Experience with GiftMe?

[Tigerpine]

First off, props to johnny847 for sharing this app with me.

Now the question:

I checked out the GiftMe website, and just as I was told, this service is purely app-based.  It's an interesting app that allows you to buy discounted gift cards on the secondary market.

But looking through the Q&A, I stumbled on this little nugget:

Prior to purchasing your first discounted gift card, you are required to go through a verification process to set up your account. Clicking the giant red exclamation point on the main purchase screen or attempting to purchase your first gift card will lead you to the verification process. This usually involves entering your name, billing address, and taking a picture of the front/back of your credit card. (This establishes that you have possession and some thief isn’t using your card online.) Your account may take up to 24 hours to verify but is usually done in less then three. Once verified, you will receive a text message saying so and will be allowed to purchase instant discounted gift cards. Your card images are immediately deleted upon verification and your credit card number is never stored on our app. If you have any questions about this process or want to be verified a different way, please email support.

and this,

When signing up for the service, users have a fifty dollar gift card buying limit per a 48 hour period. This limit will rise as more purchases are made. To raise your gift card buying limit even further, upload a picture of your drivers license under the “My account” tab.

Is my paranoia about sending pictures of my credit card unfounded?  I understand their given explanation, but something just makes me nervous about the process.  What experience have you had?  The second point is avoided easily enough, but just the fact that it's there again raises my healthy paranoia levels.  I appreciate any feedback.  Thanks!

[johnny847]

You probably are being paranoid about the cc pictures. You already have to type in your cc #, expiration date, and cvv code on the back anyway. I can't imagine of any way this increases your chances of identity theft or anything like that.

Hm I don't recall any buying limits when I started using the app. That might be a new policy. When I started using it, I bought like $1k in gc's over the course of a couple days (I buy discounted eBay gc's, use those to buy discounted gc's to other stores from eBay, and sell them for profit). The actual developer of the app called me to confirm that it was in fact me making all of those purchases (they're a small startup).


I've had a great experience with the app. They sell eBay and Target gc's at better discounts than what I can find elsewhere. And they're delivered instantly, which brings me to my next point.


The way they've implemented gift card delivery (it's instant) allows for a completely different use case than buying gc's from traditional gc reseller websites. If you buy from sites like Cardpool and ABC Gift cards, you might have to wait for it to come in the mail (they do sell digital ones that can be emailed). Then once you get it, you have to keep track of it, making sure to bring it to the store. Then you have to keep track of whether you used up the gc in full or not.
But GiftMe has instant delivery. Meaning you can just go to a store, ring up your stuff at the checkout line, and then tell the GiftMe app how much you want to spend at the store. It will do its best to search for a combination of gift cards that add up to close to how much you're spending, but not more. This way you always end up using your gift cards in full.
No waiting for cards in the mail. No forgetting to bring your gc. No tracking of whether you used your gc's or not.


If the request for a photo of your cc still bothers you, then so be it. But I can't conceive of a way that sending a photo exposes you to extra security risks that typing in your cc #, expiration date, and cvv code does not.
And as for the drivers license thing, you could just start out slowly with purchases.

[Tigerpine]

Thanks.

You're probably right about being paranoid, but something about me just doesn't trust smartphones and the apps on them yet.  The GiftMe app seems like a great idea, and maybe I'll join up eventually.  Hopefully more people will post more testimonials here.

Perhaps when/if I do, I can use a rewards credit card with a low limit that I wouldn't miss closing out in the worst case scenario?  I know that credit cards have pretty good fraud protections in place, so that's a plus.

[johnny847]

The app is fairly new. The company only formed last year iirc so testimonials will probably be slim.

The low limit really has no bearing on the matter. So long as you report fraudulent transactions within 30 days, you're on the hook for nothing. Furthermore, fraudulent transactions are so commonplace these days that unless you're phoning in about fraudulent transactions all the time, they'll just believe you if you say a certain transaction is fraudulent. It's just not worth the cost to them to investigate it.

[COlady]

If I'm understanding this right...this app allows you to purchase gift cards at a discount that others don't need.  I won't participate in this type of thing because my general understanding is that this type of thing perpetuates fraud. When I worked in retail I learned all about how people steal things and then return the items without a receipt (since they never purchased it in the first place) for store credit. Then they sell the gift cards. I guess I don't know why people would have that many un-needed gift cards unless they're doing something like this. I realize you might get a gift card for $100 to Best Buy from your grandma for Christmas but you'd rather have $80 in cash so you sell the gift card at a discount....but really, how often does that happen?? Why are there so many gift cards out there being resold?

[johnny847]

If I'm understanding this right...this app allows you to purchase gift cards at a discount that others don't need.  I won't participate in this type of thing because my general understanding is that this type of thing perpetuates fraud. When I worked in retail I learned all about how people steal things and then return the items without a receipt (since they never purchased it in the first place) for store credit. Then they sell the gift cards. I guess I don't know why people would have that many un-needed gift cards unless they're doing something like this. I realize you might get a gift card for $100 to Best Buy from your grandma for Christmas but you'd rather have $80 in cash so you sell the gift card at a discount....but really, how often does that happen?? Why are there so many gift cards out there being resold?

There are websites such as ABC Gift Card, Raise, CardCash, etc. that have literally MILLIONS of dollars of inventory of unused gift cards.
http://www.giftcardwiki.com/markets/

I've sold over $10k in brand new gift cards over the past year because I buy them at a discount (from authorized sellers of new gift cards on eBay). I then turn it around and sell it to the resellers listed above and make a profit.

It's not just fraudsters and thieves doing this. How many of these gift cards were acquired through illegal means? No clue.

ETA:
http://nypost.com/2014/11/29/750-million-in-gift-cards-will-go-unused-in-2014/

$750M. That's million! dollars in face value of gift cards were estimated to be unredeemed in 2014.

Based on this, if I were forced to speculate I'd say that the vast majority of gc's sold to resellers are acquired legitimately.