We Can Now Use Unlimited Amounts of eBay Gift Cards!

eBay changed the terms on their gift cards and removed the limits previously in place. We can now use an unlimited amount of gift cards on eBay.

Ebay used to have a limit of $5,000 in eBay gift cards which can be used per rolling 6-month time-period. We wrote about the limit in detail in the post, eBay Gift Cards and their Limits. For non-verified Paypal account, the limit was $500 per rolling 6-months.

Ebay has now updated the terms and removed this limit, and we have two confirmations from readers who are able to do more than the $5k limit. Here are the new terms:

No more than a total of $1000 in Gift Cards may be redeemed per eBay purchase. Further, you may only redeem a maximum of eight Gift Cards in any single transaction (and fewer if you are redeeming Gift Cards in combination with other redemption codes, such as coupons or vouchers).

There are a number of changes here:

$500/$5000 limit was removed This is a major change as it allows the use of unlimited amounts of eBay gift cards. eBay gift cards can easily be purchased at a discount, and we can now discount all eBay purchases with gift cards. See Seven Ways to Purchase eBay Gift Cards at a Discount for more info.
Gift card is tied to the eBay account, NOT the Paypal account This is also a big change. Previously, a partially-used eBay gift card got ‘tied’ to the Paypal account that was utilized at checkout, and the remaining balance could not be used with another Paypal account. It’s no longer tied to the Paypal account anymore – now it’s tied to the eBay account. Once you use part of the gift card with one eBay account, you won’t be able to use the balance with a different eBay account.
Added a limit of $1k per purchase There used to be an unenforced $500 limit per transaction, but the new $1k limit is being enforced.
Added a limit of eight gift cards per purchase We’ve written about this limit before, but it was never clearly in the terms.
No more 4-hour wait There used to be mention in the terms of a – sometimes enforced – four-hour wait from time the card was purchased until it could be used. The new terms omit this.
No more ‘rolling’ eBay gift cards It’s long been in the terms that you can’t use an eBay gift card to buy an eBay gift card, but this is now being enforced.

[Note that gift cards that were already partially used will have the $5k limit, but any new gift card will not.]

Here are the old terms (found here):

No more than a total of $500 in Gift Cards may be redeemed per eBay purchase. Unverified PayPal accounts are limited to a total of $500 in purchases of Gift Cards in any 30-day period and verified PayPal accounts are limited to $5000 in purchases of Gift Cards in any 180-day period.

Thanks to reader Lantean for tipping me off to this change

Other eBay/Paypal Posts

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