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When Gift Cards Trade Over Par

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by Felix Salmon
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Jan 28 2009 9:41am EDT

When Gift Cards Trade Over Par

Dealbreaker finds a $75 Amazon gift card which sold on eBay for $75.76.

Interestingly, if you look at the auction history of the winning bidder, it's pretty much all gift cards -- this is someone who knows what they're doing. I can think of money-laundering reasons why someone might want to do this, but is there any legitimate reason for it?

(HT: Tubin)

Update: One reader suggests that the buyer might be getting some kind of discount on the deal. This could take multiple forms: using a cashback credit card for payment, for instance, or having a separate coupon from eBay or PayPal giving a percentage off the winning price, or somehow setting up a system whereby they essentially get a commission for referring themselves to eBay. There's not a lot of profit in it, but there might conceivably be some.

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