15+ Ways on How to Get Cash From a Visa Gift Card (What Actually Works!)

We’re digging into all the ways on how to get cash from a Visa gift card

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How to Transfer a Visa Gift Card to Your Bank Account

This is probably the most streamlined way to convert Visa gift card into cash. By transferring your Visa gift card balance to your bank account, you can access the funds as cash pretty easily.

1. Add Your Visa Gift Card to PayPal

The first way is by using a service like PayPal. This will allow you to quickly transfer your Visa gift card balance to your linked bank account. 

You can either use the gift card to pay for things via your PayPal wallet instead of using cash. Or you can send the money to your bank account and then withdraw the cash.

To add your card to PayPal Wallet…

1. Open PayPal and log in.
2. Go to the “wallet” tab and click “add banks and cards.”
3. Type in the 16-digit card number, expiration date, and CCV code, and hit next.
4. You’ll get a note saying that “you linked your Visa prepaid card.”
5. You can now use this card to pay for things via PayPal. If you want to transfer the money to your bank, continue with the steps below with Xoom…

There are quite a few steps to transferring the funds to your bank account, but they go quickly…

1. Add your Visa gift card to your PayPal Wallet account (this only works for a personal PayPal account, not a business account).
   
   
2. Go to the main PayPal dashboard and click send money direct to bank; this will open up Xoom, which allows you to send money to people (and banks) outside of PayPal.
   
   
3. Choose what dollar amount you want to send. (minimum is $10 with Xoom).
   
   
4. Choose the bank where you want to send the money (aka your bank). It’s important to note there is a fee for this service depending on how you send the money. Since it’s coming from a debit/credit card, it’s a $1.99 service fee. So make sure your gift card has enough on it to cover the transfer amount plus the fee.
   
   
5. Input your routing & account numbers.
   
   
6. This next screen is where you choose where you want your money to come from; your Visa gift card should be shown here as an option. Click it and tap next.
   
   
7. Review the info & send. Make sure you have your bank numbers correct; it gives you a warning that you may not be able to get the money back if you input it wrong.

If your card is a virtual Visa gift card, you may first have to go to Visa’s Wallet Hub and register it.

1. To Redeem – go to My Digital Wallet.
2. Select a Virtual Visa Card, ready for immediate use online or over the phone anywhere Visa debit is accepted, or select a Physical Visa Card to be mailed to you (shipping and handling fee of $3.00 applies). 
3. The redemption site will ask you to provide your name, address, email, and mobile phone number to be associated with your Prepaid Card.
4. Agree to the Cardholder Agreement to complete the redemption. 

Xoom says that some prepaid cards are not supported. I didn’t have a problem with my card but YMMV. Don’t worry, if this method didn’t work for you there are lots of other options that we’ll go through below!

2. Add Your Visa Gift Card to Venmo

Sadly, there isn’t a way to cash out your Visa gift card through your Venmo account (at this time) and send it to your bank. I tried to do it; I went through all the steps and hit a roadblock. So I emailed Venmo support, and this is what they told me…

“Venmo is designed to be a peer-to-peer payments app that you can use to pay your friends and skip the need for cash. Venmo is not a tool for transferring money from one bank account to another. All payments must be made to other Venmo users. In this case, I would recommend using one of the tools your bank provides to make transfers from one account to another, such as ACH or wire transfers.”

You can, however, load your prepaid gift card onto your Venmo account and then use that to purchase something where Venmo is accepted.

3. Add your Visa gift card to your Amazon wallet

Many places said you could add your gift card to your Amazon Wallet and then transfer it to your bank account with Amazon Pay. BUT, I couldn’t figure out a way to actually do it.

You can easily add the card to your Amazon wallet, but that’s as far as I could go. I searched for over an hour to try and figure this trick out, but nothing worked. All the advice given online on how to do this was very vague and unhelpful. So maybe you used to be able to do this? I don’t know.

Rant: In researching the info for this post, many sites say how easy it is to transfer money from here to there, but they don’t give the exact steps, which is frustrating.

I tried to go through all the apps to do this exact thing and found out with many (i.e., Venmo, Cash App, Amazon) that you can’t actually do it. They didn’t do their research and just believed everyone who said they could, so they said that it was possible.

I tried it; I spent a long time on each of these platforms; I emailed their support teams and found out you can’t actually do it. Rant over.

