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eBay made a number of changes to the eBay Bucks program over the past year. One of the most notable is that they no longer allow you to use eBay bucks to buy gift cards. This was a disappointing change because eBay Bucks expire about a month from the date of issue (the current quarter’s eBay Bucks are set to expire May 2nd), but eBay gift cards do not expire. This Slickdeals thread reports that there is currently a glitch in the eBay apps for Apple and Android allowing users to pay for an eBay gift card using eBay bucks. I have tested this and just now bought an eBay gift card using eBay bucks. This will surely not last long — if you have eBay Bucks and would like to convert them to gift cards, you will need to act fast.
The Deal
- Buy eBay gift cards with eBay bucks to avoid expiration
Key Details
- Must use eBay app to purchase
- Must click “add to cart”, not “buy it now”.
Example with steps and screen shots
In order to do this, you will need to search in the eBay app for an eBay gift card. I believe the seller must be PayPal Digital Gifts and users have reported success with many denominations between $5-$100. You must click “add to cart“, not “buy it now”:
Then you’ll click to check out:
The first time I clicked to check out, it gave me an error and said that I needed to complete checkout on the website. However, when I pulled up my cart on the PC site and tried to select eBay Bucks as my method of payment, I got an error:
So I went back to the app and hit “checkout” again, and it worked the second time. I was able to log in to PayPal and apply my eBay bucks to the purchase:
I received the email confirmation showing my order total is $0 from both eBay and PayPal. Users on Slickdeals have reported receiving their gift card via email within the hour. I have not yet received mine, but expect to based on their reports. I also received the phone pop-up notification showing that I paid $0:
Bottom Line
If you’d like to extend the expiration of your eBay Bucks (to forever), this is a great way to do that. However, it is likely a glitch in the app and won’t last long. Move on it quickly and check the Slickdeals thread for updates if you have difficulty.
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I was able to buy ebay GC with bucks on a desktop site. At first it was giving an error, but then somehow I was redirected to Paypal, and there it was possible to apply the code, which I did.
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I was able to purchase other gift cards with eBay bucks. Keep in mind that once you convert eBay bucks to eBay gift cards, you won’t be able to buy other gift cards with that.
I just used bucks for some Best Buy mailed GCs. I don’t want Ebay to claw back my GCs.