I was just browsing ebay for gift card prices as I have one I was thinking about listing. A lot are selling for over face value. Explain that?
Honestly, I wouldn't even bother buying a gift card unless I was getting it at less than 75 cents on the dollar. Any more than that, and it's just not worth the hassle .
I know over xmas time Outback was advertising a $50 gift card for like $30-$40. I wondered why everyone didn't go out and buy a couple of free steaks on layaway. Personally I'd never buy a gift card on an auction site but that's me.
I am guessing a friend buys it so it doesn't sell for a lower price and then is just put back up for sale.
Ebay charges 10% and Paypal 3%. Examples... http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...MAZON+GIFT+CARD&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc
That is really wierd. The only reason I can think of is maybe buyers want to use money in thier paypal account and Amazon doesn't take paypal? You can also get money back buying on Ebay through Ebates, then another rebate buying on Amazon? But a $10 card selling for $17.50? Got me
I think I have this one figured out. I think people are using stolen credit cards to purchase these gift cards online through Ebay. I think it's basically a way to launder stolen money.
I listed my $210 Staples "cash card" last night for "buy it now" at $195 and it sold within a couple hours. Ebay will take their 10%, but I am a top rated seller so I get a 20% discount on the final value fees. So ebay will take about $15 of it. So basically, I got about $180 for the card all said and done. Not bad for a card I don't need. I tried to spend it with Staples, just couldn't find anything I wanted.
It would be easy to trace though, as a seller can only ship to their verified Paypal account address.
They must government employees doing the buying... glad to know they spend their money like idiots as well as ours. Very interesting.
