Just a few interesting eBay/gift card tidbits.
eBay Gift Cards at Staples.com
We’re always looking for more ways to rack up office supply spend. They made it a little easier some time back by adding Target gift cards to their stock and they’ve now added eBay gift cards as well. This could definitely be an alternative to buying Visa gift cards from staples.com for those who do a lot of eBay shopping.
It’s unclear if the portal is still paying out for third-party gift cards on eBay. As of a few months ago it was working, but more recent reports are less clear. Of course, that makes a big difference in how useful this new addition is.
6% on eBay with Upromise
The Upromise portal recently added eBay to their shopping portal. The payout rate is a non-exciting 1%. Where it gets interesting is that the Upromise credit card pays out an additional 5% on all portal shopping. That should mean an unlimited 6% cashback on eBay.
The problem? They limited this particular merchant to $5,000 in spend, apparently a lifetime limit.
It’s unclear if this will actually be enforced, but a friend who recently got the got the Upromise card tells me he’s unsure yet if Upromise is good about having the 5% added automatically or if you always need to get it done manually.
Personally, I think I’d apply for the card if it was automatically added. Even if they enforce the limit of $5,000 it would still be an additional couple hundred dollars of value that I can get from the card. That’s aside from the $100 signup bonus which is ending today.
If I hear that the 5% added cashback usually hits automatically, maybe I’ll pull the trigger on this one today or some other time that there’s a $100 signup bonus.
SVM Cancels Orders
We wrote about some gift card deals on eBay which are actually still ongoing, see eBay Gift Card Sales: Sears, Staples, Hyatt, TGI, Cabela’s, iTunes, Coldstone, & Gilt Gift Cards at a Discount.
We noted that the TGI and Cabela deals started off with no limit and then got a limit-5 added sometime later. I did a conservative order of 10 Cabela gift cards in hopes that since the order was placed before the limit was in effect it would go through without a problem.
SVM sent me an email saying that the order was over the limit and asked if they should cancel the order or send me 5. I told them to send me 5. They responded okay.
A day later they canceled the entire order. This was particularly bad news due to the 10% back in eBay Bucks on that purchase. Â There’s still a small chance that they’ll process a new order of the 5 cards. In any case, I won’t get the 10% eBay Bucks, so I decided it wasn’t worth my hassle to try contacting them.
Another interesting thing is that when I tried purchasing the 5 cards again the system didn’t let me, despite the fact that the order was canceled.
Note to Self: Stick to the probable limits, even if you get in before those limits are imposed. Or wait for the limits to be imposed first.
My order of eBay GC (placed yesterday) was delayed 2 weeks. Hard to imagine they sold out that quickly, poor planning? Will probably cancel until they get their act together.
do you know if the 5 card SVM limit is per order? Can I order 5 today, then another 5 in the future from them?
Hey. Can you tell me if one can use Staples gc’s to buy third party gc’s, like eBay, either online or in-store?
No, you can’t. (Maybe in-store if you get a nice cashier, but probably not there either.)
The eBay has been added to Upromise for a long time. While they did pay out for the additional 5% for some stones occasionally, the additional 5% cashback for eBay never showed up
Interesting, thanks. I was under the impression that the eBay thing is new, but I may be wrong about that.
I have tried out the Upromise credit card because of the interesting options it opens up for 10% cashback at certain online merchants. It is indeed a clunky system and takes quite a while for cashback to show as tracked, especially the additional 5%. Considering that tracking cashback and ensuring it is recognized is half the battle in using portals, I have shied away from using it. Just not worth the hassle really.
Thanks Parkerthon. How long does it typically take until the 5% hits?
This has been my experience also. You never know if it tracks and when you call to check into whether you are going to get the extra cash back with the credit card they say we will
check into it and then never hear anything. Staples is especially difficult to track. I am still waiting for the extra 4% from a transaction in February(I have called several times). I have several other Staples transactions that have never tracked. I believe I am staying away also.