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Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:43 am
by Liam
Lots of these credit-card-sized gift cards seem to be available. I see several with a few cents off the listed price, but I would like to find (say) 10% off.
What's available out there? On-line or in-store purchase. Up-scale restaurant or fast-food. Any scams to beware?
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:46 am
by tim1999
You can often find them on ebay for 5-10% off or more. Just make sure the seller has a decent amount of positive feedback. I've sold some gift cards on there that I had received as gifts but were for stores I had no interest in. I recall a $200 card of mine ended up selling for around $180 in one instance.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:52 am
by Sheepdog
Well, I buy restaurant gift cards at Kroger because when you purchase them you can get a discount on gasoline purchases... They now offer 4x points for gasoline discounts. (i.e. $100 gift card gives you a $0.40 off each gallon of gas on your next fill up. $400 worth will give me $1.60 off per gallon.) I also use a credit card to purchase them which gives a rebate of 5%.
I often buy up to $400 restaurant cards when they have that 4x promotion.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 11:52 am
by mickeyd
I have noticed the same thing regarding gift cards. Must be part of their marketing program. If you purchase one it pretty-much guarantees them that they will get a future sale when it is used.
What I seem to see more of with eating establishments is the 2 for one deals and the Groupon-type deals (pay $10 for $20 of future food). If it's a place that you frequent, any kind of price reduction is probably a good deal for you but they are aiming at future customers that are not current customers and their repeat biz.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:14 pm
by crowd79
I never eat out, too expensive and who knows what weird things could be going on in that kitchen & then it ends up on my plate. I cook my own food and I know how it'll taste and what's in it.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:42 pm
by momar
Our Costco sells gift cards for local restaurants; the deal is typically 2 $50 gift cards for $80. So after tax it comes out to around 12% off.
They have similar deals for movie tickets, gyms, amusement parks etc.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 8:46 pm
by littlebird
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:14 pm
by centrifuge41
Giftcardgranny. Searches multiple gift card exchanges at once.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:21 pm
by dsanders79
centrifuge41 wrote:Giftcardgranny. Searches multiple gift card exchanges at once.
I just used this site to find a bunch of Lowe's giftcards. It worked great for me and helped me effectively get an extra 8% off a new dishwasher.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:28 pm
by celia
momar wrote:Our Costco sells gift cards for local restaurants; the deal is typically 2 $50 gift cards for $80. So after tax it comes out to around 12% off.
They have similar deals for movie tickets, gyms, amusement parks etc.
Are you sure you are paying sales tax on the gift card, or just the other non-food and non-prepared food (restaurant) items? If you are paying tax on the card, when the card is used for a restaurant/non-food item, sales tax will also be subtracted from the card, causing double taxation.
For example, suppose you want to buy a non-food item that costs $100 in a 5% sales tax state. Without the gift card, it would cost $105.
With the gift card that you describe from Costco, it would cost you $80 for the cards, $4 for the tax on the cards, and $5 more in tax when the cards are redeemed (since there wasn't any credit left on the cards. That makes the purchase cost $89, instead of $105. Is this how you see it?
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:14 pm
by rayout
celia wrote:momar wrote:Our Costco sells gift cards for local restaurants; the deal is typically 2 $50 gift cards for $80. So after tax it comes out to around 12% off.
They have similar deals for movie tickets, gyms, amusement parks etc.
Are you sure you are paying sales tax on the gift card, or just the other non-food and non-prepared food (restaurant) items? If you are paying tax on the card, when the card is used for a restaurant/non-food item, sales tax will also be subtracted from the card, causing double taxation.
For example, suppose you want to buy a non-food item that costs $100 in a 5% sales tax state. Without the gift card, it would cost $105.
With the gift card that you describe from Costco, it would cost you $80 for the cards, $4 for the tax on the cards, and $5 more in tax when the cards are redeemed (since there wasn't any credit left on the cards. That makes the purchase cost $89, instead of $105. Is this how you see it?
No tax is incurred on the purchase of a gift card. Tax is applied when using the gift card just as if you had bought it with cash.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 3:46 am
by Carl53
rayout wrote:No tax is incurred on the purchase of a gift card. Tax is applied when using the gift card just as if you had bought it with cash.
