Issue No. 5 - Jan 30, 2008
Buying a "Re-Gifted" Gift Card online that sounds too good to be true?
For starters, I realize I may anger one-half of my readers out there. The ones who may have over-indulged on the holiday spending, and now that most of the January credit card statements have poured in, are looking for unique ways to raise some extra capital. So that $50 restaurant gift card you received from Aunt Trudy might come in handy after all! (Aunt Trudy lives half-way across the country, and picked out a card for a restaurant chain near her, but, the chain lacks a presence where you live.) Besides, it's January, and you're on your annual "beginning of the year diet," so it is easy to rationalize unloading this gift card. (But, take solace...February is almost here, so you can soon eat well again.) You are one of the honest sellers that truly has a valid reason to sell.
But for every honest seller out there, there is likely to be a dishonest one. Now that most of us (at least I hope!) have wised up to the phony "you've been hand-picked to assist the deposed President of Nigeria transfer $1 million in to a U.S. bank account" scheme AND the "you're a winner of the $10 million European Lottery" scam, the con artists have moved on to easier targets: people like you. After all, you're not talking about giving them your bank account number...only buying a $50 gift card for $30.
I was conned...not once...but twice, by the same seller on eBay back in the fall of 2002...shortly after I discovered the virtues of this auction site. The auction item was for 25 "free drink" certificates from Starbucks. These are the paper certificates the baristas were (maybe still are?) empowered to give out to a customer when they had to wait too long to get their drink, or, if there was some other mix-up with the order. This guy was selling two lots of 25 coupons each, which I was able to buy for the great value of about $45-$50 per lot. At the time, I had a "two Frappuccinos a day" habit...and at their prices for a Venti, I would be saving about $50 per auction lot. Heck, I figured this was just some enterprising Starbucks associate trying to supplement his $5.15 per hour. I pressed the "Send Payment" button on PayPal, and that $100 was gone faster than I finish my lattes. Turns out, there were several other buyers scammed by the same person for the same item. eBay was not much of a help, despite the several online resolution forms I had to complete. (I paid with cash, direct from my PayPal account, as opposed to a credit card, so I was offered no protection.) My days of buying discounted gift cards on eBay were over.
Since then, eBay has enacted certain limits on sellers of gift cards and gift certificates, as do some of the operators of the abundant gift card reselling and swapping sites that have popped up. But I've yet to hear that any of them are a 100% sure-fire safe bet.
You still want to buy a gift card or gift certificate at a great value? Here are my suggestions:
- Look locally to make the purchase. Check out CraigsList, or some other site / format allowing you to pick it up from a seller in the local area you live in. To be safe, even meet the seller at their place of work (but never meet them at any private, secluded location).
Something I've recently discovered --- one that gives you the satisfaction of scoring a great value (50% of the face value) --- are promotions tied in with radio station web-sites. In my area, there are at least two radio stations that each offer promotions, a different restaurant each week, of discounted dining gift certificates. One program is known as "Double Your Money," and the other as "D-Licious Dining." All one needs to do is log on to the radio station's web-site and make the purchase. There is not any auction involved, but as the supplies are limited (any where from 50-100 each week per station), you need to watch the site on the day they go on sale. I'll provide the links for each to allow you to easily check them out:
- http://www.2wd.com/ "D-Licious Dining" on 2WD 101.3 FM Norfolk-Virginia Beach
- http://www.1069thefox.com/index.asp "Double Your Money" on WAFX "The Fox" 106.9FM Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Chesapeake
There are possibly one or more radio stations in your market offering similar programs, as radio stations are quick to imitate something that works in one area and import it to their own. In the last few months I've picked up several certificates for Supper Thyme USA (the type of place where you prepare your meals, in advance, to take home and freeze, to serve later) and Qdoba Mexican Grill...each of these a $50 value for $25. Safe, secure and a great savings! (Just a word of caution: most of these programs are location-specific, so, a certificate for a national chain restaurant in one city will likely not be valid at sister properties in another city...and, these also may have definite expiration dates and other limitations, like "does not include alcoholic beverages" and "not valid for holiday dining." Unless you live in the Norfolk area, are planning to visit the area, or have friends or relatives in the area, you will not want to buy from the radio stations listed above as examples.)
- If you just can't pass up that great value on eBay, then make sure to do your due diligence. Don't buy from anyone that has a history of negative feedback, or, from someone that has only completed a few transactions. (You are able to review their selling and buying history before you bid.) It's easy "to fake" positive feedback for only a few transactions (via pre-arranged "Buy It Now" sales to accomplices), but, it is much harder for someone with hundreds or thousands of transactions to do.
So, remember that old adage: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Some updates from The Retail Radar Screen...
Check out the retailer postings in The Retail Radar Screen for updates on each of these "distressed" retailers:
- Bombay and BombayKIDS. All of their retail locations have totally shut down. These stores surprised everyone by refusing to accept previously-issued gift cards as of 11/17/07. If you have a card, do not throw it away. There is a chance you can still get a few cents for each dollar of value (some consolation!) by completing the claim form, found at: http://www.bombaycompany.com. The deadline to submit to the bankruptcy administrator is March 1, 2008!
- CompUSA. All locations will be closing soon (if not already). Gift cards should still be accepted up through store closing time, at their physical locations only, and there is information on receiving a refund for unredeemed gift cards.
- demo Stores. This retailer, a division of PacSun, will be closing all stores by early May 2008. We've included information on obtaining a refund of any gift card value.
- Sigrid Olsen (division of LIZ CLAIBORNE, INC.) All stores will be closing over the next 6-8 months.
- Talbots Mens and Talbots Kids...these concepts only will be closing down, but, their gift cards will still be accepted at any of the other Talbots line extensions.
- Old Country Buffet; Country Buffet; HomeTown Buffet; Fire Mountain Grills; Ryan's Grill, Buffet & Bakery; and Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouse. The parent company, BUFFETS HOLDINGS, INC., has filed for bankruptcy. While they are expected to survive, they may eliminate some of their under-performing locations...which would obviously affect some gift card holders.
Shop with knowledge...and remember, the consumer holds all of the cards (unless it was a Bombay Gift Card).
Ken Hawkins
The Card Shark
Please feel free to submit your thoughts and column ideas to KHawkins@GiftCardTRACKER.com