Buying Store Gift Cards -- For Yourself to Use?

[biffbronson]

I was wondering if some of you have purchased store gift cards for your own use exclusively.

I do on occasion, as a way to save at stores I frequent regularly. For example, one time Half Price Books had a promotion where if you bought their $25 gift card, they would give you a store credit of $5 or $10 (I think it was $5) -- so I bought a couple, and did make use of the credits.

Sometimes stores like Family Dollar or Dollar General will do 10% to 15% off of selected gift cards they carry (usually restaurants). Of course, you will still save as well if you're planning to give the card for birthdays, etc.

I know that you may hate those cards, and that's okay, but I've found them to be a decent way to save $$ over time. (I'm compulsive about certain things -- I spent around $200 on books over just a couple of days in April, so anything helps...! )

[Caroline13]

I never bought any of those cards, but if it works in your life Biff, that's fine.

I've been thru in the last month two hackers from Amazon buy cards on my account, got the first one resolved ($500) and still working with the bank on the $200 card purchase and am told it will be resolved. Then a day or so ago my phone rang and they are saying about the $1000 ipad being purchased, NOT TRUE.....so of course I hung up.

And now I been thru cancelling my 2 cards and getting new ones issued.... I HOPE to not buy from amazon again. And my book buying days are behind me, now a friend is taking books to the library that I no longer need in my life....The good ole net and Dr. Google tell me a lot, plus been around a long time to gather so much info.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

I was wondering if some of you have purchased store gift cards for your own use exclusively.

I do on occasion, as a way to save at stores I frequent regularly. For example, one time Half Price Books had a promotion where if you bought their $25 gift card, they would give you a store credit of $5 or $10 (I think it was $5) -- so I bought a couple, and did make use of the credits.

Sometimes stores like Family Dollar or Dollar General will do 10% to 15% off of selected gift cards they carry (usually restaurants). Of course, you will still save as well if you're planning to give the card for birthdays, etc.

I know that you may hate those cards, and that's okay, but I've found them to be a decent way to save $$ over time. (I'm compulsive about certain things -- I spent around $200 on books over just a couple of days in April, so anything helps...! )

I’ve bought them too for myself for a similar promotion at GNC. I think it was buy a $25 card and get a $5 card free, which works out to about 17% off.

[Bonniegirl]

Wow, cool!! I never knew about these promotions so I never bought gift cards for myself , just as gifts for other people !

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

Wow, cool!! I never knew about these promotions so I never bought gift cards for myself , just as gifts for other people !

Stores and restaurants tend to advertise and promote their gift cards more heavily during the Holiday Season, so that's when you're most likely to come across a promotion you can take advantage of. Some other businesses too, like car washes, salons, and tanning places.

But it can be any time of year -- my niece for example likes Dunkin', so when I found one of their cards advertised in March at 15% off, I bought it for her birthday. She mentioned later that she also saves by using Dunkin coupons at the same time.

A lot of people have struggled financially due to the pandemic, so I thought I would do this thread as just an example of doing a little extra saving.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Stores and restaurants tend to advertise and promote their gift cards more heavily during the Holiday Season, so that's when you're most likely to come across a promotion you can take advantage of. Some other businesses too, like car washes, salons, and tanning places.

But it can be any time of year -- my niece for example likes Dunkin', so when I found one of their cards advertised in March at 15% off, I bought it for her birthday. She mentioned later that she also saves by using Dunkin coupons at the same time.

A lot of people have struggled financially due to the pandemic, so I thought I would do this thread as just an example of doing a little extra saving.

It is a SMART idea to look out for these, as they may be popping up more during these hard times,

[HuntingtonM15]

I have done this before at restaurants when they run the promotions during the holidays. Similarly, Costco offers deals like this regularly with their restaurant gift cards. You can usually buy $100 worth of gift cards for $70-80. They usually have about 10-15 restaurants to choose from at any given time. It's definitely worth a look for anyone with a Costco membership. I'm not sure about other "bulk" stores, such as Sam's Club, but it's possible they have something similar.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by HuntingtonM15

I have done this before at restaurants when they run the promotions during the holidays. Similarly, Costco offers deals like this regularly with their restaurant gift cards. You can usually buy $100 worth of gift cards for $70-80. They usually have about 10-15 restaurants to choose from at any given time. It's definitely worth a look for anyone with a Costco membership. I'm not sure about other "bulk" stores, such as Sam's Club, but it's possible they have something similar.

I live alone so a Costco card doesn’t work for me; but for those who already have a Costco card, this is a great idea!

[biffbronson]

Originally Posted by OH Nuts!

I live alone so a Costco card doesn’t work for me; but for those who already have a Costco card, this is a great idea!

I had a neighbor who lived alone and was always big on Costco, but in her case she was constantly on the road and mainly wanted to gas up often at their gas stations. But I'm like you OH Nuts! as far as not having a membership (when I was growing up we could have made use, with 5 or more people in the house, but the warehouse places were still a decade away or so).

Thanks for the replies everyone. That's an interesting Costco promotion HuntingtonM15. I might add sort of off-topic that some of the merchandise sold at Ollie's stores consists of Costco products that went unsold. I've had a few temporary Sam's Club passes in the past, but wasn't really capitalizing on savings (I liked their vegetarian lasagna!). Good to see that you're able to take advantage of restaurant savings.

[AB]

I have bought gift cards for Christmas & people's birthdays. If I end up with one left over, I'll use it myself. But I don't generally buy them for myself. But I can see the incentive of getting one for yourself if it's discounted or promotional.