When it comes to buying the things you want, it can be easy to overlook some of the great deals out there. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? But the truth is, there are plenty of opportunities to get a great deal on the food, services, items, and entertainment you want. You just need to know how to get free gift cards.
Things are hard, right now, and a lot of people are working from home. Why pay your own hard-earned money for things if you don’t need to? Free gift cards let users pay with the credit they’ve earned by doing unassuming things like filling out surveys or using apps to do their shopping.
Not sure how to get gift cards online and get a better deal on your monthly purchases? Let’s take a closer look.
Refer a Friend
Companies love a referral. It means more business, and anything you can do to bring in extra traffic is always good. So it makes sense, then, that referring friends and family to a service or credit card you enjoy could net you some great freebies.
Cards on the table, generally, a referral alone won’t result in a free gift card. You’ll need to be directly responsible for a purchase or an open account maintained over any amount of time. But, if you can bring in a measurable amount of business, the following companies offer free gift cards:
- On Ancestry.com, you can earn a $10 Amazon gift card upon the order of AncestryDNA by your confirmed friend.
- Comcast Cable offers up to $500 in Visa gift cards for any successful recommendation of their service. This amounts to $100 for the first friend, $200 for the second, and $200 for the third.
- Gift Card Granny offers members $5 each for each friend of yours you can get signed up.
- With Raise, you can get a $5 deposit into your Raise account, for use on any gift card, provided your friend makes a purchase.
- Sam’s Club has a $10 e-gift card reward offer for every Sam’s Club sign up.
- Go with Sprint, and you can score a $100 Visa gift card for every friend who signs up with the service.
- T-Mobile provides its subscribers with a $50 MasterCard card for every reference who joins up with the network.
- America’s most famous tax service, TurboTax, offers $10 Amazon gift cards when a friend completes their taxes on their platform.
- Verizon Wireless will give out up to $200 in Visa Rewards cards if you successfully refer a friend to their service.
Referral services are a solid option for anyone looking to score a free gift card, and there are tons of them out there. Not only that, but sometimes the person being referred can lock down a few freebies as well. Comcast, Sam’s Club, and various others have been known to offer these, so make sure to ask around. There are some great deals around, perfect for casual income or even the cash you need to pay for the important things.
Trade Your Electronics In
Something a lot of people don’t know when it comes to shopping for freebies is that electronics are a veritable goldmine. Break out your old cell phones, mp3 players, FitBits and smart devices, and take them to some of the following retailers for a free gift card:
- On Amazon, you can trade your old Kindles, game consoles, cameras, and tablets for an Amazon gift card.
- Apple offers gift card trade-ins for iPads, iPhones, iPods, Macs, and other Apple devices.
- GameStop offers trade-ins for gift cards, in return for used games and consoles, as well as any gaming accessories.
- Get a Staples e-gift card for your old laptops, tablets, e-readers, and smartphones.
- Target has the Target Trade-In Program, which rewards people with gift cards when they trade in electronics. Portable devices such as phones and smartwatches or larger items like games consoles all work equally well.
- Verizon Wireless comes back for a second pass at this list, offering a Verizon Wireless electronic gift card for old cell phones.
- Walmart shoppers can get a Walmart eGift Card for their old electronics and video games.
Electronics devices can still be worth a lot of money, even after they’ve lived their full lifespan. Regardless of the COVID-19 reality, it’s important to keep your money fluid, and this is a great way to do that.
One of the most popular ways to earn gift cards is through taking surveys. There are dozens of great apps and websites out there, all of which offer great rewards for your time and data. Check out survey sites like Swagbucks or Toluna for some of the best functionality in the game, right now.
Online Surveys
As you might expect, you’ll typically have to answer a series of questions from different industries. You’ll also be asked to watch a few videos, complete various other online tasks, and make referrals in exchange for membership gift cards.
The one thing you’ll want to consider before pursuing this kind of prize is that it often takes a lot of time to accumulate the points you need. Weigh up your investment, and make the call on whether it’s worth your time.
Consider some of the following options:
- You may not know this, but Microsoft Rewards gives out credits for searching for anything on Bing. Use these for $5 Starbucks and Amazon gift cards.
- Use i-Say to take surveys in exchange for various gift cards.
- MyPoints offers gift card rewards for taking surveys, watching videos, and reading emails.
- Swagbucks offers Swagbucks gift cards in return for using their platform as outlined. Watch videos, do your shopping online, and answer surveys to bring in those prizes.
