Disney Gift Card Deals

[CMNJ]

If I go into Gamestop and purchase an eBay GB with a $100 bill, how is that any different than paying for that same GC with a GS GC? Both forms of payment have the same value. If the store wasn't making any money on that transaction, they wouldn't be selling the 3rd party cards.

But you forget that when you bought that gift card the store paid a "commission" to the seller to sell their gift cards. If game stop didn't sell their gift cards for less than the retail value (i.e. Wholesale) other companies would not sell their gift cards.
Your $100 nets game stop $100
Your $100 game stop gift card nets them less (maybe $90 or $95 none of us know exactly at what price eBay/GCM or eBay/PPDG buy them but it is NOT $100)

 

[CMNJ]

I'm sorry, I guess I'm just not totally getting it, not trying to argue. First of all, in their selling of products, don't they allow for the various fees and cuts others take, etc, in what they sell items for? And, Even tho I'm not cashing out, anywhere yet, but at this point it'll probably be BB, but in the mean time I am spending at GS, bringing my dollars in their store, as another poster said the sales clerk told her about buying gc's at his store. how do they not get enough of that $3000 I spent there to make it worth it for them? I mean, why sell any if all they will do is continue to lose money, that doesn't make sense to me. Even with losing a cut or fees, don't they make more than they would have if they didn't sell at all?

They do make money off the third party gift cards they sell. Not as much as the merchandise they sell but a small fee. The problem is that the small fee they make probably is less than or equal to the discount they give to other companies who sell their gift cards. So using your $3000 example they may have generated $3000 in eBay gift card sales at your local stores (which is why a manager might be happy as he has higher sales numbers) but made no profit. Using simplistic numbers say both GS and EBay/PPDG earn 5% of the other retailers' gift cards they sell. GS sold $3000 in eBay GC to you. Their gross profit on the $3000 is $150. However since you used GS gift cards to pay they actually had no profit since they sold those gift cards to eBay/PPDG at 5% off (received $2850 for $3000 worth of gift cards) who then sold those gift cards to you at full retail. So GS doesn't actually make a profit on the sale and they also have to pay taxes, labor, overhead, etc.
Retailers sell other companies' gift cards because there is a small profit to be made with minimal space/inventory needed. They sell their gift cards at a discount to other companies like GCM, eBay/PPDG, etc to boost their overall gift card sales. If letting you use their gift card to make other gift card purchases was "so profitable" don't you think more companies would allow it?

 

[JKalai]

If I go into Gamestop and purchase an eBay GB with a $100 bill, how is that any different than paying for that same GC with a GS GC? Both forms of payment have the same value. If the store wasn't making any money on that transaction, they wouldn't be selling the 3rd party cards.

But the point is that none of us are purchasing GameStop gift cards dollar for dollar. Take for instance the last eBay promo this week where we all bought $60 GameStop gift cards for $50 bucks. GameStop is -$10 on that transaction.

When we turn around and buy eBay at GS, GameStop does get a bit of profit. But then when you buy GameStop to churn again, GameStop pays the seller on eBay a commission. They could be at a small gain or a loss depending on the contracted commission. They sell third party gift cards at gamestops so you would pay out of pocket for a gift card and that's it. They pocket the commission. With us churning the funds, they are giving and taking which is why some areas have banned it.

 

[susan137]

But the point is that none of us are purchasing GameStop gift cards dollar for dollar. Take for instance the last eBay promo this week where we all bought $60 GameStop gift cards for $50 bucks. GameStop is -$10 on that transaction.

When we turn around and buy eBay GameStop does get a bit of profit, but then when you

Is it Game Stop or the eBay seller that offers these discounts when there is sale? I would think GS sold the cards to the eBay seller. If there was a sale on those cards in the seller's eBay store, then wouldn't the seller eat the discount? Maybe I'm not thinking correctly??

