Why do people bid on giftcards for higher than their value?

[Triode]

Either there are lots of idiots, or there's some scam I don't understand. How come every time there's a gift card for auction on Ebay it goes for a little more than it's actual value? Is this a way that people launder stolen credit card money into something they can keep? That seems like it would be infective. What possible motivation could anyone have to always bid $50 gift cards up to around $55 + shipping?
**broken link removed**, a $400 gift card for walmart going for $404 with 10 minutes left? Why? If you look at gift card auctions that have ended this seems to be the rule, not the exception, unless its a store that nobody likes. I don't get it.

 

[BrownOut]

cuz, it's a Wallmart shopper. Heeeeeeeyyyyy!

 

[HarveyH42]

How much is the shipping? Seems like an envelope and stamp, maybe $1.00... Usual Ebay scam.

What's wrong with Walmart? I own Walmart stock, it's a great store. Actually, Walmart used to own our company, so we were allowed to purchase shares. This was years ago, and never bothered to dump it, since now they only send me a 1099 each year, and haven't bothered looking into it any further.

 

[Hero999]

It sounds like easy money to me.

There again, the mark-up is tiny and is not worth the effort of buying the gift card, posting it, then you have to factor in the ebay charges. It probably isn't worth it.

 

[bryan1]

Rather than use Ebay you can buy the plans here for making 'instant water' just send $10,000 via Western Union to the address I disclose then you will get the secret plans for this great invention....

 

[Triode]

It sounds like easy money to me.

I can understand the motivation of the seller, though its an odd thing to do. It's the buyer that confuses me, after shipping they often pay $10 more than the value of the card, most of the time shipping from the store on those is free, and for that matter, you could buy them in the store. Even if there is a shipping charge and you plan to get it as a gift for someone else so you aren't personally going to the store, you still would only pay $2-3 over the face value for shipping. Are people really that dumb? I thought, or hoped, that even the most werestling watching, singing billy bass owning, croc wearing redneck in the land knew that 10 is more than 3. It coulden't all be people who aren't planning on paying, you have to have a certain rating for most auctions. I'm thinking of experimentally putting a $5 bill up for auction with a reserve of $6.50 and $2 shipping, just to see if that works too.

 

[DirtyLude]

Rather than use Ebay you can buy the plans here for making 'instant water' just send $10,000 via Western Union to the address I disclose then you will get the secret plans for this great invention....

A+++++ seller. Fast shipping! Great Product! Would buy Again!

 

[Birdman Adam]

Here's how I think it works:

1. Seller has giftcard he'll never use

2. Sells on ebay to turn most of the value of card into cash

3. Bidding starts smaller than card price. (starts at $5 for $10 card)

4. People get too quick with bidding and/or auto-bid takes it over value

Seems kinda silly to me, because there are many online sites called 'giftcard exchanges'.

 

[PatM]

This is really silly:

**broken link removed**

Buy it now and show your ignorance.

 

[Hero999]

I wonder how many returns they get?

7 day money back, buyer pays return shipping

 

[Birdman Adam]

"Sold For: US $16.75"

 

[Triode]

This is confirming the pattern I'm seeing but I'm still scratching my head about what causes it. If you buy an apple for $4 maybe you just don't know the going rate. But how can one be confused about the value in dollars of a thing that is valued in dollars?

 

[DirtyLude]

This is really silly:

**broken link removed**

Buy it now and show your ignorance.

I think this might be a way for non-us residents to get around the US limitation for iTunes. I know I had to do this for my Zune. Zune marketplace doesn't accept Canadian creditcards and isn't supposed to be used in Canada, but if you buy a giftcard that was purchased in the US, you can credit that amount to your account without any problem.

I had to buy Microsoft points, but funny mine was actually slightly cheaper in the end then the face value. He just sent me an e-mail with the card number.

 

[Hero999]

That makes sense.

All that DRM and region BS is really messing up the economy and it's distorting the market place on ebay.

Has anyone asked any of the sellers a question?

I think I will next time I log on to ebay.

 

[Sceadwian]

Could be for people that don't have credit cards to purchase stuff online. They live far away from a local store so it's not practical to travel to get a gift card or purchase stuff, and they can send a check to the person that sells the card and then use the card online. That's the only way I can make sense out of the wallmart cards at least.
Personally I think it's sheer stuborness, I see it every day though at the local supper market that accepts personal checks if you sign up for their store cards because they refuse to use credit/debit cards.

 

[Hero999]

Don't you need a credit or debit card to buy stuff of ebay anyway?

 

[BrownOut]

Don't you need a credit or debit card to buy stuff of ebay anyway?

Nope ... ...

 

[Hero999]

How can you buy stuff then?

Can you arrange direct transfers between paypal and your bank account them or do you send them a cheque in the post?

 

[Sceadwian]

Hero, all Ebay actually does is hook sellers up with buyers, the transferring of the funds and the items themselves has nothing to do with Ebay at all, Paypall and the electronic funds transfer services they offer are separate from Ebay itself.

 

[BrownOut]

I've just send checks. Paypal screwed me once, and I never used them again.