11 Ways to Convert Your Visa Gift Cards to Cash in 2024
Are you tired of your Visa gift cards always weighing down your pocket whenever you walk down the streets? If so, then there are ways to convert these Visa gift cards into real cash.
At times you become tired of receiving Visa gift cards from loved ones or from some online side hustle sites after completing a task – so you’re like, “ Why not give me real cash instead?”.
If at the moment, your Visa gift cards are many and you don’t even know when you gonna use them, this article would help you convert them into physical cash ready to be spent!
What Is a Visa Gift Card and How Does It Work?
A Visa gift card is a prepaid debit card that when loaded with funds, can be used just like cash to make purchases anywhere, as long as a Visa gift card is an accepted payment method there. A Visa gift card can be picked up at your local bank or any retail store next door.
Some websites where you can get a Visa gift card are Walmart and GiftCards.com. A Visa gift card cannot be reloaded with cash when the amount on it finishes. The maximum amount that could be loaded on a Visa gift card is around $500- $1,000 – it cannot exceed that.
Is a Visa Gift Card Cash?
A Visa gift card is used to make purchases or payments just like cash. However, one thing cash provides that a Visa gift card can’t is the freedom of buying anything at all places.
Having cash means you can buy at any physical store or online store everywhere on the planet as long as you can afford it – but for a Visa gift card, there are some unique places where you can use it. Places like gas stations, restaurants, and stores, if only they accept Visa gift cards.
Another thing that makes a Visa gift card different from cash is that it has a fixed fund loaded on it, let’s say $500. That means, your spending can’t exceed that amount when using the card.
Ways To Get Cash From a Visa Gift Card
The ways outlined below aren’t hectic to go by. If you follow them, you should be able to convert your Visa gift card to hard sweet cash.
1. Add to your Venmo account
Venmo is an online payment option just like PayPal, to which you can add your Visa gift card. After adding the gift card to Venmo, the balance can be transferred directly to your bank account. Here is how to add your Visa gift card to Venmo:
- Go to Venmo and enter your credentials to log in.
- Move to the Settings menu and from the Preference tab select Payment Methods.
- Now, choose Add Bank or Card.
- Type the details of your Visa gift card.
- Click on add card to your account.
After the Visa gift card has been added, you can choose the instant transfer option to forward the balance quickly to your bank account – however, this option comes with a fee. If you don’t want the paid option, then you’d have to wait for a few business days to transfer the money for free.
2. Add the Visa gift card to your PayPal account wallet
Adding your Visa gift card to your PayPal wallet is also one of the easy ways to convert your gift card to hard cash. Here are the steps to add a Visa gift card to a PayPal wallet.
Steps:
- Log in to your PayPal dashboard and go to “Invoice”. In case you don’t see it on the homepage, go to “App Center”
2. Select “Create Invoice” and enter your email into the Bill to section.
3. Under the “Items section”, type the amount of money on the Visa gift card.
4. Go to your email inbox and inside the notification sent by PayPal, click on View and Pay invoice.
5. On the payment page, fill in your Visa gift card information and click on “Pay”.
Following these steps should help you add your gift card to your PayPal wallet. After that, you can transfer the money instantly to your bank account at a fee, or wait for a few business days to transfer it for free.
3. Sell the gift card on a Gift Card Exchange site
Another way to convert your Visa gift card to cash is by selling it on a Gift Card exchange website. These websites basically accept all types of gift cards. There are many gift card exchange websites but I recommend Raise.com and Gift Card Granny.
One thing you should be aware of is that these websites charge a commission – so you wouldn’t be paid the exact worth of the gift card. Every website has its own commission, so you would want to do your homework by looking for the site that charges the lowest commission possible!
Online gift card exchange sites pay higher than the normal gift card kiosks. So always sell your gift cards online. Some places to find gift card kiosks are Kroger, Walgreens, Target, and Walmart – just to name only a few.
You might also want to list the card on Craigslist. For Craigslist, the transaction isn’t always secure – therefore, beware of scammers if you’ve chosen Craigslist. Be vigilant on the website.