 

[CMNJ]

ok maybe my computer is wonky today.... i tried the search feature here and no go.... in placing a target order today using some gc's (just stuff I needed) I tried to add a disney gc just for haha's to see if it would work.... nope- site said in store only.... did I miss this somewhere along the last few pages? I can handle the surprise at that just wondering as I thought I had seen posts that they could be gotten online....

$50 has been out for a while. It's not letting me add $100 either. Says I've reached my maximum quantity (apparently that's 0).

I was successful in buying 1 $100 Disney gift card yesterday (used up a bunch of promo cards and some $ left from my last GCM churn). Got the shipping notification this am.

I need some help from the experts
Ok ready to use my exit strategy. I am getting impatient and we have a trip coming up. I tried to buy BB from PPDG on eBay (I know I know... It can be iffy) but when I put in the eBay gift card the confirm and pay button doesn't light up. It I click on PayPal it says "we can't apply this code to your order. Contact PayPal service to resolve this issue" Help!! I'm only buying a $50 card and it's my first time!

Welcome to the club.
Unfortunately it took me a couple weeks for PPDG to cooperate once they locked me out. I initially bought $50 that worked and then started having problems. It seems like my account is ok now but I am only purchasing 1 $100 PPDG per day now. I was successful 3 days in a row so it seems like I may be ok (for now).

So I just got off the phone with PayPal... He told me that I shouldn't be buying a gift card with a gift card... But anyway I should wait the 24 to 48 hours and try again. Good grief!

I was told the same thing.
Despite what they told me my account never unlocked in 24-48 hrs to buy PPDG even though I could buy a physical card from another seller no problem (every time I tried I got stuck in the verification loop or got the error message you got). I suggest waiting longer than 24-48 hrs (like a few days at least in my experience).

 

[PerfessorZ]

If I go into Gamestop and purchase an eBay GB with a $100 bill, how is that any different than paying for that same GC with a GS GC? Both forms of payment have the same value. If the store wasn't making any money on that transaction, they wouldn't be selling the 3rd party cards.

Not all forms of payment generate the same revenue for a store. Cash is best for stores - no overhead there. Credit cards and debit cards have fees in the 2-3% range, so stores only take in $97-98 for every $100 you buy with a credit card.

When you purchase a 3rd party gift card at a store, that third party does NOT receive 100% of they money of the value of the card. i.e. If you buy a $100 ebay gift card at Kmart, Kmart does not send ebay $100. First of all, if you buy it with a credit card, Kmart would only receive $97.80 or so of that $100, so if they sent ebay $100, they'd lose money on every gift card they sold. ebay doesn't even get the $97.80. If they did, they'd be tying up floor space that could be used to sell more profitable items and paying cashiers to work for ebay for free. So Kmart is getting a bigger discount than that to encourage them to sell ebay cards and make some money in the process.

Now, what's in it for a retailer to sell gift cards when they receive less than full value for them? It's guaranteed money for the company. They get the money whether you eventually use the gift card or not. And most times, even when you use the card, there's still profit to be made.

But you forget that when you bought that gift card the store paid a "commission" to the seller to sell their gift cards. If game stop didn't sell their gift cards for less than the retail value (i.e. Wholesale) other companies would not sell their gift cards.
Your $100 nets game stop $100
Your $100 game stop gift card nets them less (maybe $90 or $95 none of us know exactly at what price eBay/GCM or eBay/PPDG buy them but it is NOT $100)

Exactly.

 

[supersnoop]

they believe you are purchasing the gift card and using the full amount at Gamestop on their products.

No, they don't. They allow gift card purchases because they give you a gift card for trade-in credit. They tell you that you can get other gift cards with trade-ins, and that's how they accomplish it.

 

[JKalai]

No, they don't. They allow gift card purchases because they give you a gift card for trade-in credit. They tell you that you can get other gift cards with trade-ins, and that's how they accomplish it.

The trade in credit and gift cards are two different things at gamestop. If you look at the card they give you when you purchase a gift card vs trade in video games, they are two different cards. A memo when out to either the stores or district managers to not allow gift card purchases with gift cards which is why people are getting turned away. They want you to pay out of pocket for gift cards. Wether the stores in our areas follow the policy is YMMV.

