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Last week the Southwest Airlines shopping portal (Rapid Rewards Shopping) offered 15 points per dollar when shopping at Sears.com. I wrote a number of posts with ideas for capitalizing on the promotion. The key was to buy gift cards for 15 points per dollar and then to sell the gift cards, or to use the gift cards through the shopping portal to get another 15X. For many, this appears to have worked well, but some people ran into issues:
- A few people received messages from Sears that the ordered merchandise was out of stock. These messages arrived too late to get 15X by buying something else.
- Sears outright cancelled some orders without explanation.
- One reader reported trouble from PlasticJungle. When he tried to sell his gift cards, PlasticJungle canceled the order.
If you find yourself stuck with gift cards that you don’t really want, here are some options you have:
Use gift cards for day to day expenses
First, to get the obvious one out of the way: Sears gift cards can be used at Sears, KMart, Lands’ End, Sears Outlet, MyGopher, Crafstman, etc. Most Kmart stores carry groceries, pharmaceuticals, and other commonly needed goods. Simply moving some of your regular spend to these stores can go a long way in lowering expenses you would normally incur at other stores.
Upgrade gift cards to ones you actually want
Many KMart and Sears stores will let you use Sears gift cards to buy gift cards from other merchants. Use this technique to save at gas stations, restaurants, or even for travel (KMart often carries Marriott and Southwest Airlines gift cards).
Don’t call
It seems to be universally true that when people call Sears or KMart to ask if they can buy gift cards with gift cards, they are told no. However, it usually works (but not always) when you go ahead and try in person. I’ve found that it helps to buy just 2 or 3 gift cards at a time. It also doesn’t hurt to load your cart with other items as well. I don’t think it’s a glitch that allows you to do this. Take a look at the Terms & Conditions that you agreed to when you bought the gift cards. I’ve bolded the important part:
This card is issued by SHC Promotions LLC and is redeemable for goods and services at participating Sears, Roebuck and Co., Lands’ End, The Great Indoors, and Kmart store locations in the U.S., P.R., Guam and U.S.V.I., and at sears.com, kmart.com, landsend.com and Lands’ End catalogs. Not valid for purchase of third party debit or prepaid cards. Not redeemable for restaurant, Olan Mills Portrait Studio transactions or for cash, except where required by law. Cannot be applied to credit accounts. Lost, stolen or damaged gift cards may only be cancelled and replaced with proof of purchase.
Notice that they explicitly exclude 3rd party debit and prepaid cards, but not gift cards. I’ve seen this myself at the register. The register has no problem with regular gift cards, but if you try to buy an American Express or Visa card with a Sears gift card, the register won’t allow it.
Upgrade and sell
Some KMart stores carry BP gift cards. BP cards can usually be sold to gift card resellers for 91 or 92 cents to the dollar. Currently, Plastic Jungle lists the buy price for BP cards at 91 cents to the dollar. If you start at TopCashBack before selling to PlasticJungle, you can earn another 4% cash back (4% of 91% = 3.64%). This amounts to a 5.36% loss. If you got 15 points per dollar for buying Sears gift cards, then selling your gift cards in this way is equivalent to buying Southwest miles for only .36 cents each. That’s an incredible bargain! I will admit, though, that upgrading and selling gift cards can be a slow, painful process, but if you’re stuck with Sears gift cards this may just be the best way to go.
Other ideas?
If you have other ideas for how best to use Sears gift cards, please comment below.
Related Posts and Links
- Sears 15X: Leveraging the deal
- Sears 15X: Free Southwest Companion Pass
- Sears 15X: Shopping for 110,000 points
- Sign up for TopCashBack (referral link)
- Sign up for PlasticJungle (referral link)
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Sears no longer sells other merchants’ gift cards using a Sears gift card.
The cashier told me they accept only cash and something else (I lost interest).
Nor can you buy a cell phone top up card with them as of 2 months ago. 🙁
It really depends on the cashier. Some still allow it
My Kmart has been out of stock of BP gift cards for several months now. Has anyone seen BP giftcards recently at their Kmart?
Not sure if anyone mentioned this or even thought about it but here is a pretty good deal imo.
http://www.speedway.com/SpeedyRewards/Pages/KmartSuperCenter.aspx
http://www.kmart.com/earn-gas-for-less/dap-120000000301827
I’m new to this…but what’s BP gift card?
Teri: BP is a gas station chain. Certain Sears and Kmart stores sell BP gift cards that can be used at the pump at BP
Just a heads up – I double dipped and bought a lawn mower with the gift card. The lawn mower arrived broken. I tried to exchange it in store. The gal would only do so if she first returned it and then ordered me a new one. She claimed it would not affect the miles. BUT, looking closely at the receipt she typed in the order number from the the purchase. Argh. Better to have a working lawn mower than 4k miles, but this seems problematic.
@vr- I agree there’s a risk to not getting points. I would only do this deal if you are prepared to use the cards yourself or to eat the vig on selling them if you can’t.
@Hong- Spend them or sell them!
Here is warning for Plastic Jungle users.
Do not use any kind of anonymizing software on your PC when you place your sell order. After going back and forth with Plastic Jungle they told me that the reason my order was cancelled is because it was placed from outside the United States.
I know it wasn’t, so I’m pretty sure my VPN fooled them.
Shut down your VPN before placing your order and maybe you will have better luck with them – I’m still trying to get them to allow me to resubmit the same giftcards without my VPN in place.
got the physical gift cards today in mail. what to do now?
@TravelerMSY, exactly! It would be a great data point for FML – how long would frequent miler’s fans take to burn up 7k on beer?:)
But seriously, I only have $200 in GC to spend. I didn’t go aggressive on this deal because, I have had NO luck in getting points automatically credited from RR mall purchases. Even now RR site does not show my sears transactions. This is all for nothing at this time (except I am going to spend good portion of $200 on beer!)
@VR- 7k in Sears cards is a *lot* of beer!
Found Diet Dr. Pepper today at Kmart. And a meager selection of $400 in WN gift cards.
Is 25% back only on your in store purchase?
al613: yes
shop your way gives out 25% back in points today (shop between 5/31-6/2). the points will expire 6/30 or 12/31 (can use to buy GC). Any idea to buy and then sell to use GC?
Hong: It’s a great way to go if you can find resellable items. 25% back in points amounts to a 20% discount overall, which is excellent. For example, if you spend $1000, you can get $1250 worth of stuff. $1000 is 80% of $1250.
Wink wink
Kmart also has a great electronic section.
Might I suggest my fellow Sears gift card holders to go and browse.