When I first heard of this site I was a bit skeptical about whether or not they were legit. After all, sometimes, things can be too good to be true. However, I hesitantly made my first purchase and bought my iTunes card. It took awhile to process--I believe 1.5 to 2 weeks before I received it or saw changes to their site's order status page. You can bet I was sweating it out those 2 weeks wondering if I had just wasted my money because the site was a scam or the card was stolen/lost in the mail! Haha. I even emailed their customer service to check on the status of my order! After several emails confirming it was sent out--I received it the next day in a rather nondescript envelope. I promptly checked the balance and the full $100 was on the card! It was a rather easy transaction and when ABC Gift Cards had their extra 5% off discount for the new year, I bought my $100 Starbucks card, which arrived within the 1.5 to 2 week time frame. Oh, I thought I should mention, holiday sales volume aside, ABC Gift Cards is headquartered in NJ and may have been affected by Hurricane Sandy, so their processing time may be slower than usual.
Other things I thought I would mention:
- If you're unsure of a secondhand gift card seller, purchase it on a credit card or through PayPal for maximum protection against being defrauded.
- Try to purchase from a well-known seller and Google reviews to see whether the seller is legit. Another secondhand gift card seller I've heard of, but haven't personally used, is Plastic Jungle.
- Secondhand gift card sellers usually check the balance on the gift cards they resell, but check to see what their policy is if the gift card balance doesn't match the stated value.
- I have not sold any of my gift cards to ABC Gift Cards, and when googling reviews about the site, there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of negative reviews. That being said, if you are interested in selling your gift cards to ABC Gift Cards, keep in mind that most people only review things when a transaction is really bad or extraordinarily good--everything else seems to fall through the cracks, which can lead to a very lopsided and inaccurate portrayal of service.
- If you are an avid credit card user--for bonus points, mileage, etc--fear not, shop for the gift card on your credit card and earn your points, and then spend some "free" monies at your business/retailer/restaurant of choice! Haha.
- If you are considering purchasing a gift card from ABC Gift Cards (and probably most other secondhand sellers) as a gift for someone, be aware that the security code will probably be scratched off and the balance will be written on the card. This occurs when the re-seller is checking the gift card balance. It's only aesthetically unpleasing, but the gift card (should) works as it should. Also, some of the gift cards may be in odd amounts due to being partially used before being sold to ABC Gift Cards or being a store credit (e.g. some stores issue store credit instead of a refund to original purchase method).
- Oh, and if you can, try to consolidate gift cards: I won't be able to drink/eat $100 worth of Starbucks in 45 days, especially since my main card already had a balance on it before I bought this gift card, so I moved the entire balance to my main card. Hopefully this will prevent an unethical gift card seller (not ABC Gift Cards, the original gift cardholder) tries to use the gift card online, the balance is linked with another Starbucks account and card.
That is it for now. Cheerios! I will try to get on top of my backlog of blog posts. :X :)
*Edit*
I decided to update this post because I recently ordered a $100 Starbucks gift card that arrived without a balance! I sent an email to ABC Gift Cards via their contact page on Thursday night, but didn't get a response on Friday. (I know, I know, I'm rather impatient. But I couldn't get my Starbucks!!! Haha.) I then tried calling the number listed on the site, but no one picked up. As frustrated and slightly panicked as I was, I decided to wait until Monday--because everyone knows that productivity goes down on Friday, haha--before I either called them again or contacted my credit card company. Luckily my patience was rewarded and I received an email on Saturday from ABC Gift Cards telling me to directly contact claims@abcgiftcards.com (I don't think this email is listed on their site). I was asked to take a photo of the front and back of my gift card and email it to their claims department. On Monday, I received an email alerting me that I received a full refund for my gift card. :) However, being the Starbucks addict that I am, I actually wanted a replacement card rather than a refund--especially since I had bought my Starbucks gift card using a now expired sale/discount code. I contacted customer service via my refund notification email, sales@abcgiftcards.com, and customer service promised to apply that discount to my replacement order! I hope this alleviates any anxiety anyone has towards buying secondhand gift cards from this company. :) Happy shopping!