 

[MrInfinity]

I agree with these totally, exactly what i was going to say! I guess maybe I'm not as smart as others, but makes no sense that GS is losing money on sales. I have bought all my GS gcs at full price, no discount.

If you paid cash this would be true. But... you didn't. You paid with a gift card that they sold for less than full price. Then you turn around and buy it back from them (via a middleman) at a discount a 2nd time, and repeat.

I go in and buy a gc, a product they offer for sale, at full Price, could have been anything they sell. It's not like we get a 5% discount along the way as we could with the Target cards. So I paid full price, and didnt do any of the recent discounted gc sales for GS like the one yesterday.

Think about why you're doing this. Because you make money. The companies you are dealing with are losing money by your actions. By design. If it was not that way, you wouldn't be doing it. When Target was involved, Target was losing boatloads. Now, your profit is slimmer, and the losses to the companies you're dealing with are slimmer. But every $1 you earn by churning is $1 from the companies you're taking from. GS is definitely shouldering some of that loss.

So they got about $3000 from me over the last maybe 6 weeks during promos than they ever would have otherwise. Never would have made any purchase there not doing this, so don't see how they possibly lose money on me and other purchasers like myself.

They didn't get $3000. YOU got $3000. GS got less than $3000... maybe $2700. Doesn't matter that they're getting your volume. Your volume is costing them.

Even if they lost 10% on those as suggested as possible, they then still got the 90% from me and others they probably wouldn't have gotten. And, now that I've been in there, there is a possibility of buying something else there in the future, I'm sure others could say that as well. Them losing money doesn't make any sense to me.

Um... It doesn't matter if they lose 10% on this?

Don't get me wrong mini, none of this is bad... you're being an entrepreneur and preying on the weak so to speak. But you are definitely not helping GS nor giving them profitable business. Any time you make money, someone else loses money.

 

[pens4821]

I was disappointed to see target wasn't listed today when I got my circular-I was hoping for Father's Day they'd run a promo for all GC.

I agree and that's why I'm using some of my Visa stock. Maybe there will be a all inclusive deal for the 4th.

Shop n save has 20 cents on all gift cards. Not sure if they offer Target or not though, as I just buy Disney ones.

Never thought of buying the visa cards then using those to pay for the gift cards. I always hear stories of people hating those cards. Saying it's hard to spend it all. If there is only say $90 left on it but you're getting $100 worth of gift cards do the cashiers have issues?

 

[Friendlyadvice2]

Shop n save has 20 cents on all gift cards. Not sure if they offer Target or not though, as I just buy Disney ones.

Never thought of buying the visa cards then using those to pay for the gift cards. I always hear stories of people hating those cards. Saying it's hard to spend it all. If there is only say $90 left on it but you're getting $100 worth of gift cards do the cashiers have issues?

It depends on the store's system, but as long as they are run as debit, I've had no issues. Visa/MC can run as debit; Amex always runs as credit regardless of store system. Regardless, for buying gift cards at GE it's a non-event; $200 Visa gift card gets you $200 of the gift cards you actually want.

 

[Angrose]

It's no problem. Gamestop is willing to take the cuts on the gift cards they sell because they believe you are purchasing the gift card and using the full amount at Gamestop on their products. They haven't taken into consideration or probably even thought that we can use these gift cards to purchase gift cards for other retailers which is why other users have already stated that we are on borrowed time with Gamestop... that this process we have been using will get the attention of someone at Gamestop that can actually do something about this and put an end to it which is what probably happened with Target.

It's almost like all of these retailers were sitting around in a circle playing hot potato with your gift card funds as the potato. Every time they pass the potato (you churning your gift cards to another retailer) they pay someone either it be eBay/giftcardmall/gamestop. The retailer that ends up with the potato at the end is essentially the winner because that retailer gets to keep those funds (you cashing out/end game) and all the other retailers are SOL as they paid whatever percentage to whomever they had to (the fees).

