How to Sell Gift Cards to CardPool
I have bought and sold many gift cards to/from CardPool over the years. They are very dependable (not like Card Snagger), have very fast processing times, and are located close by in San Francisco. In this tutorial, I will show you how to successfully sell your unused gift cards to CardPool. The entire process took me 12 days from February 23 to March 6. I will show you how I sold 5 $250 Bloomingdale’s gift cards.
The best place to start for either buying or selling gift cards is Gift Card Granny. Go here and search for any gift card you want to sell. Click the sell link below the store’s name.
You will see payout rates for 5-6 different gift card merchants. I look at the merchants with the highest payout rates, in this case CardPool and GiftCards.com. Clicking on the payout link takes you to that merchant’s website where you can sell gift cards directly to them.
The only real problem with GiftCards.com is that you cannot sell more than $300 in gift cards within a 30 day period. Therefore, they are out and CardPool is in.
Once on CardPool’s website, search for the merchant’s name in the drop down list and enter the gift cards current value. Enter only 1 gift card at a time. Click get offer to see how much CardPool will pay for your gift card.
Depending on the merchant, you will see a price for mailing your gift card and a price for entering your gift card information online. You will always get a higher price for mailing your gift card.
Alternatively, if you want to be paid with an Amazon gift card, you will receive a 5% higher payout amount.
If you have more than 1 gift card to sell, click the Add Another Card button.
Repeat the above steps until you have added all the gift cards you want to sell. Double check that the current value for all the gift cards is correct and that the payout amount is correct. Click Redeem By Mail to continue.
At this page, you will need to enter the gift card numbers from the back of your gift cards into the boxes on this page. Some gift card may have a PIN, so make sure to add that as well. This is required for all gift cards, regardless if they are mailed in or being submitted electronically.
Now enter your home mailing address.
Confirm one more time that the gift card current values and click Confirm Transaction.
Your order is complete. You can click the Print Free Shipping Label button to print a packing slip and prepaid envelope.
For high value shipments (probably above $200), you may not want to do this. I recommend printing out a shipping label (shipping label tutorial) and purchasing USPS Signature Confirmation. This means that someone has to sign for the package in order to have it delivered. I don’t recommend purchasing insurance, I’ll explain why below. Anyways, print out this page and include the lower portion as a packing slip with your gift cards.
You will also get a confirmation email with your transaction number and all relevant information. I got this email on February 23 at 4PM (Sunday afternoon).
Before mailing in the gift cards, I recommend taking a picture or scanning the front and back of your gift cards. This will make it easy if the gift cards are lost in the mail and you need to request new gift cards.
Make sure you can read the card number and PIN from the back side of the gift cards.
If you have a lot of time on your hands (like I do), create an Excel Spreadsheet with all the information of your gift card, just in case they get lost in the mail.
| Gift Card Name/Picture | Gift Card Number | PIN | Balance | GC % | Sell Price |
| Bloomingdales Brown Card | 1234 1234 1234 1234 | 1234 | $250.00 | 83% | $207.50 |
| Bloomingdales Black Card | 1234 1234 1234 1234 | 1234 | $250.00 | 83% | $207.50 |
| Bloomingdales Silver Card | 1234 1234 1234 1234 | 1234 | $250.00 | 83% | $207.50 |
| Bloomingdales Spots Card | 1234 1234 1234 1234 | 1234 | $250.00 | 83% | $207.50 |
| Bloomingdales Store Card | 1234 1234 1234 1234 | 1234 | $250.00 | 83% | $207.50 |
| $1,250.00 | $1,037.50 |
As for shipping, I recommend getting a USPS First Class Mail shipping label with Signature Confirmation. If you have any padded mailers, I would use one. This shipment was mailed February 24 (Monday morning).
After your gift cards are delivered to CardPool, you can request a copy of the Signature Confirmation. Even if the name and address aren’t legible, you have proof that the envelope was delivered and signed for by someone from CardPool.
Depending on the size of your gift card transaction, CardPool may call you for some additional information pertaining to the gift cards. They asked me how long I had the gift cards in my possession and how I acquired the gift cards. I told him that I had the gift cards for about a week and got them all from an American Express Offers For You deal (link). After our conversation was over, I receive this email that said my order was approved and that they were mailing me a check the following day. This email arrived March 2 (Sunday night).
A few days later, I received my nice big check from CardPool. The check arrived on March 6 (Thursday afternoon). I deposited the check the following day (Friday afternoon).
After receiving the check, I tend to hold on to the gift card pictures and Excel Spreadsheet for a few weeks in case there is any discrepancies between myself and CardPool. After that, I will delete the pictures and file from my computer. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
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How do they do signature confirmation if it’s shipped to a PO Box? Boxes aren’t human.
Signature Confirmation only means that the USPS will hold the package until a signature is received for the package. If you mail a package to a PO box, the USPS will leave a small form behind that says a package is waiting for you, please come to the USPS location on the form to sign and pick up the package.
Signature Confirmation is a way to reduce insurance claims for lost packages because you will have the receiver’s signature and date of delivery, in an effort to reduce cases of an item being lost in the mail.
So in your experience, cardpool has no problem picking up signature packages?
I’ve sent 4 or 5 packages to Card Pool all with Signature Confirmation and have never had a problem. I wouldn’t bother paying for insurance though, that gets pricey for large dollar shipments.
Dear Grant,
Just newbie,
So asking basic question.
1)So even for big Dollar items like yours e.g $1000+ you recommend doing USPS first class with signature confirmation is good .right?
2) For insurance,when i inquire few days at USPS how much is insurance. he ask what kind of item and i mention gift card and he told we don’t insure gift card. is it correct?
Great information on your website
Thank
Jacky
You may want to use USPS First Class with Signature Confirmation and Insurance. You can insure anything with USPS as long as you pay for insurance.
Unfortunately, it’s true that the USPS doesn’t insure giftcards. It’s part of their liability disclosure and insurance guidelines. I’m not sure why but my best guess is because the value can run high and there’s no way for them to prove transit of such small items. Who knows.
I wonder if there is any way to get around that, like inserting a piece of paper with $100 on it and insuring that piece of paper? I have no idea.
Will it be possible to exchange my gift card for an Amazon e-gift card?
You can sell most gift cards to CardPool and receive an Amazon eGift Card.
Happy Holidays! Can you get the higher mail-in rate if the gift cards you’re selling are electronic? If so, what do you mail? A print of the electronic receipt? (My eCards are from American Airlines.) Can’t seem to find a clear answer anywhere.
They have to be plastic to be mailed in. If they are not, you will have to use electronic delivery.