How to Buy Retail and Restaurant Gift Cards for Up to 42 Percent Off

What if you had the opportunity to save a big chunk of change — say an extra 10 to 40 percent — on almost every purchase you made?

Well, that opportunity to save big is here, thanks to online marketplaces that buy and resell unwanted gift cards at a discount. Examples include Raise.com and Cardpool.com.

If you’ve never bought a discounted gift card, it’s quick and easy. I did it as recently as last week.

First, click here to visit Raise.com. Then click on “SIGN UP” in the upper right corner to create an account if you don’t already have one. (Signing up takes less than a minute.)

Once you have an account and are logged in, select the store for which you want to purchase a discounted gift card, select an amount for the card, and check out (which also takes maybe one minute).

If you choose a plastic gift card — which Raise.com labels as “Physical” — it will be mailed to you. If you choose a gift card for online use — which might be labeled as “Egift” — Raise.com will email you the information within 24 hours so you can redeem the card online.

But before you buy a card from Raise.com, take an extra minute and do the same thing with Cardpool.com by clicking here.. Sign up, compare what’s here with what you found on Raise.com and take the best deal. It’s just that easy!

When we last checked, savings topped out at 42 percent on some cards.

Have you used discounted gift cards before? Share your experiences below or on our Facebook page. And if like this idea, don’t forget to share it with your friends!