The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MrGville on December 04, 2018, 12:21:39 PM
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The company my wife works for is giving each employee a $1,000 gift card to BestBuy. What would you buy? We don't really need anything (new TV, appliances, etc.), so I am curious to hear your opinions on what you would do. And when I say gift card, what I really mean is the whole company goes to BestBuy after hours and everyone gets to choose what they would like. Its not a gift card to use at your convenience.
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Something easily returnable for cash?
EDIT: Never mind...it looks like Best Buy would just give you another gift card.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/return-exchange-policy/pcmcat260800050014.c?id=pcmcat260800050014 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-topics/return-exchange-policy/pcmcat260800050014.c?id=pcmcat260800050014)
My camera is about a decade old now, so I'd probably get a new one:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-eos-rebel-t7i-dslr-camera-with-18-135mm-is-stm-lens-black/5774293.p?skuId=5774293 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/canon-eos-rebel-t7i-dslr-camera-with-18-135mm-is-stm-lens-black/5774293.p?skuId=5774293)
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iPad Pro (12.9 inch model) is $999 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-12-9-inch-ipad-pro-latest-model-with-wi-fi-64gb-space-gray/5985637.p?skuId=5985637). Should be easy to sell on eBay for similar dollar amount if you can't straight up return it.
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I'd sell it.
Remember that you will likely owe tax on the full value of the gift card.
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I could use a new laptop.
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If I didn't need something fairly essential- laptop, vacuum, appliances- then I'd likely sell it through Cardpool or similar for cash. FB also has various B/S/T gift card groups, although I haven't personally used them.
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Buy something with high resale value like an iPad.
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Thanks for the replies. Yes, buying something with good resale value is a nice idea. I assume we could get at least 90% value for a brand new, never opened IPad.
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I was curious, so I just looked at https://www.cardpool.com/sell-best-buy-gift-cards -- looks like a $1000 Best Buy gift card can be sold directly too them (so you don't have to sell it on their marketplace) for $885. If you take it as an amazon gift card (only if that would result in being more usable for things you would normally purchase of course) they'll give you $938.10.
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I haven't manufacture spend'd at Best Buy for a while. A couple years ago, I'd look over the 3rd party gift card rack and use up Best Buy cards for those cards. Shell gas was my favorite but they carried a number of restaurants I went to. It's certainly worth a try. I'd much rather have a gaggle of various other cards I'd use for normal buying than for anything Best Buy sells.
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Whatever you decide on, wait for Boxing Day to make th purchase, maybe you can even get something or a bunch of one item at a big discount to re-sell at a profit shortly after
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https://www.bestbuy.com/site/human-touch-zerog-volito-massage-chair-gray/6166300.p?skuId=6166300 (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/human-touch-zerog-volito-massage-chair-gray/6166300.p?skuId=6166300)
(https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6166/6166300cv15d.jpg;maxHeight=1000;maxWidth=1000)
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I was curious, so I just looked at https://www.cardpool.com/sell-best-buy-gift-cards -- looks like a $1000 Best Buy gift card can be sold directly too them (so you don't have to sell it on their marketplace) for $885. If you take it as an amazon gift card (only if that would result in being more usable for things you would normally purchase of course) they'll give you $938.10.
I wonder if you can claim it as a loss on your taxes, since you will be taxed on the GC.
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I'd sell it. I prefer raise.com
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I'd either buy any random thing and return for a gift card, or buy gift cards. The decision would be based on what I could sell for the highest resale on the various GC resellers. A few minutes of research--see what cards Best Buy sells and then checking the rate offered by resellers.
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I think there are a number of options. These are what come to my mind:
1) Sell it for cash on a GC resale site.
2) Look around the site/store (if it's not out of your way) for deeply discounted items that you could re-sell for >$1k.
3) Save it until you need something. They don't expire.
Or a combination of the options. I need a new computer, so I'd pick a refurb/open box one up and sell the rest of the GC. You could also keep it around until you need a new phone, their online marketplace has some good options occasionally.