Market Changes
Without a doubt, gift card reselling has come a long way over the years. When I started doing this back in 2013, it was all about Giftcardgranny and comparing which of the large buyers had the best rate: Cardpool, Giftcardzen, Cardcash, or Saveya.
Giftcardgranny gave way to Giftcardwiki at some point along the way. Yet the primary changes were in the profitability of deals and the mediums for selling.
The eBay discounts were much better. PPDG and Cardcash used to earn 5x with INK. We used to earn up to 10% eBay Bucks on third party gift card purchases. eBay coupon codes used to work on third party gift cards. And we paid using eBay gift cards purchased at a discount. Remember the eBay > Target > eBay > Target merry-go-round?
The medium for selling cards has vastly changed as well. Sure, the above-mentioned exchanges are still up and running, but lots of sellers have moved on to private exchanges or private buyers or Raise. I guess some bulk sellers get good rates at those big exchanges (?), but they’ve become less material in the world of heavy sellers.
The big exchanges might be good for someone just dipping their toes into gift card reselling. It’s hard to do real volume selling that way. I try keeping our Complete Guide to Selling your Unwanted Gift Cards for Cash updated, but that’s now for an occasional seller or someone breaking in.
Private exchanges can sometimes sell directly to the end buyer and are thus able to pay more. Regardless, they negotiate the best rates and work with a miles/points mentality.
2018 Reselling
With all the negative changes, opportunities abound. Each serious reseller will find deals that make sense within their framework – I probably have offers available to me that you don’t have, and you probably have opportunities that I don’t. It’s often not even a question of writing about them publicly: they are relationship-specific, club-specific, or region-specific.
Say your friend does a lot of Sears reselling (this example is totally random): they might be happy to buy Sears gift cards consistently at 90% from their churner friends. That’s a much better rate than the public offerings. I won’t have that opportunity, but their 25 churner friends will. And they’ll have to figure out ways to leverage that, methods the rest of us wouldn’t even spend time considering since we don’t have a steady 90% buyer.
It’s vital to surround yourself with like-minded people. Without that, opportunities will undoubtedly be much less. A veteran gift card reseller who positions them-self right could certainly net 5-6 figures in dollars and points annually with this side gig.
That’s not to say reselling is for everyone. It’s a side hustle, it’ll consume time.
Will you get outsized value for your time? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends what relationships you build and how efficiently you scale. It also helps a lot if you value points greater than cash. For example, someone who values 5x INK at 9% had a much easier time justifying some of the PPDG deals than someone who values it as cash at 5%.
Some people might take the middle road where they’ll join a buying group/club and pick the low hanging fruit. They’ll make a few dollars and some bonus points each month, and it’ll help them meet some spend requirements and portal bonuses, but not much more. That’s also terrific if it works for you.
Private Exchanges
I’m not going to name names of private exchanges since they don’t advertise publicly, and I’d rather not make it my prerogative to out them. But before signing on to sell cards somewhere, take a hard look at how they operate:
- Do you trust them? This is the most vital question. You have to trust them to deal with cards securely and efficiently. More importantly, you have to trust they’ll pay and won’t run off into the sunset.
- Do they buy the card outright or just carry the card until they find a buyer? If it’s the later, the risk of the card not selling is on you. If the former, you don’t have that risk.
- How fast do they pay? Instant payment or a month later?
- ACH payment, cash, check, Paypal, Venmo, or wire payment? ACH is the standard method of any serious bulk exchange. Check is the worst because it takes extra time and it could always bounce. If it’s someone you don’t know, cash or wire payment are safest since it can’t be reversed.
- Do they help you find deals? If an exchange helps you source, that can be invaluable. Might be worth sticking with them, even at lower rates, since they are helping your volume.
- Can you reserve before you buy? Or do you have to buy and hope they’ll be able to take the card after it arrives?
- Do they usually have capacity for the cards you want to sell or is there usually a backlog?
- How is their customer service?
No single exchange is a silver bullet; evaluate all these factors and decide. My take is to put a big focus on actually trusting the person behind the business. Maybe you met them at a churner’s meet-up and found them to be genuine and wholesome, someone who inspires your confidence. Maybe you chatted with them on the phone or via email and found them forthcoming.
That said, there’s definitely value to having a well-run operation. A thriving business has every reason to try their hardest to continue to operate efficiently and honestly.
Other Options
It’s worth noting that the best private exchange might not be an official exchange at all. You might have a friend who is a heavy gift card reseller on their own, and they might be happy to buy your cards and take a bit of a margin for themselves. They may even consider it a double gain: a small margin, plus your volume helps them level up with their buyers.
It’ll be less official in the sense that you’ll have to negotiate each rate separately. If you don’t like negotiating, an established exchange will work better for you.
Another option is Raise.com, especially for a heavier seller. Remember, with Raise the card is not sold until a buyer comes along. Lots of cards will end up floating for quite some time if you want to hold out for a good rate. Like selling real merchandise, selling gift cards on Raise is an art in its own right.
The official/starter rates on Raise are 12% commission (on top of whatever discount you offer). Run the numbers and you’ll see that your private buyer/exchange will usually offer as good a rate without having to wait for a sale. BUT if you level up your sales on Raise, you can get lower commission rates and it starts making a whole lot more sense.
In general, I’d advice sellers to start selling to buyers/exchanges, and more onto Raise after they are doing many thousands of dollars (or even tens of thousands) in monthly sales.
Final Word
Wherever you sell, realize that you’re putting money at risk. Buyer might not pay. Card might not sell for a while. Card might go bad. Etc. Remember Giftcardrescue? When they shut down, their sellers lost real money and never recovered it. Keep this in mind when evaluation your prospects.
