Plastic Jungle, Gift Card Granny and Ebates

[kkbmustang]

Just thought I'd share this little money saving trick. If you go to plasticjungle.com or giftcardgranny.com, you can purchase gift cards to a variety of stores at a discount. We've used it for stores we shop at anyway, such as Lowe's, Target and BestBuy. Discounts range from 2% up to 15%, which isn't a bad return on your money. We just bought a Lowe's gift card at an 8% discount, which stretches our budget a little bit further than otherwise.  Shipping is free. Also, if you've been given a gift card you know you won't use, they will buy them. I've never sold one to them, so I don't know how much they pay.

Also, if you are buying something online, you can go through ebates.com and they will give you a percentage cash back on your purchase. The percentage back depends on the store, but when you sign up and make your first purchase, they'll credit your account automatically with $5. They issue checks quarterly. We just bought back-to-school clothes and went through ebates and saved almost $10 in addition to the discounts from the retailer (including free shipping, of course). This is an easy way to make some easy spare cash if you're going to be shopping online anyway.

[MoonPilgrim]

Have you ever had any trouble with the cards?  I thought about trying the gift card sites because they have good discounts on pet supplies, but was afraid that there would be no recourse if the card didn't have the promised value.  It's great to hear from someone who's actually used the sites.

[kkbmustang]

I've bought at least 10 cards from them and have never had a problem. I always check the first use to confirm the balance on the card is what I think it should be. I don't usually buy the ones with huge values, although I did just get several BestBuy ones that totaled almost $300 because the kids needed a new computer for schoolwork. (I bought it online through ebates and not only got the gift card discount (7%), but also will get about $15 back from ebates.)

I've always ordered through Plastic Jungle, but just ordered a Lowe's card through Gift Card Granny since PJ was out of them when I checked. The one I bought is supposed to have a value of like $112 or $113, but I paid $103. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'll let you know if there's a problem.

Also some of them are electronic gift cards. I've purchased those, too, and never had a problem. The delivery of the code is almost instantaneous.

[kkbmustang]

FYI, The Hubs bought a bicycle today through NashBar, as recommended by MMM. We checked and by going through ebates we will get 3.5% back on the sales price. He bought a $350 bike for $189 plus tax, free shipping and 3.5% back from ebates. Not bad.