Before diving into a full guide on how to maximize gift cards, let’s start with a real example. Although this post focuses on going from Raise to Target, the same idea can be applied more broadly—for example, from discounted gift card marketplaces like Raise, Cardpool, and SaveYa to whatever gift cards you actually need, such as Staples, Sears, or eBay. This specific example may only work today, but the underlying strategy is the same.
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The Journey from Raise to Target
The steps below use the goal of buying a Target gift card at 20% off as an example. Here is the page on eBay where these gift cards can be purchased: gift card link. If you need other gift cards, you can buy those as well. Click here to see all of eBay’s Black Friday discounted gift cards: discounted gift card link.
If the process feels too complicated, you can skip all the TopCashback-related steps. Even then, you can still get a Target gift card for about 84% of face value.
- Register for a Raise account: click here (skip this step if you already have one). You may need to verify by phone. After registration, you should see the free $5.
- After registering, close Raise, then open TopCashback (if you don’t have an account: you can register here).
- Search for Raise on TopCashback, then click through into your Raise account (purchases earn 2% cash back).
- Once in Raise, search for eBay and buy about $185 total in eBay gift cards.
- [This offer is only for newly registered Raise users] Click to purchase and use promo code: RAISE10. As you can see, the previously gifted $5 rewards and the $10 from the promo code can stack. So your total cost is about $170.
- Use any credit card to pay. After completing the purchase, you should be able to see your eBay gift cards in your Raise account within a few minutes.
- After receiving them, go to ebay.com through TopCashback (same process as with Raise—just search for eBay). If you have never signed up for eBay or PayPal, register first. If you already have an eBay account, also join the eBay Bucks program (essentially eBay’s 2% rewards program), click here to enroll. After registering, remember to enter ebay.com through TopCashback as well.
- Search on eBay for Target Gift Card 200, or click this link, and choose the $200 Target gift card (today’s special price is just $185, but it’s already sold out...).
- eBay also has other discounted gift cards: discounted gift card link.
- There are many other gift cards on eBay as well, such as Staples, Sears, and Toys "R" Us. You can browse them here: click here to view
- At checkout, use the eBay gift cards you just bought from Raise to pay (enter them in the checkout promo/gift card field).
- And that’s it—congratulations. You spent $170 and bought a $200 Target gift card.
Cost Breakdown
It looks like you spent $170, but how much do you actually get back?
- By going through TopCashback to Raise to buy eBay gift cards, you earn 2% cash back ($3.4)
- By going through TopCashback to eBay to buy the Target gift card, you earn 1.2% cash back ($2)
- Buying the Target gift card on eBay also earns 2% back in eBay Bucks ($3)
- If you received an eBay 5x promotion (check your eBay messages), you could earn $18.5 from this step
- The credit card you originally used on Raise should earn at least 1% back too ($1.7)
Add it up, and you get back about $10 total. That means you paid roughly $160 for a $200 Target gift card—effectively 20% off.
If you received 5x eBay Bucks, then your total return would be about $25. In that case, you would be paying about $155 for a $200 Target gift card, which is effectively 25% off!
Want to Make an Extra $20?
Recently, if you sign up for the Upromise cash back site and complete one cash back purchase, you can earn an extra $20. The key is that Upromise also offers cash back for eBay, so if you go through Upromise to buy gift cards on eBay, you can make another $20. For details, see: Introduction to the Upromise cash back site