Dec 13, 2010

Best gift card deals

I decided to expand on one of my previous posts about buying gift cards because I had a couple sweet deals to share...

Recent and/or Local Gift Card deals:

**Weaver's Store in Fivepointville is giving out free $20 gift cards their customers who drop in between 5-9pm and who are 16 years of age and above on the following days mentioned below. You can spend the gift card that night or any time you like. I know it sounds a bit too good to be true, and that's what I thought too, so I just called to confirm and it's true.

Free gift card for ladies: This Wednesday, December 15
Free gift card for men: Next Wednesday, December 22

**Again, today restaurant.com is offering a discount on their gift cards. Today's code is "GIVE"; with that you'll receive 70% off your purchase.

**Starbucks offers rewards to card-holding members. So if you load a Starbucks card, register it, and then use that card for your purchases, you can earn rewards such as free birthday drink, free coffee & iced coffee refills, and free soy & extra flavor shots. They also send you a coupon for a free drink via snail mail for every 15 purchases you make.

**Discounted gift cards can be found at: plasticjungle and ebay (if you're lucky).

**Receive free gift cards when you redeem your credit card points. Unless you're using your rewards to donate to a charity, this is the best bang for the buck. Usually buying items in the credit company's rewards store isn't the best deal. If you need help learning how to earn rewards with your credit card, visit billshrink.com.

**I'm tempted to again, use the "G" word...but I've overused it these past few posts...

Additional gift card strategy
Around the holiday season, businesses are dying for you to buy gift cards for everyone on your shopping list. It means they get money for that purchase, because when you receive a gift card without a receipt (as a gift), you can't return it. Plus, if you don't use it, the company makes that money back without giving away any product. So they REALLY want you to buy gift cards...some places are even offering deals and discounts associated with the purchase. Here are just a few I saw offered in the past couple weeks:

-Free lunch with a $40 gift card purchase (Hoss's Steakhouse)

-20% off gift card purchase (Lords & Ladies Salon)

-Buy a gift card over X amount and receive a free cup of coffee or bag of coffee(Starbucks, Max Crema's)

Why does this matter? Because if I'm already going to Lords & Ladies every six months to get my hair done, I may as well buy a gift card while it's discounted and use it on myself. That's 20% off all my purchases. The best part is, you can combine that 20% off with other coupons or deals. Or if I know I'll use that Hoss's Steakhouse card, then I may as well take the free lunch and hold on to the card and just use it next time I go there.

Just be sure you will definitely, absolutely, without a doubt use that money, otherwise it's lost. And of course, it's best to do this with places you already frequent so as not to spend additional money at extra places.
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