[Photo Source: Tom Eppenberger Jr.]
CardCash.com is a site where you can buy and sell gift cards for other gift cards or cash. Buying those gift cards come at a sometimes steep discount, and now you can purchase them using bitcoin. BitPay will serve as their payment processor.
CardCash has been around for a while and claims to be “the web’s largest secondary gift card marketplace.” It is known for allowing users to sell their gift cards for other gift cards, often with a better exchange rate than would normally be available.
The announcement was made a few days ago by BitPay but went mostly unnoticed. The CEO also announced that they would begin accepting bitcoin in an interview last month with Bitcoin Magazine, but it is unclear exactly when it came into effect. The blog post announcing the move had both today and September 4th as its published date. Archive.org copies of the parent site do not have any mention of Bitcoin from when Bitcoin Magazine’s article was published on August 28th until its last archive on September 6th. In any case, it is live now and ready to use.
In contrast to Gyft and eGifter, CardCash sells its gift cards, which are purchased from other users, at a discounted price. By contrast, Gyft and eGifter don’t offer discounts on the price but do give Bitcoin customers a 3% cash-back equivalent in points. CardCash often (but not always) trumps 3% with its direct discount.
Unfortunately, while some gift cards are “printable” and are sent quickly, others are physical and will be sent through snail mail. There is also a $15 minimum for each checkout, which is disappointing for people who like to use their Bitcoin for quick gift card purchases on a whim. They also lack a mobile app, though one is in beta for both Android and iOS. Some will also be disappointed to learn that selling gift cards for bitcoin does not appear to be an option at this time.
Despite those issues, there is much for bitcoin users to celebrate here. CardCash has several gift cards that are currently unavailable through Gyft and eGifter, including WalMart, Krogers and Wegmans, potentially making getting food much easier — and cheaper — for bitcoin users.
CardCash’s CEO Elliot Bohm is running an ask me anything on ZapChain right now. In it, he suggested that further discounts would be coming to bitcoin customers “We will also be offering bitcoin users [a] special discount in the future, passing back value that we save on transaction fees […] to the consumer.”
We will keep you up to date on any developments involving CardCash and Bitcoin.