[List] Gift cards providers

[LeGaulois]

@bullrun2020bro

It's because you can pay with another currency than euro. It's like when you shop on Aliexpress, you can change the currency with dollars.  

And here the trick: when you change to pay in USD, you pay cheaper (at least on Ali). Provided that you have a bank card that doesn't charge a convertion fee EUR/USD, then you save money   (otherwise the FX rate is about 2.5% with VISA and Mastercard IICRC)

Since Bitrefill's gift cards are in USD, that's why it says to change the currency to USD. Because you will have to pay in dollars.

But just to let you know that you can't split your purchase over several cards or payment methods.

[DaveF]

Keep in mind, to use giftcards on Amazon US you MUST have a VALID US based payment method. So you would have to get a VCC with some $ on it and have it's address match the shipping address where you are sending stuff. Then you can use US giftcards. They do ping the card every now and then to make sure it's still valid. No charge, just an authorization for $1.00 most people don't even see it.

-Dave

Is this a new thing? I used to shop from Amazon U.S all the time and I never had to link a credit card before. I just buy gift cards from other individuals on Paxful, redeem the cards, and then ship the goods to my package forwarding company's address.

Somewhat. It appears to be random, but being added to all accounts. I have had to have a CC on mine since early 2019. Julie got hit with it sometime in mid 2020 and the work account was forced to add one back in May. I have had friends mention it too.

I am guessing it's a slow rollout, but once they hit you, no more GC till you put on a CC.

Nothing to do with amounts as far as I can tell since most of our Amazon shopping is done on Julie's account [no real reason just worked out that way] but I can say that the spend on that account is WAYYYYY above mine.

-Dave

[bullrun2024bro]

Coinsbee has plenty of new gift cards available (at least for the German region). They also allow various altcoin payments (50 in total, I guess). Unfortunately, however, a minimum purchase is required to use (smaller) altcoins.

For example if you want to use Binance Coin or Binance USD you need to shop for at least 0.7 BNB, which is currently about $250.

Nevertheless, the new range of gift cards is quite appealing. Definitely an alternative to Bitrefill. I really like that they added a few super markets, drugstores and fast food chains.

[Coinsbee.com]

We added in total 1500 Giftcard brands. We also have now 100 different cryptocoins which u can use to pay.
For Binance User we offer Binance Pay. So no transactionfee and time for them.

[SFR10]

Unfortunately, however, a minimum purchase is required to use (smaller) altcoins.

For example if you want to use Binance Coin or Binance USD you need to shop for at least 0.7 BNB, which is currently about $250.

I believe one of their payment processors ^[CoinGate] should take the blame instead and they also have similar restrictions when it comes to higher amounts.
^{- As a workaround, you can use Binance Pay [if you're one of its users].}

Update:

It appears so. For some reason, CoinGate is pulling that amount from Changelly? https://support.coingate.com/en/66/what-is-the-minimum-amount-for-altcoin-payments

That's strange! Just did a test and that's exactly the case: Screenshot

[OmegaStarScream]

Unfortunately, however, a minimum purchase is required to use (smaller) altcoins.

For example if you want to use Binance Coin or Binance USD you need to shop for at least 0.7 BNB, which is currently about $250.

I believe one of their payment processors ^[CoinGate] should take the blame instead and they also have similar restrictions when it comes to higher amounts.
^{- As a workaround, you can use Binance Pay [if you're one of its users].}

It appears so. For some reason, CoinGate is pulling that amount from Changelly? https://support.coingate.com/en/66/what-is-the-minimum-amount-for-altcoin-payments
Another workaround if you're not willing to KYC and use Binance Pay is to use Okex.com. Send whatever coin you want to pay with to the exchange, trade it for BTC, withdraw it through the lightning network, and then pay your Coinsbee invoice using LN as well. I believe Okex has all the altcoins supported by CoinGate, except for the Binance's coins.

[bullrun2024bro]

It appears so. For some reason, CoinGate is pulling that amount from Changelly? https://support.coingate.com/en/66/what-is-the-minimum-amount-for-altcoin-payments
Another workaround if you're not willing to KYC and use Binance Pay is to use Okex.com. Send whatever coin you want to pay with to the exchange, trade it for BTC, withdraw it through the lightning network, and then pay your Coinsbee invoice using LN as well. I believe Okex has all the altcoins supported by CoinGate, except for the Binance's coins.

Good idea, thanks! I also don't see much advantage in using Binance Pay. If you want to verify with Binance via KYC anyway, you might as well use the Binance credit card and earn cash back on their platform. If you have enough BNB, the cash back is much higher than what you get on Bitrefill or Coinsbee.

I will try the workaround via Okex.com when I have some free time. I am using BTC or some major alts most of the time anyway. So it's not really an issue.

(I am OOM as always, will merit your posts once I get some!)

[LeGaulois]

Guys.

Bitrefill removed the Bitrefill Balance Card? :/
It's the 3rd day I log in to check but don"t see it anymore (EUR, as well USD). It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility. I now have some bucks on my account that I can't spend since there is always a minimum purchase

Am I blind or?

It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility.

You can still fund your account with Bitcoin to fix the exchange rate: Click Account > Add Funds > From Bitcoin (Lightning) to EUR/USD.

I'm dumb

Thanks


 

[SFR10]

Bitrefill removed the Bitrefill Balance Card? :/
It's the 3rd day I log in to check but don"t see it anymore (EUR, as well USD). It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility. I now have some bucks on my account that I can't spend since there is always a minimum purchase

Am I blind or?

