***Update: GardCardRescue returned my $300 in gas cards to me without even opening the envelope. They just wrote return to sender on the front. So for those of you waiting, there still may be some hope if your cards haven’t been processed yet.
This has been a bad month for those of us who manufacture spend though gift card arbitrage. We not only learned that GiftCardRescue is no longer buying gift cards, but that their assets have been frozen due to litigation (potential bankruptcy) and will not be paying for the gift cards that they have purchased in recent weeks (HT: Will Run For Miles).
The CEO of GiftCardRescue, who was once featured on the show Shark Tank, sent an email to a number of customers essentially saying “sorry, but I can’t pay you.” I sent $300 in gas cards to them about 3 weeks ago and I’m still awaiting payment. I’m sad to say, but I was one of the fortunate ones, some people have reported being owed upwards of $5,000. In fairness, a second email was sent last week informing customers that they would make every effort to return gift cards that had not yet been processed, but I’m not holding my breath.
If this has happened to you, I suggest contacting the ebay seller directly to try and track down the gift card numbers and then asking the issuer to reissue a new card. If you are still owed a large sum, you may want to consider hiring an attorney who may help you recover some of your losses. I’ve attempted to contact GiftCardRescue for comment and payment, but they have not yet responded. Their call centers are not answering and it appears they have essentially shut down operations with the exception of liquidating their current inventory.
Ebay Too!?
On top of the GiftCardRescue fiasco, it has also been reported that ebay is now limiting the amount of their gift cards you can use on merchandise to $2,000 per 60 day period. For those of us who liked to use our Chase Ink to buy ebay gift cards at 5x and then use them to purchase discounted gift cards, it now appears that is no longer going to be a viable and sustainable option.
Final Thoughts
This process was inherently risky, so it should come as no surprise that something bad has finally happened. Initially, I really enjoyed this form of MS, but now it’s just become more trouble than it’s worth in my opinion. I’m done with it. I got into this game to get some free points, not lose money. There are safer alternatives for manufactured spending out there that don’t require shipping gift cards to a buyer and hoping they pay you. Sure, other methods may cost a little more, but weighed against the risk, buying Visa gift cards makes more sense for me.
Did you get burned by GiftCardRescue? Have you been able to reach them or recover any losses? Sound off below.
I got myself into a bit of trouble. I got additional cards for my parents and grandparents and my girlfriend’s mother without telling them and then I purchased lots of gift cards. I made lots of points doing this for 3 months but now I have 8k of cards with GiftCardRescue under 7 different names and it’s a big mess and I need to get my $ for them. I can’t tell my parents and grandparents what I did because when I asked them if I could get them cards they said no. How can I get my $ back?? Help. I’m ok getting 90% back if that’s all that they’ll give me. Who do I talk to? Even my girlfriend doesn’t know I did this. I need the money for school.
Just got an ink and trying to find places to hit that $5000 in spend. Where can I still get gift cards via credit card and how can I unload them?
Do you like apple sauce? Because I can spoon feed that to you too if you’d like
I do. Can you make it fresh?
You can also buy Paypal my cash cards and use those to load your Paypal account if your local post office doesn’t accept gift cards as payment for MOs. You should be able to use the Paypal debit card without any issues. Be careful not to accidentally cash out your Paypal funds to a bank account as this could result in your account getting shut down
That’s also a great method of MS.
I would suggest purchasing Visa Gift Cards from Staples and unloading them by purchasing money orders at the post office with the PIN feature on the VGC. Don’t go overboard, otherwise they will file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) with the Feds. Use a few different post offices if you have to. Good Luck.
yea, I did that a few months ago for another card. Any difference between Staples and Office Depot / officemax?
The only difference is that you can buy $300 VGCs from Staples online and you won’t run into any issues while checking out with a credit card. The $300 cards are a couple of bucks more, but it lowers the overall cost.
Sounds like GiftCardRescue needs to be… well… I should feel bad for this… rescued.
Haha! That made my day. Thanks.