GiftCards.com

What to know about shopping at GiftCards.com

GiftCards.com is Blackhawk Network's gift-card superstore, and the catalog splits into two halves. The first is open-loop cards: Visa and Mastercard gift cards in physical and virtual form, loadable from $10 up to $250, including the personalized versions where you upload your own photo or pick a themed design — the feature the site is best known for. The second is brand gift cards from more than 450 retailers and restaurants — Airbnb, Chipotle, Spafinder and hundreds more — plus the site's own Giftcards.com eGift, which runs up to $500.

Delivery is the practical differentiator. eGift cards arrive by email within minutes of the order clearing, which makes this a genuine last-minute gifting option; physical cards ship by mail, so allow several business days and order ahead for birthdays and holidays. The site also carries occasion-based collections (birthday, wedding, graduation, thank-you) if you'd rather browse by event than by brand.

On cost, the mechanics matter: brand gift cards are typically sold at face value with no purchase fee, while Visa and Mastercard cards usually carry a small purchase fee added at checkout — check the total before you pay. The best route to an actual discount is the rotating Today's Deal, which at the time of writing regularly takes around 10% off a featured brand's cards with a promo code, and seasonal events (back-to-school, holiday) run similar percentage offers on selected brands.

Two housekeeping tips: keep the card number and activation details from the confirmation email, and use the site's own check-balance and activation tools rather than third-party lookups — gift-card balance phishing is common, and giftcards.com is the legitimate endpoint for cards bought here.

— MoneySaverCodes Team