No More eBay Bucks on Gift Card Purchases Starting October

Starting October 1, 2016, we won’t earn eBay Bucks on any gift card purchases, both physical and digital.

The change can be found in your eBay account under the eBay Bucks tab. The official terms have not yet been updated.

One other change mentioned is that, starting in 2017, eBay Bucks won’t be able to be redeemed to buy eBay gift cards. They should still work to buy third party gift cards or any other item on eBay.

This will take away the profitability of most eBay gift card flips. RIP.

Hat tip to reader therealtruth and Daniel
    Chuck
  • On September 20, 2016, 15:02

View Comments (39)

  • You're kidding me! I guess that's the end of eBay's gift card business then.

    I only buy the gift cards for the eBucks. That's really sad.

    Well, it was good while it lasted. Probably will save me some money. I hardly ever sell mine; I have
    quite a lot of them...

  • I noticed one important detail that can make a big difference. The notice says after October 1st. So, does that mean October 1st is still ok? That at least gets one day of buys on the new quarter and coincides with other grocery rewards programs coupon dates.

    • Hmm, the wording is a bit misleading there. I guess we'll check it on October 1 to see if it gives Bucks.

  • I see the following happening. One, there will be bigger discounts on gift cards on ebay to make up for the loss in ebay bucks. Two, gift card exchanges will increase the buying price to ensure sellers at least break even. Three, some gift card exchanges will close down if they are not competitive enough.

    • Already saw GCRescue shut down 28th lots of people losing hundreds of $$$ on that site. Might be a good omen for the rest of us to stop playing the reselling game.

  • Thanks for the update. Happy to have advanced information this time and happy that Bucks will still be able to be used to purchase GCs. Most good things comes to an end unfortunately. Been milking eBay for a while now and while its sad to see the opportunities there vanish, Im grateful to have received so much

  • Question: I never really got into the whole gift card game on eBay. Were most people buying them discounted to use, to resell for profit/MS, or to just help meet minimum spend requirements? Or other?

    • Primarily personal use and to get 5% off on gold bullion, as I am amassing a collection as part of diversification.

    • All of the above. I used it mostly for min spend though and personal use. I will still by some for personal use like CVS gift cards...hopefully they discount them more because of this. Reselling is all but dead at this point though except for the rare occasion.

Leave a Comment