Grocery Stores That Sell $500 Giftcards

We know that the Chase Freedom is going to earn 5x points/5% cash back on grocery store purchases for the first quarter in 2015 (on the first $1,500 in spend), there are also lots of cards that always earn at a high rate on these purchases. Grocery stores often sell Visa/Mastercard giftcards, unfortunately these giftcards come with fees. Obviously the higher denomination the giftcards are, the less in fees you’ll pay. These giftcards can then be used for your regular spending (thus earning you ~4% cash back on all purchases) or unloaded using one of your favorite manufactured spending techniques.

Below is a list of grocery stores that sell $500 giftcards. A lot of this information has been sourced from this Flyertalk thread. If you have additional data points, then please let me know in the comments so I can update this post. The fees are believed to be $5.95 per card unless otherwise specified. Not all of these retailers will accept credit cards, this varies wildly from store to store. Where possible we’ve listed the limits on the amount you can buy.

A few disclaimers and tips first.

• Start slowly. Do not go into a store and try to purchase $5,000 in one purchase. This looks very suspicious and like a fraudlent transaction. If you start slowly you’re also more likely to learn the internal limits on what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of volume.
• Be polite and smile. Being friendly isn’t just good manners, it can also help you get what you want. Somebody that likes you is more likely to trust you and thus let you buy larger amounts.
• Don’t argue if they state there is a specific limitation. If the cashier states that you can only purchase one $500 gift card at a time, then smile say thank you and move on.
• Only purchase in amounts you can spend or unload. It’s great getting 5% cash back, it’s not great having $10,000 in gift cards when you only spend $100 a month. If you’re planning to manufacture credit card spend, make sure you have multiple unload methods and a safety net in case (or should I say when) something goes wrong.

The List

• Acme (kept behind counter)
• Albertsons (anything over $1,000 requires manual manager override)
• A&P (only carries $100 gift cards, some had success with $500 gift cards)
• Basha’s
• Bi-Lo (anything over $1,000 will result in them recording your information)
• Big Y (there is a $1,000 limit at some stores, but not enforced at all stores)
• CityMarket (requires you to provide your drivers license, the number is entered into their system)
• Cub Foods
• Family Fare
• Food Lion (manager approval required if over $2k; $10k max)
• Food4less
• Fred Meyer
• Giant
• Glens
• Hannafords. Mastercard’s
• Harris Teeter (anything above $1,000 requires a manager over ride. Drivers license needs to be presented when purchasing a gift card of $500)
• High V/Hy-Vee (limit of $500 per transaction)
• Jewell
• King Soopers (requires you to provide your drivers license, the number is entered into their system)
• Kroger (requires you to provide your drivers license, the number is entered into their system)
• Meijer
• Pathmark
• QFC
• Ralph’s
• Randall’s
• RiteAid
• Safeway (anything above $500 requires a manual manager over ride)
• Schnucks (gift cards are held behind the customer service desk)
• Shaws/Star Market (Sometimes a manager override is needed, this varies store to store)
• ShopRite
• Stater Bros
• Stop & Shop
• Vons. Seems to be a hard limit of two $500 gift cards per transaction, anything above this and you have to pay cash. Anything over $500 requires a manager override.
• Weis. Sell both Visa & Mastercard
• Winn Dixie (require you to fill out a form with your name, drivers license number and other information, they no longer log this information they just check your ID & credit card to ensure they match)

To get the most out of the Chase Freedom promotion, I’d recommend waiting to see if any of these grocery stores offer a promotion on purchasing gift cards (this happens quite regularly). We’ll be keeping our eyes out for these more than normal, but make sure you check the weekly ads for grocery stores in your area as well (also please contact us to let us know).

Stores That Sell $200 Giftcards

• Meijer (these can also be bought in the self check out aisle)
• Tops
• Wegmans

Stores That Don’t Allow Credit Cards To Be Used

• Copps
• Mariano’s
• Pick ‘N Save (limit of $2,000 per transaction used to be allowed, no longer accepting credit cards)

Stores That Don’t Sell Giftcards

• Acme Fresh Market
• Jubillee
• Mieners
• Pick ‘N Save (limit of $2,000 per transaction used to be allowed, no longer accepting credit c)
• Publix (no $500, might have others)
• Remke
• Shoppers Food (possibly hard coded not to allow credit cards to be used)
• Strack & Vantil
• Town & Country
• Trader Joe’s
• Wegmans
• Whole Foods