Back in November, Amazon did something unexpected: the company opened a real-life bookstore in its hometown of Seattle. The company also has a Kindle and Fire showroom at its new package pickup point at UC Berkeley. Amazon clearly wants to move into real-life retail, in some ways, and they have an intriguing new product spotted on drugstore shelves in Washington state. [More]
gift cards
Man Arrested For Selling Stolen Gift Cards Re-Arrested For Allegedly Using More Stolen Gift Cards To Pay Lawyer
By 12.30.15
When you’ve been arrested for allegedly selling stolen gift cards and it comes time to pay for an attorney, there might be one predictable route to go — but it’s not likely to work out so well. [More]
How Much Can You Get For A Gift Card? Depends On Which Store They’re For
By 12.28.15
In the gift card resale market, some cards are more valuable than others. This makes sense: you can buy a wider variety of items at a big-box or grocery store than at a clothing or toy store. How much of a difference does the brand of a gift card make? To find out, our card-carrying colleagues at Consumer Reports checked multiple exchange sites to find out how much a selection of cards might be worth. [More]
18 People Arrested In Return Fraud And Gift Card Sales Scheme
By 12.15.15
Last week, we explained how thieves can easily convert stolen merchandise into cash through shoplifted goods and gift card marketplaces. This week, a months-long investigation in Florida with the delightful name “Operation Plastic Paradise” came to a conclusion, with 18 people involved in the scheme arrested, and more arrests expected soon. [More]
How Fraudsters Can Convert Stolen Goods Into Cash Through Bargain-Hunters
By 12.11.15
Maybe you’re planning a large purchase or a big shopping trip with a certain retailer, and you seek out gift cards to that store from online gift card marketplaces. Swapping gift cards online is a unique opportunity for savings, but also provides a unique opportunity for fraudsters. [More]
People Holding Onto RadioShack Gift Cards Can Now File Refund Claims
By 12.4.15
If you’re one of millions of consumers holding on to an older RadioShack gift card, listen up: the retailer has begun the process of issuing refunds for the balance of those cards — totaling $46 million. [More]
No, Target Is Not Giving You A 50% Off Everything Coupon For Liking A Page On Facebook
By 11.24.15
We all want to believe that there are special coupons out there just waiting to be grabbed, and the newest questionable offer to take hold of Facebook newsfeeds involves the false promise of a coupon that will magically grant you 50% off anything at Target. [More]
Target, ThredUP End Partnership That Let Customers Exchange Old Clothes For Gift Cards
By 10.21.15
If you were hoping to exchange your lightly used clothing for Target gift cards though the retailer’s partnership with online consignment store ThredUP, then you’re out of luck: turns out, the test ended weeks ago. [More]
Target Partners With ThredUP To Let You Trade In Old Clothes For Gift Cards
By 10.19.15
Target knows you’ve probably got a bunch of old clothes you don’t wear but which are otherwise fine. It also wants you to spend money at Target buying new clothes (and groceries, and anything else). So now it’s willing to trade you some gift cards for your dust-gathering outfits. [More]
Your Borders Gift Card Is Now Worthless: This Is Not A Repost From 2011
By 10.6.15
You may remember that back in 2013, people who forgot to redeem their Borders gift cards sued the company’s smoldering remains and tried to get some of their money back. A federal judge shot that effort down, but the gift card lawsuit continued, and went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. No, really. However, the Supremes declined to hear the case, which means you’re stuck using those Borders gift cards to scrape ice off your car windows. [More]
RadioShack Agrees To Pay Outstanding Gift Card Balances Before Paying Other Debts
By 8.26.15
The state attorney general of Texas, home state of the company formerly known as RadioShack, wasn’t pleased that the electronics retailer went out of business with an estimated $46 million in gift cards outstanding. Normal bankruptcy procedure is that gift card holders who don’t cash in their cards before the deadline–usually 30 days after the company files for bankruptcy status — are out of luck. Thanks to the TX AG, the American public won’t have to shrug off the loss of that money… unless they lost their gift card. [More]
Gift-Givers Love Gift Card Kiosks, And Retailers Love Them Even More
By 8.10.15
Depending on who you ask, gift cards are thoughtless gifts prone to losing their value, or a way to ensure that someone will get a gift that they actually like without the soullessness of cash. They’re also extremely convenient. Gift cards are available everywhere from convenience stores to upscale retailers, but how much money does the store where you bought the card get? [More]
Texas Attorney General Says RadioShack Knowingly Sold Gift Cards That Would Soon Expire
By 7.30.15
If the leadership of a company knows that they’re about to file for bankruptcy, should they stop selling gift cards? That’s what the Attorney General in Texas contends: that RadioShack knew after the 2014 holiday season ended that it would be declaring bankruptcy soon, and that gift cards they had issued would lose their value at the time of the bankruptcy or shortly afterward. Yet they sold ’em anyway. [More]
Best Buy Sells $200 Gift Cards For $15, Cancels Orders
By 7.15.15
Late last night, Best Buy posted what seemed like the greatest Black Friday in July deal ever: a $200 gift card for only $15. This was an obvious pricing error, but humans are humans, and people were willing to put up with an Isaac Mizrahi-designed floral gift card if it meant that they would get $185 in free money. Fortunately for Best Buy, they corrected the pricing error after only a few hours. [More]
There’s Still $43 Million In Outstanding RadioShack Gift Cards, And Texas Wants To Rescue It
By 6.19.15
When a retailer looks like it might be in danger of going out of business, we warn gift card holders to use their cards soon, before the company declares bankruptcy and the cards lose their value. Not everyone has the good sense to read Consumerist, though, and that’s why the Texas Attorney General wants the smoldering remains of RadioShack to put aside some money for gift card holders. [More]
A Legitimate Car Seller Will Not Ask For Payment In Amazon Gift Cards
By 5.27.15
As gift cards go, Amazon gift cards are pretty flexible: they’re available in any amount and can be used for a wide variety of merchandise. You can even use them to buy imaginary cars. At least, that’s what happened to a Michigan man who thought that he was buying a car that was in Montana, but was in fact sending four thousand bucks into a scamtastic void. [More]
Gift Card That Isn’t A Gift Card Can Ignore Consumer Laws
By 4.23.15
There are some disadvantages to using gift cards, but there are some laws that protect consumers who buy and use them. California has the strongest laws of this type: gift card holders can ask a retailer to cash in a gift card at any time, for example. Yet what happens when something that seems like a gift card isn’t, and it isn’t regulated the way that you expect–even in California? [More]
Starbucks Wants You To Buy Mom A $200 Gift Card Worth $50 Because It’s Your Mom
By 4.21.15
If you missed your chance to buy Starbucks’ $200 silver keychain that acted as a $50 gift card during the 2014 holiday season, you have another shot at stainless steel glory. [More]
