Where to buy cheap gift cards in the UK
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Gift cards can be a great option when you need to give someone a present but aren’t sure what to get.
They allow you to set your budget while letting the recipient have the freedom of choosing exactly what they want.
But while you might be used to buying gift cards at face value, there are ways you can save a significant amount on what you were planning to spend.
From cashback sites to gift card sales, here’s how and where to buy cheap gift cards in the UK.
Why buy gift cards anyway?
Gift cards can be an easy solution when you’re not sure what to gift someone, or if you’ve left things to the last minute.
For businesses, they can be offered to employees as a low-cost perk of the job.
I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of gift cards because I always feel pressured to buy stuff I don’t need just to stop them from expiring.
It also annoys me when gift cards can only be used in-store because I almost always shop online.
But I do occasionally buy gift cards for myself as a way to stack rewards and save money.
Apart from what you would save by buying gift cards at a discount, you could use a cashback or reward credit card to get extra cashback on your purchase.
You could also shop through a cashback website when you spend your gift card and be rewarded there.
Note that some retailers have restrictions around this so double check the details.
You should also double check the fine print around gift card expiry and where and when the balance can be used.
Read this: How to supercharge cashback on your spending
Check cashback sites
The UK’s two main cashback websites, TopCashback and Quidco, both offer cashback on the gift cards you buy through them.
The exact amount of cashback you get depends on the retailer the gift card is for but it can be as much as 18%.
Unlike other purchases you make through the cashback sites, the reward is credited to your account within the hour so you could cash out more or less straightaway.
It’s worth noting that all of the gift cards sold on the two main cashback websites are digital, which means they’re easier to use online.
For shopping in-store, make sure you double check the terms as not all e-gift cards support offline use.
Aside from TopCashback and Quidco, you can also get cashback on gift cards from JamDoughnut, Cheddar and EverUp.
Offers for these cashback websites change all the time so it can be worth doing a comparison across all of them if you’re ready to buy.
Amazon
Amazon obviously sells its own gift cards but it stocks gift cards from other retailers* as well.
Every once in a while it will have a gift card sale where the cards are discounted by as much as 20%.
Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are good times to check for deals but otherwise it might just be luck of the draw.
Google Play
Google Play stocks a huge range of digital gift cards and it runs promotions every few weeks.
Discounts can be anywhere from 5% to 15%, and includes gift cards for the likes of Deliveroo, Uber and Tesco.
They’re hugely popular though, and often the deals will be pulled within hours of going live, so it can end up being the luck of the draw as to whether you manage to get one.
You can’t use your Google Play balance to pay for them, unfortunately – I’ve tried!
Cardyard
Cardyard is a little different.
It allows people with unwanted gift cards to sell them on at a discount.
That means the discounts and availability can change on a regular basis but in some cases you can save as much as 25%.
It’s one of the few places where you can get Amazon gift cards at a discount so it’s worth checking out if you want to save there.
How to find discounted gift cards
As places like Amazon and Google Play often don’t announce their gift card sales, it can be down to luck and checking frequently.
You can certainly improve your chances by creating a Google alert.
You’ll need a Google account but it’s free and easy to set up.
Just make sure you limit your keywords so you’re not bombarded with irrelevant email alerts.
Are discounted gift cards safe to buy?
Buying gift cards from established retailers is generally safe but before you pay, make sure you double check a few details.
The main thing is that you’re actually buying the gift card from the retailer you think you’re buying from.
This is less problematic when you’re shopping through the retailer’s app but if you’re shopping through a search engine, clicking on a link can easily take you to an advertiser that looks similar instead of the retailer you actually want.
Also just to reiterate, you should check the details of the gift card including the balance, the expiry date and the terms of use.
Some gift cards can only be used online, for example, or only used towards purchases of a certain value, while others can’t be spent on certain types of purchases.
In some cases, using a gift card might also prevent you from earning cashback on a purchase so you might not save as much as you think.
And of course, it’s important to remember that if the retailer goes bust, you won’t be able to use any unspent balance.
For me, the easiest way to mitigate this is to buy a gift card for close to the amount I want to spend shortly before I make the purchase.
I might not save as much but I won’t lose anything either.
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