Partially-used eBay gift cards are no longer tied to the Paypal account utilized at checkout, rather to your eBay account.
Ebay made numerous changes in the terms of their gift cards, most importantly removing the annual usage limits that gift cards previously had. Other changes include a $1,000 limit per transaction and no more 4-hour wait until the gift card is ready-for-use.
The terms now indicate that a partially-used eBay gift card is tied to the eBay account with which it was first used, a change from the old terms which spoke of the card being tied to the Paypal account. I just discovered this change – not sure if it’s been there the whole time along with the other changes or not.
Yesterday, I tested this out a couple times and was successfully able to use an eBay gift card partially with one Paypal account and partially with another. I haven’t tested out switching from one eBay account to another, but I assume that it won’t work, as indicated in the terms.
Recap of changes:
- No annual limit on gift card usage
- Limit of $1k in gift cards per transaction
- Limit of 8 gift cards per transaction
- No more waiting until gift card is ready-to-use
- Partially-used gift cards are tied to the eBay account, not the Paypal account
I don’t know how you can write that a PayPal account isn’t required; the new terms you have linked to, clearly say otherwise, as of April 2, 2018, under terms of Redemption.
Ebay is not worth the hassle, PayPal is not worth the risk. I used to have an Ebay account but the scammers selling defective stuff, made me realize it is better just to pay more and get what I want in a store, or at Amazon using an Amazon gift card….no bank account required.
The business model of Ebay and PayPal is crap and most of the stuff they sell is crap.
PayPal closed my account for no apparent reason. I tried to appeal it but they denied it and told me it is a permanent limitation. Now I am out of my account and no way to get back on.
I came across this guide which apparently teaches you to get back on: https://www.slideshare.net/AuctionEssistance/ebay-incognitostealth
But I wanted to know, is it safe?
If an international seller says PayPal only can I use an Ebay Gift Card?
Paypal closed my account for no reason today. I never used any Paypal MyCash or some sort of MS methods over Paypal. I just bought a macbook pro from a private seller using around $900 ebay gc. I may need to return the purchase and ask for a refund. In this case, can I register a new Paypal to use up my eBay gc? BTW, some of my ebay gc were used under the old term which were associated with Paypal, while some other gc were used under new term which were associated with eBay. I am so angry about this. What can I do?
Bummer!
The cards tied to eBay can easily be used with a different Paypal account. The ones tied to Paypal will be more difficult.
I’d first try seeing if they are willing to reinstate my account (they’ve been increasingly amenable to such a thing of late). If not, ask them for a refund on the gift cards or dispute the credit card transaction. If not, file a CFPB complaint.
Thank you Chuck, I will take your advice to protect my legal assets.
I received the following message when I logged into my Paypal today. All the money (around $100) I received were all from the cashback portals such as befrugal and topcashback, and I did withdraw them into my bank account after I received the money. This is ridiculous that they closed my account for this reason. Never used any Paypal MyCash or Family and Friend feature the whole time.
*********************
Why is my account access limited?
Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):
Sep 24, 2016: We need a little bit more information about some money you recently received or withdrew.
(Your case ID for this reason is XXXX.)
This limitation cannot be appealed.
i wanted to add, i just had my account permenatly limited after 13 years. i was using a lot of ebay gift cards they said. i had 2 cards partially used and was able to drain them with another paypal account thankfully. I think most of it revolves around too much purchasing with paypal digital gifts, i can buy gift cards from anyone else without issue but PPDG always locks my account and i had to speak to a specialist who told me “using lots of ebay gift cards was frowned upon and was high risk”.
Any idea if we can see history of a gift card anywhere? I bought ebay gift cards from Target on 5/6/16. Just tried to use them today and most are drained, the others partially. I did use ebay gift cards once since then (not those amounts) but on paypal it shows the gift card numbers as letters, which we know not to be the case. Shame on me for not recording which gift cards I used that day, I know.
I’ve tweeted both ebay and target. I’ve not shared these numbers, so I can’t figure out how they’d be drained. Oddly enough, Target no longer sells ebay gift cards…
I don’t know of any way 🙁
I had that problem with an eBay gift card purchased from Target as well, but it was just $25 so I wrote off the loss, wasn’t worth the effort.
Hi
I purchased an item on eBay with $600 in Gift Cards, then I returned it and my account is shut down now by eBay, I got the purchase returned and the money got refunded nack to my eBay gift cards, these Gift Cards are linked to this eBay account but its shut down so how can I use this $600 in Gift Cards? PLEASE HELP
This is a real problem. Try contacting eBay or file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau if that doesn’t work.
I tried to use Ebay GC to buy Ebay GC( both egift and physical) from yesterday. It keep showing “can’t apply the code to this order”. Tried to buy other gift card and it works. Does ebay no longer allow Ebay GC to buy Ebay GC?
Try just the physical. You may just be running into issues with PPDG.
On that note, eBay’s t&c always forbid the use of eBay gc to buy eBay gc. They never enforced it as far as I could tell.
I tried physical also (not PPDG) today and yesterday, didn’t work.
Looks like they started enforcing that rule then.
I’m seeing this too. This is a new change.
If I buy an eBay GC with Ink Cash for the 5% back, should I check out using Paypal or directly via eBay? Does it matter?
You always need to pay with Paypal when buying e-gift cards from Paypal Digital Gifts.
I have a gift voucher with serial no and password. But it is not working on eBay as there is no way to redeem it???
Any recent data points about using eBay GC to buy eBay GC?