Author Topic: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?  (Read 6689 times)

Mother Fussbudget

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I'm not much of a salesman - my father once (correctly) told me, "Son, you couldn't sell $20 bills for $10".  Yet I'm in the position of wanting to sell some $100 ToysRUs Gift cards, and thinking my current method may be less than optimal.

Background:
As a manufactured spend (MS) technique, this past Feb, March, & April, I was buying ToysRUs $100 gift cards (GC's), going into a ToysRUs store, and buying VISA gc's ($500 at a time), then putting those on my Target prepaid Redcard, and ultimately paying my mortgage with the Redcard's bill pay service.  It netted me 7 mileage points for every dollar spent.  However... in late April, ToysRUs changed their policy, and no longer allow you to buy other gc's with ToysRUs gc's.  I was stuck with $2,500 in ToysRUs GC's. 

I investigated a number of different stores throughout Washington and Oregon, and couldn't find a story that would allow GC purchase. 
Next, I tried redeeming them at CoinStar's 'yellow kiosk' that scans your gc's, and offers you cash for them.  They wouldn't scan the ToysRUs cards for some reason. 
I thought about buying hybrid bikes (overpriced), fitting them with sting-ray handlebars, and banana seats, and reselling as adult 'sting-ray' bikes - but I'm hesitant to add $$ to the $2,500 already invested. 
I thought about selling them on CraigsList, as I've had success selling things there, but only merchandise / workout equipment, etc. - nothing with a cash-value.  Perhaps I'll give it a try as I'm unhappy with the method that's currently working...

Finally, I tried selling on eBay.  Listing $100 cards for $91. Sounds great right?  But after eBay takes their 10%, and PayPal takes their $2.94, I end up with $78.96 for my $100 value.  At least it's secure, and PayPal insures the payment - but PayPal holds payment for a couple of weeks.  Annoying.  But I've sold 7 gc's successfully this way.

Still.... there's got to be a better way.  Any ideas?:
1.  Continue selling on eBay, and be happy I'm getting something back for my $$
2.  Try CraigsList.
3.  Try FaceBook / and see if any of my 'friends' shop at ToysRUs (I don't feel comfortable doing this, and it sounds like it should be against FB policy).
4.  Other?

Yes, I know... I deserve muchos face punches for this one.  But I've been beating myself up about it since late April, and am admitting to this screw up to the only people I can think of who might be able to have a 'better mouse trap' idea than I've come up with.   

hayhayday

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2015, 04:44:30 PM »
Cardcash pays 80%

johnny847

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2015, 04:50:09 PM »
The typical way that I unload any gift card is through a reseller such as Cardcash.

I like giftcardwiki.com to compare reseller rates. They're saying ABC Gift Card (which is either the child or parent of CardCash) and Cardcash are buying for 80% of face value.  If you mail them in, you can get paid via Paypal.

Aside form selling on eBay, Craiglist, friends, etc. I don't know of any other methods. Any rational and well informed person looking to buy discounted Toys R Us gift cards should not be willing to buy them for a discount less than 13%, because they could buy Toys R Us gift cards from a well established gift card reseller such as Cardpool. So you should not expect to be able to sell for a price higher than that (though of course, you have seen good success selling them at 9% discounts of face value, but since you're only getting 79% of the sale, you're better off with ABC Gift Card anyways).

CardCash/ABC Gift Cards doesn't hold the payment for a couple weeks. They usually take a day or two to process payment after they receive it in the mail. Of course, it takes several days for the mail to reach them.


I wouldn't say you deserve face punches for this. I' assuming you had no issues floating $2500 (if you did, then I will issue major face punches). At least in my mind, being stuck with something of value that no longer has an easy liquidation plan is sometimes a part of the game when it comes to MS. There are easy wins like loading Serve online. There are riskier games like gift card reselling. As long as you acknowledge the risk and can float any funds when things go south, I don't see anything wrong with it. These activities technically constitute that of a business, and as with any business, there are risks.

KittyCat

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2015, 04:58:36 PM »
As others have stated, there are stores like giftcards.com, Giftcard Zen, and ABC Gift Cards but it seems that you will get $80 per card at most this way. Some will buy in bulk.

Mother Fussbudget

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2015, 05:08:08 PM »
GREAT INFO EVERYONE!   I checked Cashcard, and they'll pay $80/each for up to 4 cards.  Odd that the amount goes DOWN if you enter higher multiples (i.e. 15x cards @$100 gives much less than $80/each).  [edit:  this looks like a bug in their website code.  Page refresh seems to fix things.]

I'll give it a shot, and post here once I've liquidated. 

And yes... the $2,500 was float.  But as with anyone, I'd rather have cash.  ;-)
« Last Edit: August 03, 2015, 05:49:44 PM by Mother Fussbudget »

daverobev

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2015, 05:19:58 PM »
reddit giftcardexchange? Might be gcexchange. I haven't used it.

Mother Fussbudget

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2015, 11:01:36 AM »
Update: 
Because my gift 'cards' are eGift Cards (email/electronic delivery), Cashcard / ABC Gift Cards / et. al. will only pay $75 per certificate.  BUT... because it's a LOT less hassle than listing the certificates for sale on eBay, tracking the auction, sending a printed certificate at the end of the auction, etc...  I'm submitting my 16 remaining eGift Cards to Cashcard in two (2x) 8-card batches. 

Thanks for the ideas, and ultimate solution. 

Bruce (aka "Mother Fussbudget")

johnny847

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Re: ToysRUs Gift Card / MS cautionary tale - how to best sell them?
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2015, 11:06:21 AM »
Update: 
Because my gift 'cards' are eGift Cards (email/electronic delivery), Cashcard / ABC Gift Cards / et. al. will only pay $75 per certificate.  BUT... because it's a LOT less hassle than listing the certificates for sale on eBay, tracking the auction, sending a printed certificate at the end of the auction, etc...  I'm submitting my 16 remaining eGift Cards to Cashcard in two (2x) 8-card batches. 

Thanks for the ideas, and ultimate solution. 

Bruce (aka "Mother Fussbudget")

Save Ya will accept e-gc's for no penalty vs physical gc's. They're offering 79%. Unfortunately they have a pretty tight sell limit of $300/month (I forget the exact amount, but it's pretty low).

Would get you a few extra bucks but you have to decide if it's worth making an extra account and dealing with another reseller just for the extra $12 (assuming the limit is $300/month, and you want to sell them all this month).