Innovative Gift Cards

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/22/tiktok-shop-launches-digital-gift-cards-to-challenge-amazon-and-eb...

We talk a lot about AFTER Christmas buying, with people using gift cards, etc. While ebay has gift cards available, I haven't really seen ebay doing a good job of pushing them. And I certainly haven't seen ebay do anything innovative with them. But a rising competitor, TikTok Shop (the sales platform within social media site TikTok) has apparently asked themselves what would make gift cars more attractive to the younger crowd? And animation, social interaction, etc are all coming into play.

I'm sure to many of us oldsters, this is just so much useless fluffery, but I suspect TikTok is right---this will help to drive use of their virtual gift cards and thus increase their overall sales revenue, especially with their own target audience.

And, in case you haven't been paying attention, they've grown their sales platform business exponentially, becoming a real competitor (and note that they are apparently also getting into luxury goods...one of Jamie's Focus Categories)

Will ebay step up its game in 2026?

[dhbookds]

lol....... on the idea......  but found the last line interesting

TikTok faces a potential ban in the country. President Trump has extended the deadline to January 23, 2026, leaving the app’s future in the U.S. hanging in the balance.

so what happens to the gift card if they get banned, I wonder........  I doubt going to happen, but not the time to buy a card, in my opinion...

[gone.c-33]

TikTokShops peddle even worse quality stuff than Temu/Wish/Shein, and that is when the shops are real and actually send something…

The only reason to order from them is to create “What I ordered vs. What I received” content…

[hartungcards]

"Will ebay step up its game in 2026?"

Hopefully an annual increase in system activity experienced during this period will no longer cause processing delays.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Unfortunately people have had a LOT of issues with trying to use ebay gift cards. They often don't work at all and when they do there's the problems with when a buyer doesn't use the full amount of the card.

It's made a lot of folks shy away from using them as gifts, or even for themselves.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

---

@dhbookds wrote:

lol....... on the idea......  but found the last line interesting

TikTok faces a potential ban in the country. President Trump has extended the deadline to January 23, 2026, leaving the app’s future in the U.S. hanging in the balance.

---

TikTok no longer faces any risk of a ban. That evaporated with the results of the last election.

There is agreement on an acquisition by three US companies with provisions to deal with the privacy and national security issues.

The economics of TikTok are highly tied to the amount of money their users have to spend, arguably limited, and the competition for that money which crypto and sports betting constitute.

I have few buyers in their age group, those who are in that age group tend not be buy items similar to mine unless they are encased in plastic and authenticated, unless they are trying to raise some cash by reselling after encasing in plastic and paying for authentication.

I want buyers who buy things they plan to keep and have the space to keep them.

[gloryglorygifts]

Wait. Ebay has a gift card?? I never knew that.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@gone.c-33 wrote:

TikTokShops peddle even worse quality stuff than Temu/Wish/Shein, and that is when the shops are real and actually send something…

The only reason to order from them is to create “What I ordered vs. What I received” content…

---

Not all of it.

My daughter bought me a hair clipper and trimmer set last year or two.

She told me she bought it on Tic Tok and only paid around $20 for it.

I was expecting junk like most of the stuff from China, but I was surprised when it come in.

Both, the clippers and trimmer is built sturdy out of metal, not plastic and they both have a cool design.

If I could find their source, I wouldn't mind selling them here.

[onlinecentral]

I read a few articles/videos about the revenue increase on TikTok Shop. Buyers watch a 29 second video and make an impulse purchase they never intended to buy. So I wonder about the return rate.

Do buyers purchase and pay on TikTok directly or do they get redirected to eBay, etc. first?

Are there search and sort capabilities to compare available products like on eBay?

If I create a video, will it get ignored? Do I need to pay a celebrity a commission to appear in my video to get views?

Do I need to pay TikTok promoted listings fees to get views?

Do I need to pay TikTok Final Value Fees?

I will be unable to source this month's flash in the pan hot products.

If a dollar amount gift is sent through Paypal, Zelle or Venmo, the recipient is not limited to that one store.

[12345jamesstamps]

TikTok is a little different than other platforms I believe...the algorithms come into play.

I am on it when I am at the gym...I don't look at items for sale or sellers pushing items for sale...thus my algorithms show usually nothing for sale...I usually look at funny stuff and movie related.

Let's also note what or who is going to be a part of TikTok.

Administration wanted to not have it so much controlled by China...and actually, no TikTok exists in China.

The new partner, I think 50+% of TikTok is going to be MGX...United Arab Republic...LOL😆

The platform will be totally changed when it is taken over and will probably be more censured than before what is sold on it...by UAR and the T Administration...

Sellers of the friends of the T Administration already sell a lot of items on it and that will grow as others will probably diminish by being censured.

eBay gift cards are sold everywhere...no need to market them...from the post office to CVS.