• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Can't buy digital games via gift cards. This spells sadness for many kids this Christmas.

Shadowstar39

Shadowstar39

Member
I got a series x from my mom for Christmas (she got it free for signing up for fios 1gb line and since she is 69 and doesn't game well the xbox x and multiple gift cards came my way this Xmas.

Awesome, I went to redeem the best buy gift card for a digital Xbox gift card to buy some backwards compatible games (yeah I am using a series x for games like lost odyssey and batman origins that I can't play on my ps5 or switch)...

Well it took the order no tax. 5 min later I get a text and email saying it canceled the order as it can't verify me. I said bs as I verified using 2 factor. I did it again same thing.

Here I do a Google search and apparently starting this year you can't buy digital cards or physical gift cards using a store gift card. And its not just best buy, Amazon target all are like this now.. Wtf...

So when they remove disk drives and you have only gift cards you are screwed. No way to up your psn /xb/eshop wallet. Except with cash/cc. Which would be fine but I have a gift to redeem. I imagine a lot of kids are going to be upset as this is the way to get digital games and dlc etc..

Has anyone dealt with this bs recently? Why do you think it's the case? Greed? They aren't getting people in the store? Makes no sense to piss so many off.
 
Last edited:
A

acm2000

Member
Sorry bud but this is standard practice at retail, sell them on for cash or on various websites that are available to do so.
 
Shadowstar39

Shadowstar39

Member
kiphalfton said:
Well, guess that means buying physical games with those gift cards hehehehehehe.
Click to expand...
Which I am not opposed to, but they don't sell 360 games anymore there, the new games are mostly shit, or I own them on ps5/pc/switch already.

I got a disc drive... If those rumors are true and they are ditching physical then this policy is even stranger as it means best buy sells what for games a console and a controller?

Eh just seems really retarded. They check identity on purchase online, what fraud?
 
Methos#1975

Methos#1975

Member
Shadowstar39 said:
Which I am not opposed to, but they don't sell 360 games anymore there, the new games are mostly shit, or I own them on ps5/pc/switch already.

I got a disc drive... If those rumors are true and they are ditching physical then this policy is even stranger as it means best buy sells what for games a console and a controller?

Eh just seems really retarded. They check identity on purchase online, what fraud?
Click to expand...
Gift cards aren't money in a practical sense, they are looked at as a promisory commodity exchange. When buying a gift card you are basically promising to use it in exchange for goods of equal value. You cannot swap a gift card for another gift card due to this, a gift card isn't considered a good.
 
Last edited:
Shadowstar39

Shadowstar39

Member
Skyfox said:
Do you mean Series S?
Click to expand...
No series x. It was through Verizon for fiber plan. 1 free series x, 1gb fios, 200 Amazon gift card, 50 best buy card and 50 Xbox card after new years. Crazy deal. The best buy deal was originally for series s but that got returned as the Verizon deal was better.

If I already didn't have fios I would of done it myself.
Just picked up a treasure trove of 360 games at my local antique store. Sacred 2, batman ark origins, splinter cell, Pandora Tom, lost odyssey, skate 2, dead space 1/2, bad company, ssx, Witcher 2,max payne 2 and 3, assassins creed, fable 2, gears1. Yeah old games, but some I never played as i never owned an xbox and my ps3 is broke (no bc on ps5 was some bs).
 
P

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Shadowstar39 said:
No series x. It was through Verizon for fiber plan. 1 free series x, 1gb fios, 200 Amazon gift card, 50 best buy card and 50 Xbox card after new years. Crazy deal. The best buy deal was originally for series s but that got returned as the Verizon deal was better.

If I already didn't have fios I would of done it myself.
Just picked up a treasure trove of 360 games at my local antique store. Sacred 2, batman ark origins, splinter cell, Pandora Tom, lost odyssey, skate 2, dead space 1/2, bad company, ssx, Witcher 2,max payne 2 and 3, assassins creed, fable 2, gears1. Yeah old games, but some I never played as i never owned an xbox and my ps3 is broke (no bc on ps5 was some bs).
Click to expand...
www.techradar.com

New Verizon FIOS customers will get a free Xbox Series X for a limited time only

Plus, up to $300 in gift cards
www.techradar.com www.techradar.com

Service advertised for $90 per month (only tier with so much “free” stuff added on in the signup deal), I wonder in practice what the real bill is at the end of the month (there are surely other little charges here and there). Still, that is quite costly…
 
graywolf323

graywolf323

Member
Sinfulgore said:
Hasn't this always been the case? I looked it up and according to google, the policy exists to prevent fraud.
Click to expand...
Shifty1897 said:
You can't use a store gift card to buy other gift cards. This policy existed when I worked in grocery retail in the 2000s. It's to prevent fraud.
Click to expand...
it might have been the case for grocery stores and some others (like Target) going that far back (I also worked grocery retail back in the 2000s) but it was only within the past couple of months that this changed for places like GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, etc.

