What Is SaveYa?
Have you ever received a gift card and immediately tossed it into a drawer to be forgotten? Or perhaps you wished that the leftover funds could be used at another store? Or that you could simply have the cash instead?
SaveYa is a website and app that allows you to buy and sell discounted gift cards. You can buy gift cards at a discounted rate or sell your unwanted cards for a reduced price.
If one of the above scenarios applies to you, this SaveYa review will help you determine if SaveYa is the website to help you to get access to those untapped funds.
Image source: Big Stock
Although the site has the potential to save you money or to get you access to funds that would otherwise go wasted, poor customer service may hinder your ability to use the site. This article will tell you everything you need to know about SaveYa before getting started.
Purchasing from SaveYa
SaveYa allows you to buy or sell gift cards individually or in bulk. You can use the regular website or the app.
SaveYa was recently set up as an extension of giftcards.com, and the two sites continue to work in partnership.
You can buy gift cards on both saveya.com and giftcards.com, but you can only sell your unwanted gift cards through SaveYa.
Buying Individual Cards
There is an extensive library of gift cards available for purchase at SaveYa; the site literally offers cards for hundreds, if not thousands, of merchants.
Most listed retailers have more than one card available for purchase. Cards are obtainable in the following categories:
- Arts and Crafts
- Automotive and Fuel
- Baby and Kids
- Beauty and Spa
- Books, Music, and Video
- Coffee Houses
- Computers and Electronics
- Department Stores
- Discount Stores
- Entertainment
- Flowers
- Food and Beverage
- Health and Wellness
- Home Décor
- Home and Garden
- Jewelry
- Men’s
- Office Supplies
- Pets
- Pharmacy and Drug Stores
- Restaurants
- Shoes and Footwear
- Sports and Outdoors
- Toys
- Travel
- Women’s
The site also allows you to filter searches by cards with the highest percentage of savings, overall price, and physical cards or ecards.
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Discount Ranges
All listed cards display the percent you’ll save by purchasing on SaveYa. The percent of savings varies on each card. Although the savings will depend on what cards are available at the time of your particular purchase, the percent of savings typically ranges from 2%-40%. Most discounts sit somewhere in the middle of that range.
The more popular locations, such as Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Best Buy, and Target, tend to offer a smaller discount than less popular options on the site.
As an example, if you purchase a $200 Wal-Mart gift card, the best discount you’ll find as of this article is 4%. That means you’ll pay $24.00 for a $25.00 card– helpful, but not an overwhelmingly impressive markdown.
In another example, if you purchase a gift card for the retail store Express as of the date of this article, you’ll receive up to a 33.26% discount. So, for one of the $500 cards listed from Express, you’ll pay only $333.70. Wow! That’s a savings of $166.30!
The site allows you to view all of the cards available per retailer so that you can be sure to buy the card with the best discount. The total value of the cards available will vary, so SaveYa allows you to choose a card by its value if that’s more important to you than the discount percentage.
Free Shipping
Shipping for physical gift cards is free, and you can expect to receive your card within 7-10 business days from the date of purchase. Mobile and printable purchases are, of course, instant—and free!
Gift Guarantee and Refunds
SaveYa offers a guarantee on cards purchased through the site up to 90 days from the date of purchase. It is important to note, however, that the guarantee is extended to physical gift cards only and does not apply to ecards or mobile ecards.
Image source: SaveYa
Refunds are available only for cards with incorrect values or other value issues. Refunds are not available for buyer’s remorse.
Purchase Limits
Customer reviews indicate that there are purchase limits; however, these limits are not listed anywhere on the SaveYa site. Some reviews state that the daily limit is $300, and others indicate that the limit is $500.
The purchase limit is visible only after you enter your credit card information and have placed cards in your shopping cart.
Online reviewers imply that there are both daily limits and tri-monthly limits for buyers.
Bulk Purchaser
If you would like to purchase cards at an amount that exceeds the limit, you’ll have to apply for a bulk purchaser account. Limits are frustratingly unclear, so it may take some trial and error to determine whether you will need a bulk account.
SaveYa requires potential bulk purchasers to apply individually for a bulk purchase account. You’ll need to contact customer service to apply.
Buyers’ Customer Complaints
A reoccurring customer complaint is that SaveYa customer service is extremely poor. While there are a number of positive reviews and experiences, complaints regarding customer service issues make up the majority of SaveYa online reviews.