How to convert Visa gift cards into cash online

4. Pay Yourself with your Visa Gift Card

If you run a small business or use a payment platform as a freelancer/entrepreneur, you can pay yourself for a small job. Just make yourself an invoice, send it to yourself, and pay it with your Visa gift card.

5. Sell it to CardCash

CardCash – offers discounted gift cards from over 1,300 brands. People sell their unwanted gift cards to them (get paid by PayPal, ACH, or check). And then people buy them at a discounted price. Sometimes they even offer site-wide discounts on cards. I.e., 20% off specific categories.

You can sell your unwanted gift cards and trade them in for something you’ll actually use. It took me literally 2 minutes to turn an Urban Outfitters gift card (that I’ve had in a drawer for years) into a Target gift card!

Now, you can sell your gift card or trade it, but you do get slightly more value when you trade it (vs selling it for cash). It’s was only maybe $1.50 more for a trade, so not a huge difference.

When I did it, I inputted my gift card info into the online form; I told them what I wanted to trade it for. They validated my gift card balance and then emailed me a Target Gift Card in a matter of 30 minutes (if that, it was probably more like 15 minutes).

6. Sell it to EJ Gift Cards

EJ Gift Cards is another online buy/sell site for unwanted gift cards. It’s similar to others sites, but let’s go through the process.

1. Enter your gift card brand name and face value, submit
2. They give you back a buy value; you can decline or accept.
3. If you accept, they send your money via PayPal.

When I messed around with different retailers and card values, they only offered slightly more than 50% to 60% of the face value, which isn’t as good as CardCash. But, it’s still a viable option.

They do have a handy page where you can check the balance of your gift card, so check that out to speed up the process.

7. Sell it on GiftCash

GiftCash is an online platform that buys and sells giftcards at a discount (similar to CardCash). All you have to do is…

1. “Click on sell card.”
2. Type in “Visa” and the balance amount and click “get offer”
3. They’ll come back with an offer which you can accept or change your mind.
4. If you accept, you’ll be prompted to make an account
5. Choose a payment method. You can opt for bank transfer and cryptocurrency.
6. Fill in your info and then follow the prompts.

I went partway through the process to see how much a $30 Visa gift card would be worth, and they offered $27.30 for it, which is 91% of the face value; pretty good!

8. Sell it on Raise

Raise is an online marketplace for selling and buying gift cards. And yes, you can sell your Visa gift card here.

To do so, just create an account and list your card. You’ll be prompted with a suggested selling price (lower than face value), and then it will tell you how much you’ll get for the card at that selling price. Raise does take15% of the sale as a fee.

So, for example, you could have a $30 Visa card, list it for $29, and then Raise will say, “you’ll get $24.65 from this sale” once it has sold on the marketplace.

Set the price, submit it for review (it takes 1-2 days), and wait for someone to buy it.

Once someone buys it, you can receive your funds either by check, PayPal, or ACH direct deposit within 3-5 days from when you request a payout.

9. Download the Prepaid2Cash app

Prepaid2Cash is a simple and quick way for cardholders to access their prepaid card and gift card funds. Most Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover branded prepaid cards can be used to get cash through direct deposit. 

They also accept store gift cards such as Walmart, Nordstrom, Best Buy, etc. “You can get up to 92% of the gift card’s value, though the exchange rate varies by brand.”

After verifying your card details and submitting your transaction, you can select to receive your payment instantly (within 15 minutes) by using your debit card. They take 15% + $1.50 for instant delivery, or you can choose the next business day for just 7.5% + $1.50 fee instead.

10. Get cash from your Visa gift card by selling it on eBay

eBay is a great option because you can set your own price, and there are millions of potential buyers.

“To sell your Visa gift card on eBay, create a listing for your card. You’ll need to include the brand name, the card value, and any fees associated with using the card. Be sure to take high-quality photos of the card so buyers can see that it’s legit (but cover the card numbers).

If, as a seller, you don’t have a lot of buyer reviews, you may find people aren’t that eager to buy from you, as you are unknown. You have the potential to be a scammer, so it may scare off buyers. But, give it a try; maybe this is the start of a new side hustle for you!

Online gift card buyers that I do not recommend

CardSell by CardSwapper is another app, similar to the one above, but it doesn’t have very good ratings, only 2.8 out of 5. Reading through the reviews, they sound like legitimate and reasonable problems. Since there are lots of other options out there, I’d say skip this seller to avoid problems.