It no longer shows up in the search results ^{[through Bitrefill]}, but I did manage ^{[thanks to Google]} to find their links and it seems that they'll be introducing an improved version soon:

• Bitrefill Balance Card (USD)
• Bitrefill Balance Card (EUR)

Code:

We are currently working on a new improved Gift Card. Check out similar products

[LoyceV]

It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility.

You can still fund your account with Bitcoin to fix the exchange rate: Click Account > Add Funds > From Bitcoin (Lightning) to EUR/USD.

[bullrun2024bro]

Guys.

Bitrefill removed the Bitrefill Balance Card? :/
It's the 3rd day I log in to check but don"t see it anymore (EUR, as well USD). It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility. I now have some bucks on my account that I can't spend since there is always a minimum purchase

Am I blind or?

Is it possible that the general search settings have changed recently?

I was looking for some gift cards earlier today and couldn't find them through the regular search on "browse products". After I logged in, they were strangely available via the search option. I first thought that it might be an IP problem, but using a VPN didn't bring any change either. Very strange.

[DaveF]

Guys.

Bitrefill removed the Bitrefill Balance Card? :/
It's the 3rd day I log in to check but don"t see it anymore (EUR, as well USD). It was something useful when you wanted to avoid volatility. I now have some bucks on my account that I can't spend since there is always a minimum purchase
Am I blind or?

Is it possible that the general search settings have changed recently?

As LoyceV said, you can always just fund your account but this just added a step to the process.
The only downside is you can't get one and give it to somebody which was what I did a few times when I was out of gift ideas.

At a 100% guess, it probably had something to do with the way they were dealing with funds and how they were being held in terms of banking regulation.
But that is just a guess.

-Dave

[LeGaulois]

Yes, it's possible to be out of stock, but it's usually mentioned on the page and you can't purchase any..
Congrats if you won the gift card but I wonder how you won it considering the site says the winner will be announced on November 30th

After the movie Back to the future, we have Going to the Past?

(the post has been deleted while posting my reply to the person)

@DaveF

You could print the gift card for someone IRL or share the URL. I discovered the feature not long ago, each voucher has its own URL. https://www. bitrefill.com/order/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All you have to do is to give the URL to the person. Shrink the URL with Bitly and alike to make it more swag
(example: bit.ly/happybirthdayhoney). Or make a QR code of the page to share via message text or whatever you want.


@bullrun2020bro

I've never experienced it before. I directly log in and buy what I need. Maybe some gift cards are only available to registered users?
Registered users = IP collected. For some vouchers, I can understand (PCS, Toneo, etc), but if it works while behind a VPN/VPS there is no sense then


Out of topic but I'm just curious. Do you guys still have Amazon Pantry in your country? It was so good

[DaveF]

Out of topic but I'm just curious. Do you guys still have Amazon Pantry in your country? It was so good

Amazon Pantry went away everywhere.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/8/22220331/amazon-pantry-discontinued-prime-grocery-delivery-services
https://progressivegrocer.com/amazon-prime-pantry-phased-out

Here in the US the food delivery is now part of Amazon Fresh / Whole Foods. Same thing, different name.

Back to giftcards (for the US people) any ideas for crypto -> giftcards for a place that sells tires, other then walmart?

-Dave

[LoyceV]

You could print the gift card for someone IRL or share the URL. I discovered the feature not long ago, each voucher has its own URL. https://www. bitrefill.com/order/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All you have to do is to give the URL to the person. Shrink the URL with Bitly and alike to make it more swag
(example: bit.ly/happybirthdayhoney).

Slight warning: I wouldn't expose the URL with gift code to an URL shortener, that way you risk someone else accessing it.

[OmegaStarScream]

• Bitrefill Balance Card (USD)
• Bitrefill Balance Card (EUR)

Code:

We are currently working on a new improved Gift Card. Check out similar products

I'm going to assume that this is the new improved version[1][2] they were referring to?

I couldn't find any announcements though, nor can I understand what the "account number" is all about since users don't seem to have any unique IDs.

[1] https://www.bitrefill.com/buy/bitrefill-deposit-usd/?hl=en
[2] https://www.bitrefill.com/buy/bitrefill-deposit-eur/?hl=en

[LeGaulois]

Myself when I gave it a try, I tried to use the ID in my referral link, (after /?code=) and got a message saying "Number .......... refused for operator bitrefill-deposit-eur"
Then I tried to use my email and got a message saying "This product is a beta product that is not enabled for your account".

I supposed this Beta version wasn't enabled yet to users. When I contacted them on Twitter to ask about it, They told me they'll escalate this to the engineer team. So I guess the guys have forgotten something before opening the beta version

They added Uber recently

[OmegaStarScream]

-snip-

I've also reached out to them through their live chat, they said it's a technical issue and they're working on it, no ETA given though. I'll make sure to post an update once its working again.

[DaveF]

Has anyone noticed that the BTC to USD price for bitrefilll has been really bad vs. the shown preev & coinbase rates for the last few days?

They always had a bit worse of a rate, and I do know that they are a business out to make money so I did not let it bother me. But twice in the last few days I was going to buy a gift card and wound up thinking "Nah, too much of a cut"

And then, a few hours later it's normal again.

-Dave

[LoyceV]

@DaveF: I just checked: for €1000 at Amazon.de I'd pay exactly (up to a few sats) the preev.com rate. But for $1000 at Amazon.com I'd pay about 2.4% more.

Amazon.nl is even more fun: a €10 coupon costs €11.04. The .de doesn't have this markup.