Are in-store gift cards any safer to purchase than on line present cards? Hmm. According to the newest Yahoo! poll “three out of 4 holiday shoppers will acquire gifts on the web, and most are probably to obtain from little organizations. Shoppers expressed sturdy assistance for e-commerce with little organizations that provide a safe payment method, easy consumer checkout and free of charge shipping.”
According to Deloitte’s 2006 annual holiday survey (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov) from the Office of Customer protection in Maryland, 66% of shoppers will buy present cards this holiday season. Wow! That’s a massive number and a thought comes to mind. The authenticity of gift cards bought on the net and offline. Is it safe to acquire from third party vendors? How much a lot more safe is a merchant present card in-retailer on a rack with the card serial number exposed?
Online Present Card Authenticity There are a number of gift card providers on the net and an array of new ones ringing up a lot of new merchandise and selections. If you want merchant cards, you can go straight to the merchant website. If you want used present cards, third celebration vendors are very good for discounts as effectively as selling and trading gift cards. How do you know which vendors are reliable? It is not uncomplicated, but performing some research helps. Ahead of you make a buy, get confirmation from the gift card vendor that they verify card authenticity. If the answer is no, move on. It is also just as effortless for a thief to post a present card with cash on it, wait for it to be verified, then devote it when it is on it is way to the customer. Nonetheless, there are employed gift card vendors that will return your funds, need to such an unfortunate incident materialize.Www.plasticjungle.com is new to the on the net gift card industry. They permit shopping for, promoting and trading for absolutely free. The totally free is an incentive to construct their member base. They also claim that the authenticity of made use of present cards is verified before they are placed on the site and they will take complete duty ought to you get an expired card or a single with a zero balance.
In-Retailer Gift Card Safety
With quick access to present cards displayed on shop racks, it is pretty quick for a thief to get a gift card serial number for later use such as the case of the Ohio present card scam where cunning thieves had been going into retail stores, obtaining gift card serial numbers calling to verify card activation and acquiring gifts on someone else’s dollar. Good.
rcbalancer to the above, retailers are changing the way they display present cards. If you are going to obtain a present card my tips is to ask a retailer manager what their policy is on stolen or lost present cards and how they can guarantee that you will not develop into a victim of gift card fraud.