The use of gift cards as gifts is on a steady rise in countries like the USA, England and Canada. Regular gift-givers have turned to gift cards to show loved ones how they feel about them. Nigerians aren’t left out of the gift cards boom but not in the same capacity as the foreign countries. People in Nigeria occasionally receive gift cards from their loved ones abroad but the shortcoming with that is that most foreign gift cards are not usable in Nigeria. This is why Nigerians are selling their gift cards instantly for Naira. Read on to learn all you need to know when it comes to trading gift cards in Nigeria.

Gift card trading is slowly becoming a means of making passive income in Nigeria thanks to gift card exchange platforms. If you are new to gift card trading you would probably be curious as to how to go about selling your gift cards near you. Well, the answer has always been in your hands but you just haven’t discovered it yet. But lucky you, you found the article to help you decipher these mysteries.

What Are Gift Cards Used for?

gift cards are used for the following reasons:

  • Gifts giving.
  • Employee rewards.
  • Payment for goods or services.
  • And they can be traded for cash or crypto.

Not that gift cards can not be used to withdraw cash from ATMs. They are loaded with a certain amount of money and once the cardholder uses up the money loaded in the card it can’t be used again.

When given as gifts, Gift cards allow the recipient to buy the exact gift they want therefore making them more effective than regular gifts. With regular gifts, the gift giver stands a high risk of buying a gift the receiver doesn’t like.

There are two major types of gift cards and they are:

  • Open-Loop Gift Cards

Open-loop gift cards are gift cards that are redeemable in physical stores or online stores that accept the brand’s debit cards. For example Visa and AMEX gift cards.

The universal nature of open-loop gift cards gives it an edge over closed-loop gift cards which are limited to just the issuer’s stores. For example, you can’t use a Sephora gift card in an Apple Store, but you can use a Visa gift card in a Sephora store if they accept Visa cards as payment methods.

  • Closed-Loop Gift Cards

Closed-Loop gift cards are gift cards that are redeemable in the issuer’s online or physical stores. For example Target and Nike gift cards.

An advantage closed-loop gift cards have over open-loop is that the issuers do not charge for activation. This is because, Unlike open-loop cards, closed-loop gift cards were made to be spent on the issuer’s business.

How To Buy Gift Cards

You can either buy gift cards online and offline from the issuer’s website/stores or from other online/physical retail stores.

Where You Can Buy Gift Cards Offline

Here are a few stores you can buy gift cards from in the USA:

  • RiteAid
  • Staples
  • Sunoco
  • Whole Foods Market
  • Wegmans
  • Walgreens
  • Safeway
  • Lowes
  • JCPenney
  • A&A Market
  • Best Buy
  • AAA Club Alliance
  • 7-Eleven
  • CVS Pharmacy
  • Corner Market
  • Dash In
  • Fairway Market
  • Food City
  • GameStop
  • Harmons

Where You Can Buy Gift Cards Online

Most brands sell their gift cards on their websites but there are independent online gift card retailers. Here are a few websites you can safely buy gift cards online from:

  • Giftcards.com
  • Giftcardgranny.com
  • Amazon.com
  • Bestbuy.com
  • Mygiftcardsupply.com
  • eGifter.com
  • gyft.com

You can either buy physical gift cards and have them delivered to your house or order an eGift card that will be delivered to the receiver’s email.

Back to the topic of the day, selling gift cards instantly in the Naij. Before you start trading you need to know how to check your gift card balance to make sure you have sufficient money loaded on them and what brands of gift cards sell for the highest rates.

How To Check Your Gift Card Balance Online and offline

It is important to know your gift card balance before going in for any trade especially if it’s a previously used gift card. This is so you are sure how much is available on the card because it is that amount your gift card price will be calculated on. For example, if a $200 Amazon gift card has been used down to $100 left on it, the card will be sold at the price of the $100 balance, not the amount the card cost when first purchased.

You can check your gift card balance online by going to the issuer’s website which is usually written at the back of the card. You can also check them in the issuer’s retail stores or by calling their customer care line which should be at the back of the card too.

Top 10 Gift Cards That Sell at Highest Rates

When it comes to gift card trading in Nigeria, there are a few gift cards that sell at high rates. Here are the 10 most profitable gift card brands in the Nigerian Market:

  1. Amazon gift card
  2. iTunes gift card
  3. Google Playstore gift card
  4. Visa gift card
  5. Mastercard gift card
  6. American Express gift card
  7. eBay gift card
  8. Sephora gift card
  9. Best Buy gift card
  10. Steam gift card

Now that we know what we should know about gift cards before trading them in Nigeria, it’s time to focus on the other half of the trade, the gift card exchange platform.

What is a Gift Card Exchange Platform

These are automated digital platforms where gift card traders can sell their gift cards for a form of payment. In simple form, they are websites/apps where people sell gift cards for cash or cryptocurrency.

Thanks to gift card exchange platforms, gift card holders in Nigeria now have an outlet to make their gift cards useful. But one thing most gift card traders fear the most is losing their gift cards to fraudulent sites and selling at low rates. This is why I have listed out below, ways to know a good exchange platform:

  • It should have a Rate Calculator. A rate calculator helps you check gift card rates on the platform.
  • Check the app reviews online and see what people are saying about the platform. This way you will rest assured that people are actually getting paid on the platforms.
  • A good gift card exchange platform must, I repeat, must have a responsive customer support system. 
  • Instant payment should be guaranteed on the platform. You do not want to complete a transaction then wait for hours or days to get paid. 

How to Sell Gift Cards Instantly Near You in Nigeria

Looking for a gift card exchange platform near you to trade your gift cards? The answer has always been closer to you than you imagined. The answer is Prestmit. Prestmit is a gift card exchange platform where traders get the best value for their gift cards.

The gift card trading website/app has all the criteria of a good gift card trading platform listed above. 

How To Sell Your Gift Cards On Prestmit

Follow these easy steps to trade your gift cards on Prestmit:

  • Create an account on the platform.
  • Log into the account.
  • Click on “BEGIN TO TRADE” or “START TRADE” on the new page.
  • Fill in the required details on the trade page. This will include your gift card brand, number and amount you are selling.

In Conclusion 

Gift card trading looks like a trend that is going to be around for a long long time to come to Nigeria, so why not join the train and trade your gift cards on a reliable platform?