Jour Cards is an online platform that sells and exchanges gift cards. However, if a website misspells Wal-Mart (one of the largest retailers worldwide) on multiple occasions, I’m not sure I would trust them to handle a financial transaction. That’s just my opinion; you are more than welcome to give them a try.

Turn your Visa gift cards into cash in person

There are lots of ways to turn your Visa gift cards into cash in person. Let’s go through them, and you can pick the best option for your situation.

9. Sell To A Friend

This is probably the easiest way to turn your Visa gift card into cash because there are no transaction fees, and you can negotiate a fair price. This is a great solution if you have a friend or family member who could use an online payment method.

It’s typical to knock a few dollars off the face value of the card to entice someone to buy it. For example, if you have a $25 gift card, you could offer it up for $20 to a friend who has cash.

10. Sell It On Facebook Marketplace

This is a great option if you want to sell your Visa gift card for cash without transaction fees. You can list it on Facebook Marketplace.

To list it: 

1. Go to the marketplace tab on Facebook and click “sell something.”
2. Choose “product or service.”
3. Then choose “other.”
4. Put in the details of your gift card, including the brand, value, and any other relevant information.
5. When you meet up with a buyer, you’ll want to verify funds on the card together (i.e., dial into the balance inquiry and put it on speakerphone) so they know they are getting a legit card, and as the seller, you should only accept cash.

11. Offer to buy the group dinner & get repaid in cash

This is a great way to get cash from a Visa gift card and be a good friend. If you’re out with friends and go out to eat, you can offer to pay for it (with your gift card) and just have your friends repay you in cash, or they can Venmo you their portion.

This only works if you know the people well enough that they will actually repay you, but it’s a great solution if you do things as a group often.

12. Buy a Money Order

You can go to a grocery store or a convenience store with a Western Union and buy a money order with your Visa gift card. This is probably the simplest way to get cash from your card.

The fees will depend on how much the money order is for, but for example, Wal-Mart money orders are less than $1, while at a bank, it may cost $5 in a branch. Be sure that you know the fees and limits (sometimes places have a $1,000 limit), or for a certain amount, you’ll need a valid government-issued ID.

Once you have your money order, you can cash it at a check-cashing place or deposit it into your bank account and then withdraw funds as needed.

13. Turn your Visa gift cards into cash by using a gift card exchange kiosk

Gift card exchange kiosks are located in supermarkets and shopping malls and are typically bright yellow. They can be easily located by doing a quick search engine lookup. These can be easily used to get cash from a Visa gift card.

For example, I googled it, and Gift Card Bin came up as an option, but they are sadly defunct. I’m still on the hunt for a kiosk close to me so I can try it out (for now, I just use Card Cash to exchange them online).

Note: While many people think you can sell old giftcards at Coinstar kiosks, this isn’t the case. They may have done this in the past; however, this is no longer an option. You can, however, get a gift card as an option when turning in all your loose change. 

How to open up a PayPal account:

If you don’t already have a PayPal account then no worries, you can easily sign up right now and immediately connect it to your game apps so you can start depositing real money today. Here’s how you open an account:

• Go to the Sign Up page.
• Choose the account type you want (personal or business, most likely you’ll choose a personal PayPal account) and click Sign Up Now.
• Enter your information, including your email address, and next choose a password (it must contain at least eight characters and is case sensitive). You will need these to log in to your PayPal account.
• Click Next.
• Click Agree and Create Account.

Get a PayPal Account

Other ways how to get cash from a Visa gift card

There are still a handful of unconventional ways to get the most from your unwanted gift cards.

14. Pay your bills with your Visa gift card

You can use your Visa gift card to pay your bills online. To do this, simply enter your Visa gift card number when prompted and enter the amount you want to pay. You may have to call in and speak to customer service for some utility companies.

Using your gift cards this way is a smart option, especially if you have a variable income. Some months you may not have enough in your checking to pay the bills, but if you have a stash of gift cards, they can come in handy when you’re struggling financially.

It’s important to note that you won’t be able to set up a recurring payment for bills with a gift card.

15. Re-gift your Visa Gift Cards

This is a great way to get rid of unwanted gift cards. If you have a Visa gift card that you don’t want, simply find someone who would appreciate it and re-gift it to them.

Not only are you making someone else’s day, but you’re also getting rid of a gift card that you don’t want. 