While it may take some investment of your time, this is one of the more straightforward ways of earning a free gift card.
Specific Services
Of course, there are many services out there that specialize in providing these gift cards, specifically. Even when users accumulate points they could withdraw via PayPal, it’s often a better return to take it in the form of a gift card. Let’s take a closer look:
Ibotta
This app gives users cashback for scanning their receipts. Get coupons for various products, select which ones you want, then claim the offer by answering a surveyor completing a simple task.
Buy items and upload your receipts, via the app, and you can claim a cashback discount on your purchase. Then, once you’ve reached $20 in your Ibotta wallet, you’ll have the option to either withdraw the cash through PayPal or select a gift card. Major retailers are all supported, so expect returns for places like Home Depot, iTunes, and Starbucks, among others.
Alternatively, you can pursue rewards through referrals. Bring in friends and family, and use in-app bonuses for better returns. As a final note, a unique side to about this app is that it allows users to participate in groups or teams. This has staggering potential, as you can build up a whole network and earn rewards even faster.
Instagram themselves aren’t in the business of giving away gift cards, but the companies who use their service are. Companies with profiles use their social presence to give away free stuff, all the time. And, a lot of the time, that free stuff takes the form of e-cards and physical gift cards.
Take a look around, enter a few of these giveaways and you stand as good a shot as anybody at winning a few free gift cards. The rules and stipulations may vary. The process often involves following the account, liking their image, commenting, or tagging someone.
Looking for a little help in finding the best offers? Want to know how to get free gift cards fast? Keep an eye out for the following hashtags:
- #giveaway
- #giftcardgiveaway
- #competition
- #freebies
- #freebiefriday
For added convenience, Instagram actually allows users to follow hashtags, which means you won’t have to search for these terms, day in and day out. Just set your account to follow the hashtags and you’ll get them in your feed, automatically.
PrizeRebel
Looking for giveaway opportunities? Prize Rebel allows you to answer survey questions, watch videos and more, in return for gift cards. The site consistently pays, on-time, and even allows users to redeem points for Amazon gift cards. Add PayPal payments and other avenues, and PrizeRebel has a lot to offer.
The big hook with PrizeRebel as a service is that it comes with some very low points requirements to redeem gift cards or cash. 200 points will earn you $2 gift card, which is excellent for this kind of service.
You can also earn points by referring users, netting 20% of a user’s earned points if they’ve been referred by you.
Fetch Rewards
Fetch Rewards makes earning rewards and bringing home a free gift card relatively simple. Simply scan your supermarket receipts after checking out whenever you go shopping. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be shown a list of products you’ve purchased with associated points you can redeem. Earn points on whatever you buy, whenever it appears on the receipt. There are thousands of products to choose from.
Build up your points over however long and you can redeem them for hundreds of possible rewards. Even just signing up with the app itself and using a promo code can net you 3,000 points, right off the bat. That, right there, is enough credit to get yourself a $3 gift card to use at a variety of retail stores.
Drop App
The Drop app is a cashback service app that allows users to earn gift cards from various retailers by simply using the app during their shopping. Simply download the application before linking it to your debit or credit card.
Then take a minute to explore whatever cashback offers the app features. Major retailer stores like Target, Best Buy and Walmart are all featured prominently on the app. Go through the app, click on the shopping link you’re looking for, and then use your linked card. This is all you need to get started on your way to a cash refund.
As an added note, Drop also offers points for completing various surveys and specialized activities. As with any other points system, earn enough in the app and you can redeem them for any reward, including their various free gift cards.
GetUpside
The GetUpside app helps users earn cash from their regular purchases, such as gas, restaurants, and groceries. As an added benefit, it also helps users find better deals on gas prices and other service purchases.
This is still a relatively new service, meaning they still have more than a few cashback locations to add to the app. But they work with major gas stations, including Shell, BP, and Exxon, with gas prices visible at more than 9000 stations across the country.
One of the biggest benefits of the cashback feature is that your earnings also often accumulate with other cashback services. That means that a trip to a fast-food restaurant can compound in terms of savings coming from both GetUpside and whatever other services you use.
GetUpside allows users to withdraw their accumulated money at any time, via the application. Get your money out with a return to your PayPal, check, or one of a selection of gift card offers.
Learn How To Get Free Gift Cards
Whether you’re trying to learn how to get free gift cards online without completing offers or you have the time to spare, there’s are options.
Looking for more professional content to help you get on top of your finances? Make sure to check out posts or visit our financial resource center for more ways to save!