Even though you pay dollar for dollar with gift card purchases, there are many things that go on behind the scenes that we as the consumer don't see. Every time we swipe a debit card anywhere, the seller has to pay fees which is why some stores do cash only/$5 minimum.

Isn't Disney the ultimate winner here? That is where most of us here are actually paying for goods and services which net the largest profit for the company. The retailer where we cash out for Disney GCs is still only getting the small mark up or may be losing money depending on what you paid for the GC in the first place.

 

[CMNJ]

Shop n save has 20 cents on all gift cards. Not sure if they offer Target or not though, as I just buy Disney ones.

Never thought of buying the visa cards then using those to pay for the gift cards. I always hear stories of people hating those cards. Saying it's hard to spend it all. If there is only say $90 left on it but you're getting $100 worth of gift cards do the cashiers have issues?

Thanks I did see the shop and save ad. However I'm not 100% sure how pump perks works as I have never actually used it. Can you redeem up to the cost of gas or only a certain amount? Also how quickly do they expire? With GE you can redeem up to the cost of gas so I usually fill up when I am empty. There are a lot more Get Gos around where I live/shop than Sunoco so it is easier to do for me. If I could only redeem a portion of my pump perks it would be harder for me to fully utilize it if I bought a lot of gift cards.
@Friendlyadvice2 turned me onto the whole visa double dip idea. You lose a portion of your credit card cash back since it is a $6.95 activation fee per $200 but you get an additional $0.80 off per gallon of gas per $200 if you buy the Visa card and then use it to buy the other gift card when there are double fuel perks on both cards. I get 17-18 gallons when on empty so I save $13.6-14.4 on gas but lose $6.95 per $200 card (% lost in visa fee is lowest by buying the $200 cards). If you get the full 30 gallons you'd save even more.

 

[JKalai]

Isn't Disney the ultimate winner here? That is where most of us here are actually paying for goods and services which net the largest profit for the company. The retailer where we cash out for Disney GCs is still only getting the small mark up or may be losing money depending on what you paid for the GC in the first place.

Exactly. Well, mostly... since they were the ones that 90% of the time received the funds in the end. Since PPDG is unreliable to get BB cards, and Target is now dead, it could be what other retailer is getting the final payout. I decided to payout on physical Hotels.com cards this weekend from a portion of my funds through GCM as I'm heading to California, so they would be the winner in my poor hot potato example, haha.

 

[WDWNY]

Just want to clarify- You can still get 5% off Disney gift cards from Target but only when you purchase in person, not online anymore. (Don't want to make the trip if not) Thank you!

 

[Phatscott25]

As far as I knew you could get the 5% off in person as long as you are using your Redcard to pay for them.

 

[redgokart]

what i dont understand is why we even have resellers. ebay slaps you with 10% off the top and that doesnt even include the price to have an ebay store, shipping to your buyers, listing fees, frauds, oh and the actual time it takes you to do all that (unless you like working for free). they must be getting one hellacious discount from where they are buying them from or there is something else going on we dont know about. im leaning towards the latter because if we all really knew what was going on we would all be "resellers" on ebay.

 

[havaneselover]

Just want to clarify- You can still get 5% off Disney gift cards from Target but only when you purchase in person, not online anymore. (Don't want to make the trip if not) Thank you!

It still works online. But yes it works in person when paying with a redcard.

 

[CMNJ]

Just want to clarify- You can still get 5% off Disney gift cards from Target but only when you purchase in person, not online anymore. (Don't want to make the trip if not) Thank you!

Only 5% off in person when using red card
5% comes off if red card is default payment method in your target.com account even if you actually use a gift card to pay
They are currently out of $50 cards and the limit per order of $100 Disney cards is 3 online.

 

[redgokart]

i seriously doubt they are buying these cards outright. they probably have a contract with the store with permission to sell gift cards. they then get paid a commission for each sale or for a certain amount.