+1 (in my state)
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:02 am
by runner9
Carl53 wrote:rayout wrote:No tax is incurred on the purchase of a gift card. Tax is applied when using the gift card just as if you had bought it with cash.
+1 (in my state)
+2
Not as good a deal as at Kroger at our local grocery story with gas, but that's where we get most of them. A few that aren't sold there are at BJs, at 2% off. Both places accept AMEX so we get 2% back the purchase price as well.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:32 am
by mike143
The holiday gift card deals are pretty good. This year I did three of them. One for a local sub shop and Carrabba's, $20 bonus with $100 gift card purchase. Sub shop even through in their refillable discount cup for the first 10 that took advantage of the offer, I was the first. Coupled with highly discounted (90%) restaurant.com coupons the sub shop deal feels like stealing. Also did the Ruby Tuesday deal $15 bonus for every $50, bought $100. Using these with the biweekly Ruby Tuesday coupons it has also been an awesome deal. Outside of this I have the CITI Forward Visa that does 4% cash back on dining, theaters and anything on Amazon.com. When it comes to gift cards you have to be prepared to manage them or lose when you forget about them or they expire.
Restaurant.com gift cards are good when you can get them at 75-90% off and the terms are agreeable. I use one about once a month to eat lunch with my mother, $25 off $35 that I paid $2 for.
If you have good deals at your grocery use the Amex Blue Cash card, either 6% with annual fee or 3% without.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:18 am
by jennypenny
If you use a Target Red Card (credit or debit), it will take 5% off of most gift cards (but not Amex, Visa, Target). If you also fill prescriptions at Target, they will mail you another 5% discount card after filling 5 prescriptions, which can be combined with the Red Card discount for a 9.75% discount. Most eligible cards are on a rack at the back of the store in electronics.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:21 am
by dm200
I see them at COSTCO. My wife and I go to McCormicj & Schmick, perhaps once a year. It seems like a good deal that would save actual dollars. I think that what is not used carries over. So, if I buy 2 $50 cards for, say, $80 and the bill is $60, then I would still have $40 left, right?
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:20 pm
by leonard
Liam wrote:Lots of these credit-card-sized gift cards seem to be available. I see several with a few cents off the listed price, but I would like to find (say) 10% off.
What's available out there? On-line or in-store purchase. Up-scale restaurant or fast-food. Any scams to beware?
Costco sells $100 gift cards for $80. They are a great deal - especially if you combine those with other coupons or discount directly from the restaurant.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:52 pm
by fareastwarriors
Yes But those restaurant gift cards are mostly for chains...
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:25 am
by Old Guy
The Lettuce Entertain You restaurants (mostly but not entirely in Chicago),
http://leye.com/restaurants, had a holiday deal giving you a free $25.00 gift card (can't use on Saturday evenings) for every $100,00 gift card you bought. On the Costco cards, some of the $100.00 for $80.00 restaurants also have discounts on restaurants.com that you can buy and then combine. Francesca's,
http://www.miafrancesca.com/static.asp?path=3092, in Madison (but also in Chicago and other places), is an example where we have done this in the past.
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:42 am
by momar
runner9 wrote:Carl53 wrote:rayout wrote:No tax is incurred on the purchase of a gift card. Tax is applied when using the gift card just as if you had bought it with cash.
+1 (in my state)
+2
Not as good a deal as at Kroger at our local grocery story with gas, but that's where we get most of them. A few that aren't sold there are at BJs, at 2% off. Both places accept AMEX so we get 2% back the purchase price as well.
Thank you for pointing this out. I just assumed!
Re: Restaurant gift cards at a discount
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:15 am
by Go Blue 99
crowd79 wrote:I never eat out, too expensive and who knows what weird things could be going on in that kitchen & then it ends up on my plate. I cook my own food and I know how it'll taste and what's in it.
And why is this relevant to the OP's question?
OP- there are a bunch of discount card websites out there. But if you're looking for the cheapest prices, I'd go with reputable sellers on eBay.