Finally there’s a place you can get value out of those unused gift cards!
If your family is anything like mine with every Christmas and birthday will come all manner of Gift Cards. Don’t get me wrong, I think gift cards are a more thoughtful alternative to just giving cash and I give them to nieces and nephews every year (the older they get the less I think I can find the perfect gift – so why not let them choose it for themselves?) – but inevitably some of the gift cards we get are for shops we’re unlikely to ever get to. When this happens they end up in a drawer, most likely to never see the light of day again – effectively meaning we have a drawer full of unspent and sometimes un-spendable money just sitting there!
This is where the Zeek App comes to our rescue. Released in 2015 I hadn’t come across it until recently, and I have to say, out of all of the apps on my phone (many of which sit there like an unused gift card) since I downloaded it I have used it time and time again – because it doesn’t just give me a place to sell my unused gift cards, but even better – it gives me somewhere to buy other people’s unused gift cards! Why do I want other people’s gift cards when I don’t even use my own? Bear with me – all will be explained….
Here’s how the Zeek App works – it’s simply a place where you can buy and sell unwanted gift cards. So, I have a gift card from my Great Aunt for a toy store that exists down south but I’ve never been to or heard of it. The face value is £25 but the chances are I’m really never ever going to use it. I go onto Zeek and offer it for sale. Hey presto! someone who’s a big fan of the toy store in question buys it from me for £20. I get £20 (minus a transaction fee) more than i would have got had I left it in the drawer, and the buyer effectively buys £25 of useful gift card for £20. That’s what’s known as a win-win!
From the other side of the deal it works brilliantly for me – I look on the Zeek App and find other people’s unwanted gift cards for some of my favourite retailers. I know I’m going to be spending some of my hard earned money in those stores soon (sometimes at least once a month) so instead of going and spending £25 in store, I buy myself a gift card on Zeek at a discounted rate and I’ve just saved myself a load of cash! With brands like Amazon and Starbucks regularly on there you can’t fail to find useful savings.
As a dedicated money saver (and shopper!) this app is an absolute no-brainer – get money for something you’re never going to use and buy money for spending at your favourite shops at a discount rate. Simple.
So, what are the downsides to Zeek? It can’t be perfect…well the only downside is that you’re selling a gift card for less than it’s face value. I got over this pretty quickly when I realised that the face value is only any value if you actually spend it! If it sits unused it’s worth nothing at all – so give me some real cash for it and I’m getting something out of it. Couple this with the ability to buy gift cards cheap and I’m happy with this side of Zeek. Typically the size of the discount you’re giving on your gift card as a seller is only a few percent (3-15% depending on the store). The seller gets charged £3 per transaction too, so selling a £10 gift card could return you just £5.50, but that’s cash you will be able to spend.
The process of using the app itself is really straight forward – you just add the brand of your gift card, it’s value plus the expiry date and serial number, and once Zeek have verified it, you can name your price and wait for the sale to come in. As a buyer of gift cards you can get some pretty good deals too – they change all the time but some offer you massive savings (£250 for £170 for example) and Zeek guarantee that at the time of purchase all cards you get will be valid or you will get your money back, so it’s a pretty safe way to get discounts every time.
The only thing to avoid is buying gift cards and putting them in that drawer…if you get them, make sure you want them and you use them and those savings will really add up – just try not to get too addicted to checking the app – once you start finding discounts it’s difficult to stop!
I’d love to hear if any of you guys have used Zeek and what the best deals you’ve come across are – let me know in the comments below. You can download the app here for free!
