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I like giving and receiving gift cards, but what I like the most is saving money when buying them. Aside from cash, gift cards are the most versatile. With the new rules on gift cards that make them good for at least five years, they sure make a good present giving the recipient sufficient time to decide on what they want to spend the card. Here’s how to score free gift cards and get them at a low price.
1. Buy gift cards online – You can buy discounted gift cards, sell or trade the ones you don’t want using websites like PlasticJungle.com These sites specialize in getting you low prices on gift cards. You can find gift cards up to 50 percent off. Auction sites like eBay.com are also worth a browse. Just make sure to check the sellers ratings to so you’re not duped into buying a fake gift card.
2. Sign up for Swagbucks – Last year, I signed up for Swagbucks, a site that awards you points for doing your normal Internet surfing. You can redeem the points, called swagbucks, for items including gift cards. Sign up for free and start accumulating points. I also downloaded their Internet browser toolbar and have been earning points steadily. Other ways of earning points are taking daily polls and surveys.
3. Shop warehouse and club stores – If you are a member of a club store like Costco or Sam’s Club, you’re in luck. These stores sale discounted gift cards at great prices. I love coffee and found that Costco sells four $25 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf gift cards for only $79.99. You save $20.01. How great is that? These stores also carry a variety of gift cards, like for AMC movies, Regal Cinemas, iTunes, and a lot more that allow you to pick the right one.
4. Social Media – Make good use of your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare accounts. You can search for gift card deals on Twitter by using the hashtag #giftcards. To learn of gift card giveaways by companies or brands you love, like their Facebook page. You can also randomly win gift cards by checking in on Foursquare. Psst…while you’re add it, don’t forget to like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @bargainbabe. We also love giving away gift cards to our loyal readers.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
Swagbucks is awesome. It’s so easy to accumulate points fast. Plus, if you purchase a Groupon through the Swagbucks site, you get 280 points.
I’m new to Swagbucks, so no gift cards yet…but, I love almost any kind of gift card.
@Julia, I signed up for SwagBucks under you but I am not really understanding it. But I got to get back in there and try! Please explain the toolbar!!! Also, I wished more sites would take PayPal, Living Social does not. Oh that is where my money went this week!! I funded my PayPal acct.!!
@Susie A. Swagsbucks seems wonky at first because you get points (called swagbucks) for regular Internet searching. Once you sign up, you don’t have to do anything differently. I installed the Swagbucks tool bar so that a little Internet search box appears in the upper left corner of my screen. So when I need to search for something online, I just type into that toolbar box, instead of opening a new window, going to Swagbucks.com, and then searching. If you follow the directions on Swagbucks.com on how to download the toolbar, it’s easy. Good luck!
I agree getting gift cards is great and right now I am giving away a $5 Starbucks Gift Card to one lucky winner. Visit me at Penny-Pincher’s Pal (www.PennyPinchersPal.com) and sign up for your chance at winning the card.
Bargain Babe» Four ways to get free or discounted gift cards Will you be writing more about this particular article.
I try to take advantage of the free bonus g.c.’s around the holidays from my fav restaurants. i.e. buy $25 get $5 free. I’ll buy them and activate them before we eat and then use them to pay for my meal and then I also have the $5 one for another time out for desert or coffee wtih a friend.
I get alot of giftcards here, all you do is use your credits, which you can do by de-cluttering your house etc. I have also gotten some very beautiful jewelry, household items, and a beautiful majolica teapot, just by using credits. Here is my link to sign up http://www.listia.com/signup/203349
can someone explain swagbucks to me. i hear ALOT about it. how does it work? is it compicated?
@nina k Here is a link to a post Bargain Babe wrote about Swagbucks: http://bargainbabe.com/tag/swagbucks/