Fair warning, if you give them a gift card with an odd balance amount, say $22.47, they may think something fishy is going on. They’ll most likely know that you used part of it or scrambled at the last second to come up with a gift. It’s not a good look. So try and only gift cards with an even balance on them in increments of five – $20, $25, $50, etc.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift, Gift Card Granny is a great place to get a gift card. You can get a physical card or choose eDelivery. You can upload any photo and customize it however you want which makes it a lot of fun. The giftcards can be sent in as fast as 15 minutes, so perfect for a last minute gift!

16. Buy an item to flip & resell

This is a great way to make some extra cash, and it’s relatively easy to do if you know what you’re doing. Simply buy an item with your Visa gift card that you know you can resell for more than what you paid.

For example, if you sell on Amazon, you may scour the clearance sections of Target or Walmart looking for a great buy. 

Or maybe you’re getting into flipping furniture as a new hobby. Using gift cards to buy your items (or supplies to flip the items) can be a great use of your gift cards. Now, don’t dismiss this idea; flipping items can be hugely profitable!

You can watch Rob & Melissa’s free webinar on how to turn your passion for flea market shopping into profits! (Plus insider secrets on how they did it!) They started earning around $40k doing it 10-20 hrs a week and earned over $133,000 a year when they took it up to 30 hrs a week! 

Important things to know when trying to turn your Visa gift cards into cash:

It’s important to know your Visa gift card terms & conditions if potential buyers ask…

• Inactivity fee – some cards will charge you a fee if the card hasn’t been used in a while. Typically, this is after 12 months of inactivity, which could start at around $2.50 a month.
• Activation fees – The person who bought the card may have had to pay an activation fee, usually $4-7. There should not be any transaction fees when using your gift card.
• Expiration date – The money on the gift card will not expire, but the plastic card will. If this happens, the user should ask for a new gift card from Visa. The remaining amount of the expired gift card will be transferred to the new gift card.

7 easy ways to get free Visa gift cards 

If you’re looking to get more Visa gift cards, there are a few ways to do so. You can ask for them as gifts, sign up for credit card rewards programs, or take advantage of promotional offers.

Spades Blitz – The classic card games of Spades comes to life brighter than ever when you put it on your phone in this fun new game of Spades Blitz!

Spades originally started in the US in the 1930s. Troops took it across borders all over Europe, and now it’s known across the globe.

You can play solo or in pairs, so an excellent option for you and your buddies to hang out and earn some extra cash. You master the spades card game by bidding nil or blind nil, learning to break spades, and honing your spades strategy.  

You can play for free for fun, but once you get good with strategy and skill, consider playing in the cash tournaments for your chance to win big. 

When playing solo or in pairs mode – The end score of each player is compared with other gamers worldwide, and you compete to win real prizes. 

In head-to-head tournaments, players with the same score will solve the same deck, and the player who finishes with the most points wins. Both players get the same boards, turns, and time limits.

To play

1. Each play is dealt 13 cards
2. Each player makes their bid
3. The first to play their card decides the suit to play, and they drop a card on the table
4. The other players deal another card in the same suit, and the one who dealt the highest card in that trick (aka round) wins the trick. Remember, spades trump other suits, so use your spades strategically.

You’ll earn extra Z chips every few hours by playing and simply by logging in every day! Start playing, practicing, and hopefully win soon!

Prize tournaments are unavailable in the following states: AR, CT, DE, LA, SD, IN, and ME. You can still play for fun if you live outside a prize-enabled region.

Bingo Cash (on iOS & Samsung) is the ultimate bingo-style game! It has 4.7 stars with over 47,000 ratings; most are 5-star ratings!

Once you download the free app, you can start playing for fun right away. Playing is easy; just match the numbers 5 in a row to get a BINGO, and every time you do, you earn more points! Once you’re ready, you can level up to play in the real cash tournaments for even bigger prizes!

Don’t forget to log in and play some every day as there are fun daily gifts & bonuses, as you can use these to enter the real cash tournaments. When you want to go shopping, just cash out and get a free Visa gift card.

Cash tournaments are not available in AZ, AR, IA, LA, SC & WA.

Solitaire Cash game (on iOS & Samsung) – Solitaire is a quick and fun game, very easy to play, but the challenge is with how fast you complete the game. The quicker you clear the board or get as close to it as possible – the higher your ranking will be on the leaderboard, and the bigger the prize! Keep your eyes peeled as there are daily gifts and bonuses too!