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4. Sell the card to someone you know
Selling your gift card to someone close to you may be one of the easiest ways to get cash from a Visa gift card. There could be an upcoming event that they might want to buy a gift card for their friends. You can trade your gift card in this situation for money.
You might not get all the cash the gift card is worth because you’re selling it to someone you know but that’s better than owning a gift card you basically don’t need.
5. Put it out for sale on Facebook Marketplace
You can as well sell your Visa gift card on the Facebook marketplace. The Facebook marketplace permits all kinds of items to be sold there – seasonal products, shoes, clothing, collectibles, furniture, and others.
Gift cards aren’t easy to sell on the Facebook marketplace because there are many sellers there – the best way to get eyeballs on your gift card is to reduce the price way below that of the competition. If you do this, you may get a buyer very fast.
The Facebook marketplace makes sure real users are behind every account but you’d have to use your head when dealing with buyers on the site. These people are strangers, you’ve to remember that. So always meet buyers at safe places to avoid any trouble. Make sure that you’ve reached an agreement before you even decide to meet the buyer.
6. Buy money orders with the gift card
You can use your Visa gift card to buy a money order and transfer the cash straight to your bank account. Check the nearest post offices, credit unions, grocery stores, convenience stores, local banks such as Western Union, and Walmart for a money order.
Money order works the same way as checks, so it’s acceptable by banks. If you have a bank account at Citibank, Chase, Alliant, and TD Bank, the money order deposit can happen right on your smartphone with their apps.
Depositing money orders into your bank account should be done once in a blue moon – if you do it more often, banks would become curious as to why that’s happening. The consequence is that your account may be terminated.
7. Use the gift card to pay your bills
Another option you have is to use your gift card to pay bills. This would even help you to save money. Whenever you visit the grocery, find out whether they accept gift cards in place of cash.
Other places where you can use gift cards are gas stations, gyms, etc. Make sure you have an adequate balance on your Visa gift card before you make an attempt to buy gas with it.
For internet, cable, and mortgage payments, you’d want to call the customer support of the company to inquire how possible you could pay a subscription with your gift card. For telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon, I can confirm that they accept gift card payments.
8. Buy an item with the gift card and flip it for cash
Go buy low-cost items with your Visa gift card and flip the items on a resale website for profit! As easy as it may sound, this option requires a bit of work. You’d have to hustle to do flipping. But it may be ushering you into a life-changing side hustle career.
Resale sites where you can flip items you bought with your Visa gift card are:
- eBay – It’s a massive marketplace for selling generic goods.
- SidelineSwap – It’s a great place for selling sports apparel or everything sports-related.
- Poshmark – Best for selling all kinds of accessories and apparel.
- Depop – Best marketplace for selling clothing.
- Mercari – It’s known for home goods. Also regarded as one of the easy sites to sell.
- Etsy – It’s known as the site for selling vintage and handmade goods.
I compared eBay and Mercari, so read the article to know which is the best for you.
9. Use the Visa gift card to start investing
If you don’t need cash right away, then liquidate your Visa gift card and invest the money with a broker. Create a brokerage account and use the balance remaining on your gift card to purchase ETFs, stocks, or bonds. This could be a great way to start investing in your future.
Investing is fun, especially when you think of you owning shares of companies. Nonetheless, it can’t be done blindly. Doing it blindly is gambling – and you’re going to lose so much money. You must know the kind of companies to invest in, the type of bond to buy, etc. So educate yourself before you go all in on investing.
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10. Link the gift card to your Amazon account
Amazon offers you with variety of items to buy and the good news is that gift cards can be used to buy stuff on Amazon. The best way to do this is by linking your Visa gift card just as you’d do if you were linking your debit or credit card to your Amazon account.
When using the gift card on Amazon, always make sure that there is enough balance available
11. Give it out as a gift
Maybe you have a birthday to attend next week or month – you can re-gift the Visa gift card to save you from spending money on gifts. If you have got a friend who would be graduating from college – keep the gift card, and re-gift it to him or her.
