I’ve written about Ebay in the past. I think it’s a great venue for buying discounted gift cards. Of course, there is some risk involved. At the same time, I am hesitant of selling gift cards on Ebay for the same reason… risk and fraud.
Time and time again, I have seen something on Ebay that boggles my mind. I see gift cards being sold for more than face value. See example below of completed transactions for Shell gift cards on Ebay:
A $100 Shell gift card sold for $116.49 and a $50 gift card sold for $57. After accounting for Ebay fees and possibly even shipping, my guess is that the seller likely collected roughly the same amount of money as the value of the gift card. There are numerous other examples.
If this doesn’t present an opportunity for manufactured spend, I don’t know what does. I mean it seems easy right. Just go out and buy a $100 gift card using a credit card that gives 5x category bonus (Chase Freedom last quarter at Lowes), then sell the gift card on Ebay for $116. If Ebay fees and shipping come out to $16 or less, you get an easy 500 points and maybe even a small profit.
It sounds too good to be true. I know there is some key piece of information I am missing, but I am not sure of what it is.
Can anyone enlighten me on why some gift cards sell for more than face value on Ebay? I would love to know.