Are in-retailer present cards any safer to buy than on-line gift cards? Hmm. According to the newest Yahoo! poll “three out of four vacation shoppers will obtain gifts on-line, and most are most likely to obtain from compact companies. Shoppers expressed robust support for e-commerce with small enterprises that offer a secure payment system, straightforward consumer checkout and free of charge shipping.”

According to Deloitte’s 2006 annual vacation survey (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov) from the Office of Consumer protection in Maryland, 66% of buyers will acquire gift cards this holiday season. Wow! That’s a big quantity and a believed comes to thoughts. The authenticity of gift cards bought on line and offline. Is it safe to obtain from third party vendors? How a great deal a lot more secure is a merchant present card in-retailer on a rack with the card serial number exposed?

On the web Gift Card Authenticity There are a number of present card firms on-line and an array of new ones ringing up a lot of new products and selections. If onevanilla gift card check balance want merchant cards, you can go straight to the merchant web page. If you want utilised present cards, third party vendors are very good for discounts as properly as selling and trading gift cards. How do you know which vendors are reliable? It is not quick, but undertaking some investigation helps. Just before you make a buy, get confirmation from the gift card vendor that they confirm card authenticity. If the answer is no, move on. It is also just as straightforward for a thief to post a gift card with revenue on it, wait for it to be verified, then invest it though it is on it’s way to the consumer. Having said that, there are applied present card vendors that will return your funds, should such an unfortunate incident materialize.Www.plasticjungle.com is new to the on the web gift card market place. They permit obtaining, promoting and trading for free. The free is an incentive to construct their member base. They also claim that the authenticity of utilised present cards is verified before they are placed on the web-site and they will take full duty should you get an expired card or 1 with a zero balance.

In-Retailer Present Card Security

With uncomplicated access to gift cards displayed on shop racks, it is really easy for a thief to get a present card serial quantity for later use such as the case of the Ohio present card scam exactly where cunning thieves were going into retail stores, obtaining gift card serial numbers calling to verify card activation and shopping for gifts on a person else’s dollar. Good.

Thanks to the above, stores are altering the way they display gift cards. If you are going to purchase a gift card my suggestions is to ask a store manager what their policy is on stolen or lost gift cards and how they can make certain that you will not become a victim of gift card fraud.