Looking for cheap gift cards is a bit easy. The difficult part is matching it with your recipient’s interests. This is because the cheap gift cards available are limited, meaning you don’t have lots of choices. The ones offered by most gift card for less websites are only available because there’s an ongoing promotion by a certain company, like those offering free or cheap iTunes gift cards, free $10 Amazon gift cards and other similar to this. Another reason is that somebody is selling the gift card at a discounted price. So at any given point in time, your targeted gift card might not be available for purchase, so you have to wait until such time comes.

Listed below are some tips to look for cheap gift cards.

Sign-up at Gift Card Exchange Websites
Gift card exchange websites are perfect sources of cheap gift cards. The primary focus of most websites under this category is gift card trading. However, an additional service offered is for people to buy and sell their gift cards. In this, gift card owners usually sell their gift cards usually at cheaper prices. These gift cards for less are valued at cheaper prices depending on the one selling it and the terms and conditions implemented by that website.

Most of the time, you will not be eligible for any transaction unless you sign-up with their website to assure everyone of valid identity. If you want to know where you can buy discount gift cards, you can check on the discounted gift card page. This is updated at least once a week for some offers around the web. Links to those sites are also listed there.

Keep your Eyes on Promotions
Many bloggers out there talk about the recent promotion in the internet. They keep on writing about sale for a particular item, discounts available on a certain store or freebies offered by other websites. There is a great chance that cheap gift cards will be one of their headlines. Some bloggers themselves offer free gift cards or discounted gift cards as part of their personal promotion. This is also a good source of information when looking for cheaper gift cards.

Subscribe to Newsletter of your Favorite Shop
If you have a particular store or shop that you want to buy gift card from, there is a great chance that their promotions will be part of their newsletter. What you need to do is to go to their official site and register to receive their regular newsletter through email. News such as sale of their items, discount gift cards and opening of new shops are usually written in the newsletter.

Visit your Beloved Shop Regularly
In events that your much loved store doesn’t distribute newsletter, you don’t have a choice but to be abreast with any news about them. The best way is visit them personally on a regular basis. Other ways include reading the local papers for any promos.

In selecting the right gift card for others or for yourself, you tend to properly gauge the perfect one for your targeted recipient. Listed below are some gift cards ideas that you might want to consider.

Gift Card Idea #1: Reloadable Gift Cards
This type of gift card is ideal if you want the gift card to be used regularly by your recipient. This idea applies to parents who want to regularly give money to their child, or to people you want to use the gift card as a tool for budgeting.

Gift Card Idea #2: Personalized Gift Card
If you want to make the gift card unique and more personal, then the recommended one is a personalized gift card, also called a custom gift card. In this kind, you will be given the chance to create your own design that you believe will fit your recipient. Some will let you upload photos as part of the gift card design while others will simply let you customize your gift card by selecting a unique design then personalizing it with the recipient’s name and your personal message.

Gift Card Idea #3: Discounted Gift Cards
For those looking for cheaper gift cards as a gift, you need to do more work. Though discounted gift cards are available in many websites, the selection is limited compared to a normal gift card that you can buy at its normal price. You have to be extra careful to select the right gift card for your recipient.

Gift Card Idea #4: Visa Gift Cards
Visa gift cards are ideal because of the thousands of merchants around the world that accepts a visa debit card. The idea is that you have limited knowledge about your recipient (ex. In events like an exchange gift or a corporate gift card to be given to employees), it is best that the recipient will have wide selection of items.

Gift Card Idea #5: MasterCard Gift Cards
Similarly, a MasterCard gift card is also a good choice for a gift card because of the thousands of merchants that recognizes the card. This will give the gift card holders more flexibility whenever they want to redeem their gift cards in exchange of items or services.

Gift Card Idea #6: Gas Gift Cards
Gas gift cards suits those who always are on the road. This is because the prices of gas are high, so a gift card will surely be appreciated.

Gift Card Idea #7: Store Gift Cards
These gift cards are the ones attached only to a specific store and its affiliates or partners. In this type, the selection is quite limited compared to a Visa or a MasterCard gift card. However, there are some that offers more perks to store gift card holders because they are exclusive.

Gift Card Idea #8: e-Gift Cards
For online shoppers, this is the perfect choice. Electronic gift cards can be used to purchase items sold online like Amazon and eBay. Most of the e-gift cards are store gift cards, meaning that you can only use it in the website of that specific store or in any of their partners.

eBay gift cards are popular especially to those who shop or do auction online. Bloggers and other sites sometimes promote free eBay gift cards as part of their marketing strategies, adding more to the gift card’s popularity. This gift card has no expiration date and the eBay gift card balance can be checked online.

Where to Buy eBay Gift Card

The best place of course is eBay itself. If you go to the eBay’s gift card home page, you will be greeted by four options:

Create your Own Gift Card
Upon clicking this option, you first have to select the dollar amount of the gift card. You will then have to personalize the gift card design by uploading a photo to be placed in the gift card. Personal message can also be included but it will be written in the greeting card. To avail of this, an additional $4.50 is charged for the complete gift package which includes shipping and handling.

