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
- Keeping Track of Gift Card Orders on eBay
- Seven Ways to Purchase eBay Gift Cards at a Discount
- Ebay Bucks, Gift Card Deals, & Timing Your eBay Purchases
- Best Shopping Portal for eBay Purchases
- The Various Levels of Paypal Accounts
- How to See the Available Quantity of eBay Sales
- How to Get Targeted for Bonus eBay Bucks Offers
I recently purchased an eBay card for $70… Now I don’t know where the money went on the card I never swiped it I never used it I never entered it in online I can’t find the money what happened to it. I purchased this card with my debit card to my bank account at Walgreens … How can I retrieve this lost money? This money disappeared no more than 2 hours after I purchased a card.
You can call the number on back of the gift card and see if they can help
so the thing I am confused about it is i cant combine two gift cards codes to buy one thing?
I’ve been able to use more than one gift card to buy one thing.
new rules effective 7/15/16
During the first 90 days after registering an eBay account, no more than a total of $1,000 in Gift Cards may be redeemed. For eBay accounts greater than 90 days old, no more than a total of $2,000 in Gift Cards may be redeemed over any 60-day period. Further, you may only redeem a maximum of eight Gift Cards in any single transaction
Thanks for letting us know.
Boo, eBay.
with many paypal account shut down from debit card purchase eBay split off and using gift card directly is the best that could happen. PayPal is a real pain in the neck to deal with. Just put another BBB and AG complaint through because my gf are all locked and can’t be used (due to my old paypal account being restricted)
Seems like the market for buying eBay GCs has already tanked. Biggest discount I can get on raise.com is .1%.
Ebay has a gift card balance checker on their site. I swear it wasn’t there before, so I would check on Paypal redemption. Now I use the Sharpie on my Ebay cards (physical of course) same as all my other physical cards. The digital cards will require copy/paste trial and error until drained.
Also noticed that the mobile app no longer tracks my unused Ebay G/C in the linked Paypal account.
It appears that the seperation of Ebay and Paypal has both benefits and drawbacks!
Tried several times today to purchase a few gift cards on eBay across multiple Paypal accounts and couldn’t get any gift card to apply, so missed the 4x eBay Bucks offer. 🙁
In any case, I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but several people contacted me earlier today because of this news and asked if I was selling eBay gift cards. I have a limited number each week at about 5-6% discount — almost as good as getting them from Staples w/ Chase Ink+ but if you don’t have the card, it’s a good deal. Message me on my site (www.fptgiftbox.com/contact).
Good to know. I have Chase Ink, but my friends dont. I’m wondering how you get Ebay for more than 5% off.I know there are some small random sale, but that’s it.
I have a semi-steady source where I get them at about ~10% discount. It involves a small team of people helping me (I pay them for their time since it involves some stacking). I take whatever left of the proceeds and donate them to the local community. It’s a joint community effort. 🙂
Possibly another improvement. I was able to use a newly purchased electronic gift card right after I received it via email without waiting the standard four hours for activation.
P.s. ebay gift cards are so messed up right now. If they fail too many times to be entered, you will lock your ebay account up such that paypal will be greyed out and you will be SOL. I am on day 2 of this for my personal account. I am on day 6 of my codes saying “oops, were having problems” on the bright side ebay issued me a 40$ coupon for screwing up my ability to use my 10% ebay bucks offer that should have netted me more than that. I was lucky and got a very nice rep to, but I am always very nice to them and ask them how their day is and such while they are looking into my account.
Interesting…I have the same problem and was told that they have it my notes about the problems and would still honor the 10% once they get things fixed. I’ve had my doubts that this will happen but two people there have told me they would. I’m ok with a coupon if the amount is right.
You guys are too narrow minded… Quit looking at the purchase and sale of ebay gift cards as the money maker… Sure it gets them money…. But the big one here is having literally ***Millions of dollars*** to put in a ***high yield interest bearing account**** or to invest with… I mean if someone wants to hand me literally millions of dollars to constantly fund my bank account to pay their bills for some code they can use on my website to buy stuff, I would be game! That’s how retailers make money off this… no more loans, no more fees, ppl lose them and the money sits in their bank and basically becomes theirs, in their account earning interest and for them to use… Some people wait months to use em and they make %’s per month depending on how wisely their team invests it for the tiny investment of programming a system and paying for cheap plastic from japan… Its a no-brainier… Gotta have customer service… why not let them handle this also and pay them the same wage..