Gift Card Hacking: The Legal Way to Score Severely Discounted Gift Cards

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy here.

I recently discovered a fun little hobby—gift card hacking.

Honestly, I'm not even sure “gift card hacking” is a thing, but basically, I define it as the ability to score high value gift cards for a lot less. And yes, it's totally legit!

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about the $5 and $10 bonuses that come with gift card purchases around the Holidays. Those are great opportunities and you should definitely take advantage of them while you can! But I found a new-to-me site that gives you savings on top of savings. 

It's kind of like GiftCards.com and Cardpool where you can buy and sell gift cards at a discount…except this one is SO MUCH BETTER. You can stack coupon codes, cash back, and signup bonuses on top of already discounted gift cards, making this site one you'll want to come back to again and again.

It's called Raise.com, and here's what you do:

1. Sign up for a free Raise Account through this link. You'll get $5 automatically applied to your account, but you have to use the link above to get the credit.

2. Activate 1% Rakutan Cash Back. If you don't yet have a free Rakutan account yet, you can sign up for one HERE. Even though it's not huge savings, you should still take advantage of free money!

3. Go to the rewards page and click REDEEM NOW to activate the $5 bonus. Don't forget to do this step or the $5 will not be applied to your order.

4. Purchase a Gift Card you would normally use. I personally look for discounts that are at least 6% or more to get the biggest bang for my buck. Make sure you look through the “on sale specials” section too. Some gift cards are a whopping 50% off.

5. If this is your first time using Raise, use the code NEW10 to save another $10 off {as long as the gift card is $50 or more}. Otherwise, set Honey to run other coupon codes for you. I've been able to get at least another $5 by doing this.

Note: You cannot use two coupon codes in one transaction.

Here's an example of the gift card I snagged just the other day, using this exact method:

HomeGoods Gift Card Original Value – $62.02

– Raise Discount {12.5% off} – $54.21

– NEW10 Coupon {$10 off} – $44.21

– Signup Bonus {$5 off} – $39.21

TOTAL PAID = $39.21

+ 1% Ebates cash back + 1% credit card cash back

That's almost $23 in savings! Woohoo!!

Obviously, the first time you do this will have the biggest payoff—because you have a signup bonus and new customer coupon code to use together—but still, as long as you run Honey coupon codes for the following purchases, you can save even more than the Raise discount alone.

If you enjoyed this post, you'll love these other ways to score discounted gift cards:

• Visit big box stores {like Sam's} for bulk gift cards at 10% off.
• Sign up for Swagbucks to earn a couple $5 Amazon Gift Cards per month.
• Use the best money-saving app to receive cash back on grocery items {including generics!} and cash out with gift cards. Here's my Ibotta app review, a tutorial on how this app works and why it's a no-brainer to use.

Discounted gift cards are an awesome way to fund gift purchases, but I also use them to eat out without dipping into my grocery budget. Snag a gift card from Raise.com, plan a date night, and enjoy yourself without the guilt!

If you use this “hacking” method, tell me what gift card you bought in the comments!

Disclosure: Some of the links in the post above are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Read my full disclosure policy here.