How to Redeem an eBay Gift Card to Pay for an Item
By Kay FleuryUpdated on March 10, 2022
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If you have an eBay gift card and want to use it for items you want to purchase on the auction website, you’ve come to the right place. We can show you how to redeem your gift card, how to use it to pay for items, and explain all the little details you need to know about gift cards before using them.
Read on to learn more!
Things to note before using your gift card
1. Make sure you know how to check your balance.
If you have a gift card, you need to know exactly how much money you have to spend on eBay. You can find this information by entering your gift card redemption code on the eBay gift card balance checker, or you can learn more about it in our article on how to check your card balance.
2. You can pay for part of an item if your gift card doesn’t cover all of it.
At the checkout, simply enter your redemption code to have the value of your gift card deducted from the total purchase amount. Moving forward, you can then use your preferred method of payment to finish the transaction. You can also use more than one gift card to pay for a purchase, if you wish. To learn more, check out this help page on gift certificates and coupons.
3. Gift cards can sometimes have expiry dates, or additional conditions.
Though most gift cards and gift certificates don’t have expiry dates, you should always check the back of the card (or the email that came with it), and read the full terms and conditions. If you received a gift card, coupon, or certificate through a promotion, there is a chance it will expire, and you will not longer be able to redeem the value of the card after the expiry date.
4. Know what you can’t use your card for.
First, the seller you are buying from on eBay must accept PayPal as a form of payment – otherwise you will not be able to use a card to complete the payment. In addition, there are also some items you can’t purchase using a gift card, including:
- Additional gift cards
- Third-party gift cards
- Gift certificates or coupons
- Currency, including coins, paper money, and virtual currency
- Precious metals including gold and silver bars, ingots, or coins
5. You must have an eBay account, and a PayPal account to use gift cards.
eBay works with PayPal for their gift cards, so you must have both a PayPal account, and an eBay account – you cannot checkout with a card as a guest! If you’d like to learn more about PayPal, and its relationship with eBay, check out the PayPal help page on eBay gift cards.
To use your eBay gift card to pay for items on eBay:
1. Visit www.ebay.com and sign in to your account.
2. Find the item(s) you want to purchase and add them to your cart.
3. Click Proceed to Checkout on the next screen, or click the Cart in the top-right.
4. Scroll down and click in the box labelled “Enter Code.” Type your gift card code and click Apply.
From there, simply proceed with your checkout as normal. If the card covers the balance of your purchase, you will not need to pay. If it doesn’t, you will be required to choose a payment method for the remaining balance.
Where can I buy an eBay gift card?
If you want to purchase a gift card, you have two options. You can buy a physical card that will be mailed out to you, or you can simply buy a digital card that can be redeemed at checkout. Click these links if you want to buy a digital gift card, or a physical card. If you’re a business and want to buy multiple gift cards, check out the eBay deals on B2B gift cards.
That’s how you redeem a gift card on eBay, so hopefully this article has helped you save some money on your purchases.