Mama$avesALot Trick: Buying Other People’s Gift Cards

While Googling for discounts to Home Depot, I came across a site selling other peoples’ partially used gift cards. What a novel idea! Sell your gift card (that you have no intention of using) for a discount to this company. They turn around and sell it to someone else who actually wants it.  If I am making a big purchase, I always check the gift card status at Raise.com. Depending on the store, you can find discounts up to 10% and frequently find “sales” for additional percentages off.

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These are Big Name stores (Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond, Toys R Us, Walmart, Target, etc). The gift cards sometimes have weird balances (like $52.39) because it’s often what is leftover from a store credit or a purchase that did not use the entire amount. But who cares? I got an extra 9% off and happily made my Home Depot purchase. It’s a win/win.

One note is that I only buy gift cards from stores that I frequently use. Keep in mind that the return policy for most stores is that if you buy something with a gift card, you are refunded with a gift card. If it’s not a store that you usually us, you will get stuck in the same situation as the person who sold their gift card to Raise in the first place if there is a potential to have your item returned.