In simple terms, gift cards are prepaid debit cards or stored value cards. They offer future funds for later use containing a specific amount of money for various purchases. It can be helpful to Save money on Gift Card Purchases.
It is often issued by retailers or banks to use it as an alternative to cash for purchases within the particular store or related businesses limited to the balance;- Visa or MasterCard gift card from the bank.
You can get a gift card from the bank even if you don’t hold an account or you can earn rewards from PrizeHog through your beneficiary’s name. Gift card purchases can also be rewarded by employers or organizations as gifts.
The significant difference between gift card and debit card is that a debit card offers you to withdraw cash from ATMs, buy gift cards and do not allow withdrawals except for spending.
7 Ways To Save On Gift Card Purchases
They are accessible for curbing overspending and are easy to use as cash only if you take relevant measures. So here are some significant ways by which precautions can be made to behave economically and save on gift card purchases:-
#1. Redeeming loyalty rewards
The best way to save on gift card purchases is the reward points that can be used to buy Gift cards. They are suitable for business, which also adds on to boosting sales and loyal customers.
For example – reward members can easily buy gift cards for lesser percentages than required, which is a tremendous untapped first step towards saving effectively.
#2. Surf through different exchange sites for better insight
Many online websites like – CardPool, Raise, Gift Card Granny offer great ways to save your pocket from getting most of your money and saving unnecessary expenditure. Other major retail sites include Staples, eBay, PayPal, etc.
Few merchants, companies, especially restaurants, hotels keep offering holiday gift card promotions, which bring on great opportunities regarding gift cards; however, surfing through sites also brings scam alerts along with it.
Gift cards require no ID and so can be easily used by thieves through pseudo websites by offering huge discounts, offers, rewards on pre owned cards. So the best way to save you from this trap is to stick to well-known and reputable websites.
To avoid fraud, follow a few strategies like- shopping from places that offer buyers protection, using gift cards with guarantee, never combining gift card balances, and much more.
#3. Organizing Gift cards
The best strategy to save a bunch of money through Gift cards is to organize them efficiently. Gift cards need to be used similarly as cash to perform daily purchases to avoid extravagant expenditure.
There are many digital apps, out of which the most common and trustworthy app is Gyft. This app is a digital card platform that enables you to manage your gift cards and also offer promo codes to buy discounted gift cards and notify you regarding any sales regarding the same. Other reliable apps include Google wallet and passbook.
#4. Stay within your budget-
To stay in your budget, you can load allowance for week or month and track spending. Purchasing the cards in advance with one area at a time can help stabilize expenditure and improve the budget to go in a horizontal direction.
Next, always decide on an amount and make an initial budget by creating categories of expenses. Some great online budgeting tools like mint.com, manila.com, budgetracker.com will do the needful.
It is also necessary to adjust to replace cash or credit-based spending concerning gift cards. To make a gift card system work remember the target number of what is to be spent.
#5. Usage of promotional codes
It is ubiquitous to see gift cards used as a part of promotions and sales at grocery, drugstores. So this is another way to spend less from your pocket by searching for online promotion codes or earn them by signing up on different sites.
It’s prevalent to see a tremendous amount of gift cards on sale frequently, so it’s always an excellent opportunity to invest, buy, and sell them.
#6. Trade, sell, stack unwanted cards
Gift card services are super convenient when it comes to trade, sell, use, regift, or stack them. It’s straightforward to turn plastic into cash. Gift cards can be sold for money, which is based on the demand of the retailer.
There are several trading sites like- Cardhub, Gift card granny that makes it easier to exchange them and work as a clearinghouse for new, unused, or partially used Gift cards.
However, it is imperative to know that you won’t get the full value of your remaining Gift cards since they are symbolically used.
#7. Understanding the fact that gift card leads to compulsive shopping
At times Gift cards lead to more spending, especially when it comes in the form of a received gift. For this, one needs to shift into planning mode and assume that it is not just a plastic card and is to be used for a limited period.
So it is crucial to be as vigilant with master cards or gift cards as while dealing with cash. Also, it is vital to know all the restrictions and limitations of your card to prevent further issues or unavoidable consequences.
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