Scams

[alalflo-pskqsutq]

I was almost a victim of a scam that posed as ebay. I  purchased 6 200 dollars  gift cards to buy a car. My bank alerted me in time to stop the transaction. I have 1200 dollars worth of gift cards and need to turn them back into cash. What should I do next. Thanks for your help 

[jacbarcollectibles]

Glad you were informed about this very common scam.  Unfortunately all gift cards (not just eBay's) are considered to be cash and are non refundable.  The place you purchased the cards from will not take them back.  eBay itself will not redeem the cards for cash only items you purchase on the site.

Sometimes you may find machines that will take your gift card and give you cash after taking a percentage from the payout.  I used to see them in grocery stores and a few other places but not so much now.

[shipscript]

@alalflo-pskqsutq 

Your best bet is to gift the cards, sell them to friends, or find items on eBay that you need. You could try taking the still-packaged cards back to the merchant to see if they will refund, but I doubt they will. Fortunately, they do not expire.

eBay card balances can be checked here:  https://www.ebay.com/gft/balance 

And I recommend that you check the balance while the purchase is still fresh. Be careful of the scratch strips - a card has 13 digits, and we see reports of the last 4 being too easily scratched off.

The problem with an eBay gift card is that it can only be used on eBay. And once a card it used on eBay, it attaches to that user's eBay account and can not be transferred. When attached to an eBay account, you can still read the balance on the checker, but can not see whether it is linked to an account (although if the balance is less than the purchased card, it is definitely linked). Thus, eBay cards can not readily be traded on the market because use/ownership can not be determined, and once linked, they are non-trasferrable.