Some reviews stated that cards purchased had either incorrect or no value and that customer service was entirely unreachable. Many reviews indicated that despite the gift guarantee, the only avenue to recover lost funds was to dispute the charge via the bank or credit card company.
Another reviewer complained that the number of available cards for a particular merchant was numerous while browsing the site, but that after credit card information was entered, only one gift card was listed as available. It seemed unlikely to the reviewer that so many cards were sold in a matter of minutes and suspicious that the options disappeared upon entering payment information.
Image source: Big Stock
Selling Gift Cards on SaveYa
Selling your unwanted gift cards can be a great way to get some cash. SaveYa accepts the following types of gift cards:
- Traditional gift cards
- Merchandise/store credit
You can receive money for your cards by:
- Listing the card for sale and receive funds upon its sale
- Using the “Sell It Now” option and receive funds immediately
Selling via the listing process has the potential for a higher payout. If you choose that process, you can list your card for its exact value or any lower value. SaveYa will take a commission of up to 14% upon the sale of your card. SaveYa’s commission will range depending on the particular transaction but will not exceed 14%.
Selling your card through Sell It Now will guarantee you funds since you won’t have to wait for someone to buy your card, but the payout is much lower. SaveYa rates for this option may be as high as 92%—meaning that you could potentially redeem only 6% of the card’s value by selling with this option.
Sell It Now rates change daily. You can enter the card type and value into the Sell Process calculator to view the current payout potential before selling your card.
Also, not all gift cards can be sold using the list process. For some merchants, SaveYa only allows the Sell It Now option.
Instructions for Selling a Gift Card on SaveYa
- Enter the name of the merchant connected to your gift card
- Enter the balance of the gift card
- Select a selling method
– List: Set your listing price
– Sell It Now: Accept SaveYa offer - Enter gift card details
- Select the preferred payment option
- Mail-in card if necessary
- Process Payout
Sell It Now: Accept SaveYa offer Enter gift card details Select preferred payment option Mail in card if necessary Process Payout Select a selling method List: Set your listing price.
Seller Payout Options
After your card is sold and SaveYa has received your gift card in the mail, your payout will process in one business day. With the list option, a seller must request a settlement to initiate the payout process. With the Sell It Now option, SaveYa will initiate the payout process automatically.
A payout can be received through:
- Check
- PayPal (seller responsible for fees)
Protecting Against Valueless Cards
Many reviewers disliked the fact that a card cannot be listed on the site until after a seller has provided a credit card number.
However, SaveYa explains that credit card information is necessary to protect against the sale of valueless cards. In the event that a seller mails in a card that has already been drained of its value, SaveYa will deduct the amount sold from the seller’s credit card to protect the purchase.
Seller Payout Limits
You can sell up to $500 per week with a regular account. If you’d like to sell more than that, you’ll need to apply for a bulk seller account.
Sellers’ Customer Complaints
Complaints by sellers were similar to the complaints of buyers: customer service is poor. If you hit a snag with your transaction, it is unlikely that you will get prompt attention from a SaveYa representative.
Some reviewers claimed that they had sold cards with value on them but that SaveYa treated the cards as valueless and drained the sale amount from their credit cards. Again, because of poor customer service, disputing the payment with the bank was the only avenue for those sellers to recoup their funds.
SaveYa App
The app allows a consumer to search for and use digital gift cards, called e-codes, in-store with the touch of a button. Since e-codes are available minutes after purchase approval, you can literally walk into a store, find an e-code for sale on SaveYa, and save money on your purchase without any preparation or planning. The code will be scanned from your phone at the register.
That sounds great, especially for unexpected shopping trips!
Recommendation
SaveYa is a great concept. People cash in on unwanted gift cards and buyers benefit from a discount.
However, because the 100% guarantee only applies to physical gift cards and customer service is notoriously poor, you may want to start out small when trying this service as a buyer. Most cards listed on the site are e-codes or printable codes, and those are not guaranteed.
As a seller, this site could certainly get you access to untapped cash; however, watch your bank statement to be sure the process has gone smoothly.
Also, if you are really interested in the online gift card market, check out Gift Card Granny. It’s an aggregate site that lists all available gift cards from multiple sites. SaveYa is listed there.
Hopefully, this review of SaveYa has helped you decide if the site is right for you. Good luck buying and selling!
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