Three Different Ways To Redeem A Gift Card In 2024

A gift card is one of the most popular gifts in the world, and while some see it as a lazy gifting effort, others have unlocked a gem of knowledge and seen the light with lots of benefits and uses of gift card vouchers. 

In recent years, gift cards have become increasingly popular, and you probably already own some. Whether you’re buying them, receiving them or even both!

When you purchase or receive a gift card, the first thing that pops into your head is to probably go and spend it in the store, but little to much people’s knowledge, there is actually more than one way to redeem your gift card.

Let’s discuss and analyze three ways you can redeem your gift card.

Let’s Talk About What Gift Cards Are… 

A gift card voucher is a preloaded card that acts as a means of payment in a store, restaurant and just about anywhere it is accepted. It is usually issued by a business and is used to purchase items and services from the business.

Gift cards are pretty similar to traditional bank debit cards. Although you cannot use them to withdraw cash from ATMs, they can be used as an alternative payment method. 

Just like you would input your bank card details to purchase things on a website, gift cards also have information such as the code you have to input to redeem and use the money on the card.

Gift cards come in various forms, such as the physical plastic card and the E-code sent to your email address upon purchase. They also come in multiple denominations, such as $10, $50, $100, $200, $500, etc. This varies according to the business voucher you get.

There are also two types of gift cards– open-loop and closed-loop gift cards.

Open-loop gift cards are vouchers that can be used in any store branch of the business, while closed-loop cards can only be redeemed and used in the particular retail outlet you bought them from.

The Three Methods To Redeem A Gift Card

To redeem a gift card means to use it to purchase something from a retail outlet or business’ physical store, online store or to sell it. 

1. Redeem Gift Card In a Physical Store:

This is one of the most popular ways to redeem a gift card. For example, if you purchase an Apple gift card from any convenience store or supermarket, you can go into any of the walk-in Apple stores to buy anything from an iPhone, MacBook, Apple Pencil, iPad etc. 

To redeem a gift card in a physical store like apple, after picking out the items you want to purchase, once you get to the checkout point, just present your apple gift card- physical or E-code, and the number of things you picked out will be deducted from the gift card – just like a regular bank debit card. This method is common with supermarket gift cards.

2. Gift Card Online Store/Website:

You can also redeem a gift card on the card issuer’s online store. For example, If you own an iTunes gift card, you can use it to buy anything on the iTunes store, the apple app store, and even in-app (but only with an Apple product). Gaming gift cards are also popular for this method of redemption. 

Gift cards can also be redeemed at online stores with physical outlets. Instead of going to a walk-in store, you can shop in the comfort of your home or wherever with a gift card from that store. All you need to do is provide information about the card, and the amount will be added to your online balance, and you are free to shop with that amount.

To redeem on an online store, you can use both types of gift cards- the physical plastic card and the E-code.

3. Redeem Gift Card By Reselling It:

Suppose you do not want to purchase items with your gift card- whether in a physical store or an online store or maybe you are unable to due to the stores being unavailable in your location or region. In that case, you can also redeem it by selling it for cash.

You can do this by trading your gift card on Cardtonic– the best gift card trading platform in Nigeria. 

In Conclusion…

Every year, millions of gift cards go unused, and while it is still a win for the card issuers regardless – because even though they go unused, people still purchase them, it is a massive loss for the customers. This is because most people usually do not know what to do with gift cards.

Most people get them as gifts during special occasions or even random ones, but they are mostly abandoned because they do not know their many benefits and uses.

With these three ways to redeem your gift cards, you do not have to abandon them anymore, and you can get the most out of it even while splurging on yourself.