mentioned, if there is any funny ebay ratings, they should ask for the number to check out.

Rodney

Posted by: Rodney at January 28, 2006 5:50 PM

I know most likely, the ones on ebay are scams. It is too odd to have cents in the price. People that scam, usually wait till the cashiers are busy, enter the store. Pick items off the shelve, put the items in a seperate bag, most likely not of a store. Then they proceed to the check out and ask for a return. They have no recipts, so the cashiers can only give them a gift card!

Posted by: Maddy at August 31, 2007 3:48 PM

The only correct answer is at eBay.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/gift.html

Posted by: Steve at October 12, 2007 1:39 PM

I once received a StarBucks gift card free from my bank ($20).
At the time we didnt even have a starbucks in my town... and i dont like coffee anyway,, so i sold it on ebay, the card sold for $17...

Posted by: daniel at December 8, 2007 3:42 AM

The cards will work if you use them in activate them in 12 hours. Don't know how they are got but they do work.

Posted by: cari at February 11, 2009 10:24 AM

i need ebay gif card free

Posted by: ivan at April 12, 2009 9:51 AM

I have bought a lot of home depot gift cards on Ebay ($5300 last month alone) I have always bought from users with a feedback of 99% and higher and I have had only 1 problem, which was quickly corrected by the seller and my full purchase price returned. As much as I would love to offer more tips on what to look for I would, after all, be helping you compete with me! But i just wanted to offer this and let you know that there are many people who get gift cards and store credits legitimately and just would rather have the extra cash to pay the bills, especially in this economy.

Posted by: josh at October 17, 2009 7:28 PM

Buyer Beware!
Pay Pal & E Bay does NOT cover losses on gift cards. I sold one for 50. Buyer did a charge back.
I was totally out the 50$

Posted by: katwin715 at November 21, 2009 10:41 AM

I walked into a home depot today and a guy appearing to be on drugs stopped by and said he had a gift card he wanted to sell.

It was a 125$ gift card which he sold to me for 100.. I asked him to let me use it to pay for my purchase and then I would pay him his 100, to which he agreed. I was not hoping this but the entire deal went very smooth and I saved 25$..

Posted by: Gary at June 9, 2010 2:37 PM

The one that concerns me is when they have
example:3-gift cards in sealed envelopes and the
proceeds go to help blind deaf toeles mucksnakes.
2-$5. card
1-$40. card
1-$450 card
you could win the $450 card, does this meen
they can run the auction 4x becouse there
sealed envelopes and it's for charity. This is a lotto
or a scam or I'm jadded. There is a potental for $1800 on these
4-cards in total.

Posted by: Frank at December 7, 2010 9:47 AM

@MAddy: Couldnt the gifts card have cents on them because people USED Them before they sold them? Why jump to conclusions that everyone is a thief?

Well, I've bought a ton of gift cards on Ebay, and I also sell mine when I get them and I don't want them. So far, out of the 20+ times no scams. I always paid less than the value and always got my merchandise.

And out of the 30+ I've sold, I always had happy customers. A lot of us are just people who don't need anymore clothes or other stuff. I just wanted cash to buy what I wanted and needed. SO MANY PEOPLE GIVE GIFT CARDS! It's nice to have a place to sell them for the cash. I personally don't like gift cards. I hate them, and yet, I always get them for Xmas, birthdays, whatever.

And honestly, they're not all scams. It's silly to think so. Because Ebay and Paypal definitely protect you. If you get ripped off they are very quick to pay you back. Ebay is all about the buyer. Which is unfortunate when you're mostly a seller like me. But every time I've seen a buyer make a claim that they got ripped off Ebay reimbursed them first and asked questions later.

Posted by: Vanessa at February 21, 2011 9:24 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!