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Gift card balances - How can I spend them?
 

I have about a dozen visa gift cards with small balances ($5, $10, $15). Mostly Vanilla Visa cards. All registered under different names (used for Paypal verification). Can’t really buy anything online with such small amounts. None work at the gas pumps. I've tried using one at a store and when it didn't work it prompted the cashier to get suspicious when I was reluctant to produce ID. Kinda hard to do that when they're not under me own name! Can anyone recommend any places that I can swipe these through without a problem. Preferably an automated machine or self-checkout kiosk in a not-so-public place so if they don't work it doesn’t send a store employee over.

Any ideas?

You can get gas on those. Just don't try to prepay at the pump since pumps try to preauthorize for $35 or $50 depending on the company. If you are 1 penny short on your balance it will be declined before you get 1 drop of go-juice.

You can go to one of those box-stores with a U-Scan aisle and spend all those cards in one go. Get your goodies, scan like usual, then choose payment type CARD, input the exact balance on the card, swipe it. Then for remaining checkout amount, pick another card and repeat process. If anyone bugs you, just tell them what you have - a bunch of prepaid or gift cards with small balances you wish to use up.

You can spend that at walgreens buy more giftcards with it or take all you small amounts and put it on one giftcard.

You dont have to produce a id to use giftcards there and even so it dosent matter cause its a giftcard unless your giftcards have other peoples names on the front of the card its self other wise no one will know whos names are on the cards

i pay my cell phone bill with them.

You can use Vanilla Visa Gift Card at gas stations. If you pay at the pump for gas, the pump terminal may check to see if you have funds to pay for up to $50 worth of gas because the station doesn’t know how much you are going to buy. If you do not have $50 available on your card, your transaction most likely will be declined. If you plan to buy less than $50 gas, just give your card to the station attendant and state exactly how much gas you want to purchase, instead of swiping your card at the pump.

You can also use Vanilla Cards at restaurants. However, some restaurants and hotels factor in an automatic tip, or other expenses above the purchase amount, when authorizing card purchases. If the bill, plus estimated tip, exceeds the available balance on the card the purchase will be declined. When that happens, you should ask them to deduct a specific amount from the card and use another card or another type payment for the balance or tip.

Vanilla Cards can also be used to purchase USPS money order, pay all kinds online bills ... :ranger:

I've always used them for gas and the one station that I go to will just shut off the pump once the card hits its remaining balance whether there is $5 or $25 left on it.
Not a bad thing though to check the balance online and then just go inside and prepay for that amount.

Gift card balances - How can I spend them?
 

Thanks all ,but I think everyone was missing my intent. I was looking for a machine of some kind with no one around that I could swipe my gift cards. Maybe a bunch of them in a row without getting strange looks. Like I said, I know it's strange but i'm a kind of an odd duck that way. I don't like people being curious about my business.

Maybe there isn't such a thing as what i'm looking for, I don't know.

But along the lines of balances, what about VIRTUAL credit card balances, like Simon? How can I spend all of those small dollar balances? None of them really have enough individually to buy anything online with. $5-$10 maybe. Especially if there is a shipping charge. Besides some have different names/addresses if you know what I mean.

What can I do with them?

You can use a Credit Card processing merchant account.

How does that work? Are you saying to set one up and then send the credit card balances to myself?

Yeah that is correct. Send the invoices to a different email then the one you signed up with, and it's best to pay using a separate user account and ip on your computer. Some merchant accounts don't like that, so that keeps them from knowing. :)

Do you know if they still take Vanilla gc? Cus last time i tried, a couple months ago they didnt