i'm hoping you ladies can help me out. i have about seven gift cards from christmas that had larger amounts and now they have $15-$25 on them. i know if i try to spend them, i'll be spending probably a lot more of my own money. they're all stores that i'm sure i'll eventually use them at, but i was wondering if there was a way to get cash from them?
for example, i have a gc to anthro, nordstrom, and sephora, all about $20. those are stores that i can't leave without spending more than $50 (that's being SUPER good). do you think i can buy something for about those prices from anthro and nordstrom and return them to get cash back instead of a gc? i'm pretty sure that nordstrom will give me cash back (i think i've done it before), but do you think anthro will? or will they give me a new gc? i really want to buy some makeup from sephora, but i feel like i have money that i could use to on those gcs to purchase makeup. the anthro one is the one that i really want to get the money from since i've had a beef with the store for a while now. thanks so much for any input. i hope this makes sense.
it's seriously driving me insane carrying around all these gcs with small amounts and trying to remember how much each has, and not spend $200 of my own money just to use those gcs.
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"i tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots
Not sure about all stores, but some only give cash back if it's under a certain amount, like $10. Personally, when people return stuff and bought it with a gift card I put it back on another gift card!
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Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds. -Buddha
There is a website that does gift card swaps - I'll see if i can find it..
A lot of them allow you to sell kind of like ebay but it's at a discount. Looks like this one has a true "swap" - maybe that's more trouble than it's worth for you but I thought i'd mention it.
thanks laken1. i really appreciate you looking for that site. i know those types of sites exist, but as you mentioned i think it might be more of a pain than it's worth. it was nice to learn that if i ever wanted to make a large purchase from bloomingdale's i could buy a $500 gc for $450. that will cover Chicago taxes.
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"i tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life, You ain't gonna get it unless, You give a little bit of sacrifice, Oohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry.." -The Roots
anthro won't give you money back without a receipt that proves you bought something with money, not a gift card. Maybe ask a friend if they have something there they need and get the money for the gc from them. they also are starting to carry makeup/beauty products- fresh, stila, and paul and joe- maybe you can find something from there.
Most I know of will only give you cash when it's under $5, but you have to ask. I'd just keep them until you find something you normally would purchase. You can put a piece of tape on it with the amount available to help remember.