They’d certainly appreciate your generosity. However, you want to make the gift card appear as if you got it fresh from the store purposely for them. So keep it clean – also do well to get rid of any personal detail of you written on the card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some questions people normally ask that are related to gift cards.
Can you put money from a Visa card into Cash App?
No, you can’t put money directly from a Visa gift card into Cash App. The only way to go about this is to first add your Visa gift card to your PayPal wallet, and from there, forward it directly into your Cash App.
Moreover, you can convert your Visa gift card to hard cash by selling it on Gift Card Exchange sites such as Gift Card Granny or Raise. Thereafter, the cash can be deposited into your Cash App.
How do I transfer money from a Visa gift card to my bank account?
There are numerous ways to transfer money from a Visa gift card to your bank account. The first way you can do this is by using MoneyGram. Other ways have also been listed below.
By Using MoneyGram, follow these steps:
- First, create an account at MoneyGram.
- On the homepage of MoneyGram, click on Send Money.
- Fill in the Bank information. It’s in this form that you’d provide the Visa gift card details plus other personal details. Select Next when you’re done to complete the money transfer from your gift card to your bank account.
Below are also some other ways to transfer money from a Visa gift card to your bank account.
- Add the card to our Venmo or PayPal account and transfer the balance to your bank account.
- Buy a money order with your gift card, and forward it to your bank account.
- Receive money from a voucher given by a Gift Card Exchange Kiosk and transfer the money to your bank account.
- Sell your gift card for money on apps or websites like Raise, Gift Card Granny, etc, and transfer the money you get to your bank account.
How do I get cash from a Vanilla gift card?
You can get cash from a Vanilla gift card by converting the card into cash. Ways to do this are by adding it to your PayPal or Venmo account, selling it on Raise or Gift Card Granny, using it to pay bills, or buying a money order with it.
The above options and others mentioned in this article are how to get cash from a Vanilla gift card. There’s no direct way of getting cash from the gift card unless you use some of the indirect approaches above.
Can you use a Visa gift card at an ATM?
No. An ATM always request a PIN, and since a Visa gift card has no identification number or PIN to be entered into an ATM, it’s impossible to make withdrawals.
You can opt for a Visa prepaid credit card instead. There are PINs on prepaid credit cards, so you can use them at an ATM for withdrawals.
Which gift cards can be used at ATM?
There is no gift card that can be used at an ATM because gift cards have no PIN on them. However, you can add the gift card to your PayPal account and use your PayPal cash debit card at an ATM. There are also several ways to convert your gift card to cash which you’d find in this article above.
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Can you take money off a Vanilla gift card at an ATM?
No. A Vanilla gift card has no PIN to be entered into an ATM to take money off. The best option is to sell the card on Gift Card Exchange site for hard cash or add it to your PayPal account and later take the money off at an ATM with your PayPal cash debit card.
How to add a Visa debit gift card to Venmo?
Adding a Visa debit gift card or gift card to Venmo is pretty easy. Follow the steps below:
- Login to your Venmo account.
- Go to Settings.
- Click on Payment Method.
- Click on Add bank or card.
- Select Card.
- Type in your Visa gift card details.
Final Words
Sometimes, having hard cash instead of a chunk of Visa gift cards feels perfect – even though gift cards come with enough flexibility. A Visa gift card can be used at many places as a substitute for cash but we don’t always want to walk around with cards in our wallets.
Therefore, use the various ways talked about in this article to convert your Visa gift cards to cash. The easiest way in my opinion is by adding the gift card to your Venmo or PayPal account. All the same, use the one that resonates with you.
Manuelo is an entrepreneur and a personal finance nerd. He is the founder of Dollars And Freedom. An expert in side hustles, online gigs, and everything about making money. His works have been featured on major financial publications, like Business Insider, GoBankingRates, Investopedia, Entrepreneur, and more. When he’s not busy with his blog or writing for others, you’ll catch him hanging out with loved ones or reading books on stoicism and self-development.
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