Selling Gift Cards

[throwadogabone]

I searched through the threads and the general consensus seems to be that selling gift cards on ebay is not a good idea due to the possibilty of the buyer spending the balance on the card and then filing a  chargeback claiming there was no money on it.

I made the mistake of listing first and then checking out my concern first. I can't cancel my listings because there are several bids and less then 12 hours before my auction ends.

What about completing the sale with buyers with really good feedback scores?

[phcd1]

All buyers have "really good feedback scores", that's all they can have. Good Luck with you gift card sales.

[imakesugar]

I would not give them the card numbers by email, I would send them with Delivery confirmation and possibly signature required.

I would already have them in the system so that You could copy and paste where the money is being spent. i don't know how to do that but I have  it can be done. 

I am so sorry this happened to You! Please spend some time reading the rules and regulations that eBay has for Sellers. you can always come here and read and learn how eBay works ECT.   Pam

[duggmills]

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@imakesugar wrote:

I would not give them the card numbers by email, I would send them with Delivery confirmation and possibly signature required.

I would already have them in the system so that You could copy and paste where the money is being spent. i don't know how to do that but I have  it can be done. 

I am so sorry this happened to You! Please spend some time reading the rules and regulations that eBay has for Sellers. you can always come here and read and learn how eBay works ECT.   Pam

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Giving a buyer the numbers by email means you have scratched off the material blocking the number rendering the card unsaleable as buyers will assume the card  has a zero balance.

"I would already have them in the system so that You could copy and paste where the money is being spent."

What system would that be? One the is based on tracking the card number?  Refer to my comment above.

Spend time reading the rules and regulations? Yes, that is a good suggestion but we come here for answers that don't require deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls.

[duggmills]

Hang on, I may be wrong... When you buy a gift card, does the card code number appear on your store receipt? If it does, I was wrong.
My apologies to imakesugar

[lex-talon]

Selling gift cards on ebay is risky. I hope everything turns out ok for you. Good luck to you.

[*eponymous*]

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@throwadogabone wrote:

I searched through the threads and the general consensus seems to be that selling gift cards on ebay is not a good idea due to the possibilty of the buyer spending the balance on the card and then filing a  chargeback claiming there was no money on it.

I made the mistake of listing first and then checking out my concern first. I can't cancel my listings because there are several bids and less then 12 hours before my auction ends.

What about completing the sale with buyers with really good feedback scores?

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@throwadogabone  You can cancel all bids and you won't pay fvf, but you can't end the listing after you cancel bids.

Cancel close to the listing end time and let it run.

You're only allowed to list ONE gift card for sale at the same time.

[throwadogabone]

True but many buyers are also sellers as well and you can see their scores as sellers

[throwadogabone]

thank you for the feedback everyone

[a_c_green]

The gift card auction(s) may end up getting sniped at the last second anyway, so I would not rely on cancelling bids as they come in as a strategy for not selling. 

I think the best you can do at this point is to mail each card in a padded envelope thick enough to qualify for tracking (anything to make it at least 3/4" thick somewhere on the envelope is sufficient) so that you have Delivery Confirmation. You do not need Signature Confirmation unless the total sale is $750 or higher, at which point it's required in order to maintain Seller Protection against an Item Not Received dispute. (Below $750, Delivery Confirmation achieves the same thing.)

Make it crystal-clear to the buyer, if asked, that you are mailing the card; you will not be providing the card numbers in email. If they balk at that, offer to cancel instead, but don't do so unless they agree to that in reply. 

In the future, it might be better to either sell such cards locally for cash, or use them up yourself and then sell whatever you buy with them.

[pargran3]

I have always wanted to ask this.

So here I go.

WHY would you sell gift cards on eBay? Why would you buy giftcards on eBay? There are discounts on gift cards up the wazoo at places like your local grocery store!

WHY would you not use the gift card. Even if it is for a store you do not like that you got as a gift wouldn't it make more sense to USE the card to buy things that could be sold on eBay

Sorry folks, but I do not get this gift card on eBay thing from a buyers or sellers perspective.

Radine

[throwadogabone]

My card is actually a credit fo returned merchandise. It's been sitting around the house for 2 years but there's never been anything that I really needed or wanted. Seems silly to waste $164 and buy stuff just for the sake of using it. As for buying things and giving them as gifts, sure that is always an option, but there was nothing from from Restoration Hardware that I thought would make a great gift for the people I give gifts too.

[throwadogabone]

For anyone interested this is how I handled the transaction in the end:

The seller had good feedback scores as both a buyer and a seller so I decided to go ahead with the transaction. What I did was create a split window screen on my computer. On one side I had the ebay summary page showing the completed lising. On the other side I had the retailer's website gift card balance inquiry page.

Using my iphone I made a video of my computer screen showing me entering in the gift card number and pin to show the current balance of the card. Then using a contact the buyer option I sent a message with the card number and pin and sent.

Should there ever be a dispute I am hoping that the video can be used as proof of both the balance and delivery to the buyer.

[a_c_green]

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@throwadogabone wrote:

Should there ever be a dispute I am hoping that the video can be used as proof of both the balance and delivery to the buyer.

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Unfortunately no, videos are not accepted as proof of anything, but it sounds like your buyer is about as good as you could hope for, so hopefully things will go all right for you. 

If anything does go wrong with the transaction later, update us here first before taking any action. Good luck.

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, i’m not where i can check out your listing but you are not following policy on the delivery of the gift card. It must be mailed with a tracking number. If your buyer is not honest, they can claim Not Received and you will lose. Online verifiable delivery confirmation from a carrier is the only proof ebay accepts. There are a number of restrictions besides this on selling gift cards, the policy is below. Sorry to rain on your “sale parade”.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/gift.html