What I learned this holiday shopping season will forever change how I buy gift cards, and I wanted to share this hard lesson I discovered with you.
Avoid buying gift cards from retail stores
Con artists are latching onto gift cards as a convenient form of payment in their scams. In fact, gift card scams are up when shopping for cards in a retail store where criminal scam artists tamper with some cards – making them worthless after you add hard-earned cash value. Why do scammers love gift card payments so much?
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Only purchase from cash-back gift card sources
If you buy gift cards through cash-back sources, you earn money and incentives just for buying gift cards. Cashback gift cards earn you a gift at the same time you are being generous to others.
Here’s my list of the top reputable cashback gift card sources:
1) Ibotta
Ibotta is a wonderful app that allows you to earn cash back at some of your favorite stores like Target, Starbucks, Lowe’s and over 1,500 other retailers. They include rewards for grocery stores, food delivery, movie and concert tickets, and more.
Once you buy the gift card for your loved one, you’ll instantly receive cashback in your Ibotta account. Here’s how to purchase gift cards for others in the Ibotta app:
Under the “shop by category” section, go to Gift Cards on the Ibotta app home screen and search or browse retailers by an assortment of categories including “nearby”, “clothing”, coffee and tea”, “electronics”, “health and beauty” and more.
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Choose the store you want and select the buy gift card option. You’ll note the percentage back you’ll be receiving once you purchase the gift card. As you see in the example below, if you purchase an Old Navy gift card, you’ll receive 7% back. Some cards you can receive as much as 20% back.
Click this link and use referral code mpiaurm to earn $10 when you submit your first receipt.
Copy the code to insert into the Referral code box on Ibotta “Create account” page: mpiaurm.
To learn more about how to use the Ibotta app to score some great freebies, visit CyberGuy.com and search “Ibotta” by clicking the magnifying glass icon at the top of my website.ge
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2) Rakuten
This popular retailer offers easy ways to earn cash back. They can give cash back on select gift cards purchased at stores via the Rakuten website or by downloading their app. Note: you may not receive cash back for any portions of purchases made with your own gift cards or certificates, meaning you have to always pay with a regular credit or debit card in order to receive cash back.
They offer over 3,500 stores to choose from, including Bath & Body Works, Ulta, and Uber, and each store states the percentage of cash back you will receive once you purchase. Stores like Adidas and Petco offer up to as much as 6% cash back when you purchase gift cards through Rakuten.
Here’s how to give your loved one a gift card from Rakuten and earn cash back:
Sign up for Rakuten here and earn $30 when you spend $30. See terms on Rakuten page.
3) TopCashback
TopCashback gift cards offer up to 20.8% cash back when you purchase gift cards through their service. Some of the stores they work with include Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Here’s how to send someone else a gift card through TopCashback.
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Sign up for TopCashback here.
4) PayPal Honey
Many people use PayPal as their main online payment service. However, most don’t realize all the rewards that can come with using PayPal Honey as well. PayPal Honey does not offer cash back when consumers use gift cards, but what it will allow you to do is redeem points you earn while shopping through the app for cash, gift cards, or PayPal shopping credits.
Once you download the app and create an account with PayPal Honey, which is free to do, you can activate the Cash Back option so that you qualify for points on your eligible purchases. The app will then let you know while you’re shopping at your favorite stores if you qualify for any points earned, as well as any exclusive offers the store is giving such as Double Cash Back.
Over 4,500 stores have a point system with PayPal Honey including Apple, Walmart and Home Depot.
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Once you’ve earned enough points, you can redeem those points in exchange for cash, gift cards, or PayPal shopping credits If you want to use the points towards buying gift cards, you can do so from PayPal Honey’s Redemption Page. All you have to do is:
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