You can totally play for free, but if you think your skills are top-notch, you may want to use some of your gems or pay a small entry fee to enter the big tournaments. Remember, you’re just competing against either four or nine players, so your chances are good. When you’re ready, you can cash out and get a Visa gift card.

Cash tournaments are not available in AZ, AR, IN, IA, LA, ME, MD, SC, MT, SD & WA.

One of the easiest ways to get free Visa gift cards is to sign up for GPT sites (aka get paid to sites). These sites pay you to do certain tasks – such as answering surveys, downloading apps, watching videos, playing games, reviewing products, etc. Here are our favorite sites to start earning free Visa gift cards!

Fetch is one of my favorite receipt apps. Simply take a photo of your grocery receipt and submit it to Fetch. They will then give you “points,” which may be used for gift cards from Visa and other retailers! You may also exchange your points for PayPal money or donate them to charity.

For example, you’ll get 25 points for every receipt and bonus points for buying particular items. On my last receipt, I got an extra 30 points for buying Sunchips and an extra 34 points for buying Oroweat bread. (Buying special offers is one of my favorite Fetch Rewards hacks!)

I’ve earned over $50 in gift cards with fetch, and it’s the simplest of all the apps I use to earn a little extra money.

Branded Surveys – You can earn money by taking surveys on many different topics, and they’re all quite short. This is why Branded Surveys is so appealing. If you don’t have a lot of time but still want to make money, this is a great option. You can get Amazon, Apple, PayPal, and free Visa gift cards, among other retailers.

Survey Junkie is one of the most popular ways to earn a free gift card! The surveys are easy to do, and each offers different reward points, so it’s best to keep an eye on this aspect (you don’t want to waste your time doing low payout surveys). Check-in with this site often because they have new surveys added all the time. You can get paid up to $5 per survey.

Most of these apps listed in this section are great referral bonus apps, which means you get money when you recommend these apps to your friends. So your earnings can increase by 2x or even 3x when you layer in referral bonuses.

Inbox Dollars – Shopping on Inbox Dollars is a fantastic way to make money each week if you are willing to read emails, take surveys, shop online, use coupons, or even sell your goods on eBay.

When you’re looking for something, go to the Inbox Dollars website and search for it. After that, you’ll be given a list of authorized sellers, and if you buy from one of them through the InboxDollars portal, you’ll receive cashback.

The best news is that with Inbox Dollars, you can grab your free $5 sign-up bonus right here.

If you love playing games for gift cards, check out our favorite games for Visa & MasterCard giftcards! You can also earn free PayPal money instantly with these games!

Swagbucks is a platform that can earn you gift cards for doing the things you normally do online. They have a lot of options for earning points (known as SB), which can be used to obtain free Visa gift cards.

The best part is that Swagbucks periodically puts its gift cards on sale. For example, right now, you can get a $25 Visa gift card for 13% off. So it originally was 2,500 SB points; now, it only costs 2,175 SBs! Sign up now and get a $5 free bonus!

Survey sites are probably the easiest way to get free gift cards, which is great news, as there are a lot of options. So if you spend a lot of time waiting (at doctors offices, on the subway, or whatever, you should check out the 25 best survey sites for free gift cards.

Easy Savings & Free Money

• Sign up with ibotta and get $10 sign up cash as a new customer!
• Earn points on ANY receipt from ANY store and redeem for gift cards with the fetch rewards app.
• Sign up with Inbox Dollars and get paid to read emails, watch videos, and take surveys. Easy peasy!
• Get free gift cards & cash for the everyday things you do online at Swagbucks. Use the link and get a $5 bonus
• Save money on gas by signing up with Upside; it gives you up to $.25 cents cash back per gallon! Use the code AFF25 when you sign up; you’ll get a $.25 cents per gallon bonus!
• Sign up with Cash App and get a $5 bonus when you use code “NRTZMHV.” You have to complete the sign up requirements to get the bonus! Read how to do this here with point #1.

Visa Gift Card FAQs

At the end of the day

These are just a few ways on how to get cash from a Visa gift card. With a little bit of creativity, you can find a solution that works for you. Just make sure to avoid any fees or scams, and you’ll be able to get the cash you need in no time. 

So go check your junk drawer, your desk, and the pockets of coats that have been hanging up in the closet for forever – maybe you’ll find some more gift cards that you forgot about. Happy hunting!