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If you’re asking yourself, is CardCash legit? You’ve come to the right place.
In this review, I’m going to take a good look at this site and tell you what I was able to uncover about the site when it comes to gift cards.
Maybe you have some gift cards you want to unload. Or maybe you want to buy some from the site for yourself or as a gift. But should you really trust this site?
Keep reading to find out.
What is CardCash?
CardCash is an innovative retail service that buys people’s unwanted gift cards and resells them.
Consumers in the US spend billions of dollars on gift cards every single year. CardCash operates on the belief that many of those cards are received by people who have no interest in shopping at the stores where their cards can be redeemed.
As a result, these people end up stranded with cards they neither want nor need. This is where CardCash comes into play.
It gives individuals a way out. It allows people to recoup some of their money by selling their unwanted gift cards to this platform at a percentage that’s usually pretty close to their original cost.
Since CardCash is buying these unwanted gift cards at a discount, it is in a position to resell them cheaply to people who want them.
When Was CardCash Founded?
CardCash started back in 2009. It was created by Elliot Bohm (Chief Executive Officer) and Marc Ackerman (Chief Operating Officer).
They made some waves when they dipped their toes into the digital secondary gift card market. They eventually raised $6 million and acquired their rival – Plastic Jungle, in 2014.
Today, the company has created partnerships with brands like CVS, Amazon, United Airlines, and eBay.
They want to help some of their customers save money on gift cards, while also allowing people to create a reliable income stream.
How Does CardCash Work?
CardCash buys and sells gift cards. They have almost every gift card you could ever want in their inventory.
They are not the only player in this field. But they are definitely one of the largest because they have a long list of partners.
CardCash’s customers are people who either want to buy or sell a gift card.
The Seller
If you wish to sell a gift card on the platform, it’s pretty simple. All you’ll need to do is:
- Open an account on the site.
- Send them the card number and pin number.
- Enter the balance.
- Request offers via the ‘Get offer’ option.
Putting your gift cards on the market is a very straightforward process. Once CardCash accepts your gift card, you have two options available to you.
1) If you want cash, the company will pay you for your gift card. A lot of people believe that this is the only offer the company has on the table. But that isn’t true.
2) While it is quite convenient to sell your card, you also have the option of exchanging it. People keep gift cards because they have no use for the offers attached to them. CardCash lets you exchange the gift card you don’t want for a gift card you do want.
The offer you will get for your card is going to depend on the volume of similar gift cards in the site’s inventory. And the number of people searching for your card.
The Buyer
If you want a gift card, but you don’t have an unwanted gift card to exchange, CardCash offers gift cards for sale at discounted prices.
Here’s an Instagram post from the company with deep discounted gift cards.
You can really save a lot of money by simply buying a gift card directly on the site.
CardCash might send you a physical card. This takes 7 business days. It might also send you an electronic card. They normally tell you what to expect beforehand.
NOTE: This company admits that some of its customers sell gift cards that have zero balance. It encourages people to check the card balance before they go shopping.
Another point worth mentioning is, while all sales are final and returns are not permitted, the website does offer refunds to people who receive cards with zero balance. Although there are conditions.
The 45 Day CardCash Money Back Guarantee
The company does offer refunds, which are only available for the first 45 days. If you have an issue with the balance after the 45-day period has elapsed, a refund will not be issued.
The fact that their guarantee is limited to the first 45 days has been an issue for a lot of people.
How to Join CardCash
Joining CardCash is free. Just go to the CardCash website and enter some basic information such as your name and email address.
Once your account is activated, the website will attempt to acquire additional verification by contacting you through your email address or phone number.
This form of verification only happens once. If it happens again in the future, it’s because some of your information has changed.
Their registration process is pretty straightforward. And the company is only available in the US.
How Does the CardCash App Work?
The website has a free app that you can use to search for and buy gift cards at discounted prices. You can use the app to access both digital and physical cards.
The app is available for download for both Android and IOS platforms in the App store or on Google Play.
How Do You Make Money With CardCash?
When you sell an unwanted card to CardCash, they will offer you up to 92% of the card’s full value. The percentage could decline depending on the demand.
But if it doesn’t, you get to sell a card you don’t want for nearly the same amount it was purchased.
If you choose to make an exchange, you could get up to 11% more from your new card. As far as the buyers are concerned, there are customers who reportedly bought cards at prices that were 32% lower than the actual value of the card.
Payments
The platform uses ACH Deposit, Checks, and PayPal to make payments whenever they buy gift cards from consumers. It takes a maximum of two days to process payments.
To buy a gift card from the website, you can use PayPal, credit cards, and Bitcoin. Shipping is free.
Referrals
If you refer a friend to the platform, you both get a CardCash coupon worth $5.
CardCash Pros and Cons
Pros
- Free to join.
- Refunds within 45 days with their 45-day 100% guarantee for cards with balance discrepancies.
- Deep discounts on gift cards.
- The company works with many of the major brands and over 1,100 retailers.
- The company currently has a B rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Cons
- Only available in the US.
- Some cards have balances that don’t match what they say they are. This could present problems if buying discounted cards from the platform.
- The 45-day money back guarantee seems to cause most of the complaints and for good reason.
- Others have complained that the discounts are overstated for the gift cards.
- Most of the reviews with the BBB were negative.
Is CardCash Legit?
CardCash has a good reason to claim that it is one of the biggest players in its field. Because it is.
The company has partnered with over 1,100 retailers in the US including major companies such as Target and Starbucks. It has also resold unwanted cards worth over $140 billion over the course of its relatively short time in business.
The site’s BBB rating initially fell to F when customers started complaining about buying cards from CardCash that had no balance. But the company took steps to fix the issue and their rating jumped back up to B at the time of this review.
Conclusion
Gift cards are a convenient way to shop during the holidays, birthdays and so on. But it can be pretty annoying to get a gift card to a store that you don’t shop at.
That’s where CashCard comes in. The site seems to be one of the largest players in this space.
Having said that, it might be a great place to unload your gift cards. But on the other hand, I’d tread lightly when it comes to buying cards based on user complaints.