I bought a PSN card using my Amazon gift card balance as recently as early October but by November this no longer worked, IIRC GameStop announced they were doing the same as of the beginning of December 2023
 
Shadowstar39

Shadowstar39

Member
graywolf323 said:
it might have been the case for grocery stores and some others (like Target) going that far back (I also worked grocery retail back in the 2000s) but it was only within the past couple of months that this changed for places like GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, etc.

I bought a PSN card using my Amazon gift card balance as recently as early October but by November this no longer worked, IIRC GameStop announced they were doing the same as of the beginning of December 2023
Click to expand...
Yeah, its new. I know I have bought psn cards, before using holiday gift cards. You get a gift, you expect it to work like cash. Usually visa gift cards, but these were just best buy branded as it was part of a deal. I'll just go buy a controller or something with it as any game is cheaper elsewhere.
 
graywolf323

graywolf323

Member
Shadowstar39 said:
Yeah, its new. I know I have bought psn cards, before using holiday gift cards. You get a gift, you expect it to work like cash. Usually visa gift cards, but these were just best buy branded as it was part of a deal. I'll just go buy a controller or something with it as any game is cheaper elsewhere.
Click to expand...
it kinda sucks because there’s not a lot I’d get from Best Buy otherwise, I actually ended up not buying an Apple gift card on Christmas there ($100 Apple gift card came with a $15 Best Buy gift card free as a promo) because normally I’d just use it towards PSN/eShop/etc. credit but now? I’ll just wait for Amazon/Target/Walmart to do a similar promo since there’s other things I will buy from those stores
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Yeah this is common.
At least you still got your credit.
I didn't know this and bought a PSN card with an amazon gift card once and they basically nuked my account. Got banned, they banned my credit card (so any other account I set up with that card got insta banned) and customer support was basically "we are sorry, but also fuck you".

I get it's against their terms but I didn't know (and they could easily set up a system to prevent this). They could have just seen I was a regular customer based on my purchase history and cancelled the order but instead they banned me and basically took the $60 credit I had on my account. Haven't bought anything on Amazon since then, and since it's now basically just Aliexpress 2.0 I don't feel the need to go back.
 
LRKD

LRKD

Member
Yeah lots of places this was the 'norm', but even just this year I was able to redeem Bing rewards points for a amazon gift card, then redeem that for a GameStop gift card, and then redeem that for a steam gift card. But then suddenly maybe around September was when I noticed that stopped working. Absolute bs tbh.
 
RoboFu

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Criminals steal cards and keys off cards so they decided to stomp that out by doing this.
 
N

normalguy09x

Member
I don't know about Best Buy, maybe that's their policy. But I buy digital ps store cards all the time on Amazon using Amazon gift cards. It's one of the ways I buy digital games with cash.
 
SportsFan581

SportsFan581

Member
I've never had a problem ordering digital products using a gift card balance at Amazon. Maybe they've changed something though.
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
A lot of stores don’t allow it, but some still did. Unfortunately Amazon and GameStop recently started doing the same, which sucks because I used to use them to gain Steam credit with my Microsoft Rewards.


Walmart used to allow it in the past, but I’m not certain that’s still the case. Have you tried them?

I’m also wondering if I could buy a Visa gift card with a retail gift card, and go that route.
 
SportsFan581

SportsFan581

Member
You could maybe try a bitcoin ATM as well, most of those exchange gift cards for cash, I'm sure you'd lose a percentage though.
 
Putonahappyface

Putonahappyface

Gold Member
Sushi_Combo said:
Nobody uses cash anymore.
Click to expand...
Donald Trump GIF by Election 2016
 
Krathoon

Krathoon

Member
Another thing that is annoying is that your credit card company will sometimes block you if you try to buy games on PSN or Nintendo eShop.

I had to get gift cards to buy stuff because they pulled that. I should have gave them a call.
 
L

Labadal

Member
You could buy digital Nintendo eshop cards with digial Amazon gift cards as late as September 2023.

I sell old games on cheapassgamer, and I almost always asked for amazon gift card payment.

Had to switch to good old PayPal.
 
MasterDerico

MasterDerico

Member
I just got a France psn gift card on G2A and worked like a charm...

What is happening with you guys that had issues ? I dont get it...
 
SenkiDala

SenkiDala

Member
Sinfulgore said:
Hasn't this always been the case? I looked it up and according to google, the policy exists to prevent fraud.
Click to expand...
Yeah I dunno if it's worldwide but in France since at least 10 years, as long as I remember you cannot buy Xbox/PSN/Nintendo, etc, cards with gift cards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

*Public utility*: Gift Cards still work on PS3
35
3K
SkylineRKR replied
What to games to buy.. PS Gift Card 50. Xbox Gift Card 100+15. Amazon 50.
13
708
j0hnnix replied
IHOP Powers Up with an Xbox-Themed Menu and Legendary Collectibles
Deals
31
1K
bender replied
Alan Wake fan buys 4,000 download codes of the original game, only to find out that none of them work
Social 2
64
7K
Kagoshima_Luke replied
  • Locked
Costco is selling $100 Playstation gift card for $79.99
Deals
13
4K
ShadyAcshuns replied
Top Bottom