Choose from Standard eBay Gift Cards
This option allows you to select a gift card design from a set of templates provided by eBay. The succeeding page will require you to select the dollar value for the gift card. There are only two options here, either $25 or $50. Then you will need to select a design from the nine available. Lastly, you are given the option to have the gift card enclosed in a greeting card. If you do so, the personalized greeting card involves $4.50 for the greeting card, standard shipping and handling. Otherwise, you are charged only $1.95 standard fee including shipping and handling. The next pages will capture details regarding delivery such as addresses, information to be printed on the standard carrier, and the shipping date and type, and mode of payment upon checkout.

Find a Store to Buy a Gift Card
eBay gift cards are also available for purchase in-person at selected stores nationwide. When you choose this option, you will be directed to a page where you need to click on a region from the five regions available – Southwest, West, Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast. There are several stores identified for each region and you just have to click on the store of your choice.

Email and Print an eBay Gift Certificate
The eBay gift certificate is an alternative to an eBay gift card. This can also be used as payment for items in eBay where PayPal is accepted as a mode of payment. In this option, you have two methods of delivery – through email or personally by printing the gift certificate.

If you choose the gift certificate to be emailed, you are required to provide information such as the recipient’s email address, the amount of the gift certificate, and the date of delivery. If you choose to print the email instead, the recipient’s email address is optional and you have to select the option “I will print out the gift certificate and deliver it myself” as the delivery method. In both cases, the recipient’s name, the sender’s name and the personal message to the recipient are all optional.

FAQ and Terms and Conditions

Below are some items written on the eBay Gift Card FAQ. To have more details on how to use ebay gift card, you can visit the FAQ page here. As reference, it’s highly recommended to also read their Terms and Conditions.

How can I redeem my eBay Gift Card
You can redeem your gift card for ebay.com purchases from any seller who accepts PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account, you must sign up for one.
To use your eBay Gift Card, follow these steps:
• 1. Click Pay Now from the eBay listing.
• 2. Enter the 13-digit Redemption Code from the back of your gift card in the Redemption Code box. If you’ve used the card before, you can also find the code from your Profile page on paypal.com.
• 3. Click Apply. The value of the gift card will be applied to your purchase.
• 4. Click Continue.
• 5. Log in to PayPal, or click Sign up to open a PayPal account and redeem your gift card.
• 5. Complete the payment.
You will receive an email receipt. Any remaining balance from your gift card can be used for future purchases. eBay Gift Cards do not expire.
Note: eBay Gift Cards can’t be used on eBay Express at this time. To use a gift card, you must link a bank account or credit card to your PayPal account, or apply and get approved for an eBay MasterCard, a PayPal Plus Credit Card, or PayPal Buyer Credit.

How do I check the balance on my eBay Gift Card?
To view the balance of an eBay Gift Card that you’ve used before, follow these steps:
• 1. Log in to your PayPal account.
• 2. Click the Profile subtab.
• 3. In the Financial Information column, click the Gifts and Discounts link to see your gift card balance.
You can also check the balance by calling (866) 914-8078.

Majority of the gift card providers have a clause in their Gift Card Terms and Conditions that states that gift cards are not convertible to cash unless required by law. Take Amazon Gift Card for example. In their website, it’s explicitly stated under their terms and conditions that:

Gift Cards cannot be returned, reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account, except to the extent required by law. Unused Gift Card balances in an Amazon account may not be transferred. – Amazon Gift Card Terms and Conditions, Bullet point #4 under Item no. 2 – Limitations

Another example would the Wal-Mart Gift Card. Here’s an excerpt from their website.

Nonreturnable; not for resale. Wal-Mart Gift Cards and eGift Cards (“Gift Cards”) are not returnable or refundable for cash except in states where required by law. Resale of Wal-Mart Gift Cards is strictly prohibited.

There could be some gift card companies out there that allow the exact opposite option by allowing gift card holders to convert the remaining balance in cash, but I’m yet to see one. Most of the gift cards out there will only do this if required by law.

Gift Card Exchange Websites

There are some websites whose primary business it to let consumers trade gift cards. These gift card exchange website usually advertise themselves as gift card exchange or gift card swap sites. Their other services aside from gift card trading include buying of gift cards and selling them at discounted prices. Therefore, such websites are also the sources of discount gift cards.

To name a few of those that offer discounted gift cards, you can take a look at the list of those who offer gift cards discounts, and the sites that currently has promotion for discounted gift card.

Where to Cash-in Gift Card

There are some cases wherein gift card holders would want to have the balance left in their gift cards to be exchanged for cash. There could be different reasons for this. One could be because the gift cards can only be used in specific stores making the choice limited, so if the gift card holder doesn’t have anything he or she likes, she would prefer to have it converted to cash. Another could be that the gift card holder has different gift cards in his or her possession. He or she would want to have it all converted to cash to merge all amounts.

The primary place to sell gift cards are those described above – the sites that offers gift card exchange programs. You can sell your gift card for cash or trade gift cards or exchange gift cards for another gift card. This cash for gift cards system are actually one of the services that many gift card owners look for.

To do this, the websites will allow you to select options, which are usually to sell gift cards, buy gift cards or trade gift cards. You will be directed to a certain page that will allow you to proceed with your selected transaction. When selling gift cards, generally the mode of payment to the seller could be through Paypal or by check.

The procedure for selling gift card varies among the websites, so it is highly recommended that you check their process and their policies.