• expired

Sign up to eBay Plus ($49/Year) & Get a $50 eBay Digital Gift Card

1258

Join eBay Plus for $49 and get a $50 ebay digital gift card.
This is showing on rotation on the home page banner, and also a small ad in the middle of the ebay plus page. Banner

I don't believe it is targeted as I have not received any email and was not signed in when the ad first appeared for me.
I've signed in and it is still there.
I know it was available in January, but then expired for a while and is back now.

Hopefully helpful for anyone wanting to make a purchase >$50 on ebay (gets you free ebay plus)

Mod: Previous expired deal

Related Stores

eBay Australia
eBay Australia
Marketplace

closed Comments

  • +22

    eBay had charged me a full year's subscription for $48.99 one month after the $1/year promotion last October and still would not issue a refund.

    • +6

      Did you try a credit card chargeback?
      If you have the appropriate documentation/evidence, it should be relatively straightforward (but timeconsuming) to do with your bank.

      • Good idea. My card was charged via PayPal. Will give it a go, thanks.

        • +3

          They had a promotion of $20 gift card which would be sent after 6 months. It didn’t came in so I checked with support and they happily sent that within a day.

          Try contacting them, support is pretty good for plus

        • Talk to PayPal and create a claim. eBay wouldn't give me a refund on eBay plus either. I talked to Paypal and they gave me the money back.

        • PayPal refunded me on the spot, you just have to ring them, and tell them that you don't recognize the charge.

          They should refund it to you then and there (unless you do this a lot) and they will ask you to change your eBay password (they assume your eBay account was hacked).

          When I rang PayPal I honestly didn't recognize the charge, it was only days or weeks later I realized that I signed up for the trial and forgot to cancel it.

      • +1

        You can lodge credit card disputes online with ANZ now, was very impressed as it only took me about 3 minutes last time I needed to do it and I had a conditional refund within 3 days. Prior to that it was a phone call, wait for snail mail paperwork, send it back then wait 90 days for a resolution!

      • +1

        ebay did a similar thing with a previously promised $30 gift card, they sent $20 and insisted hook and crook it was only ever $20 despite it being listed here and clearly visible on their site at the time. Take screenshots is my only advice

    • +17

      Same here . Got charged and realised one day too late. No courtesy email like amazon do. They initially refused to refund but with the help of Fair trading they refunded ‘in good faith’ . It’s been 12 months and I haven’t used them since. I can get everything from Amazon that I need.
      I was still an eBay plus member for that 12 months and still didn’t use them . FK eBay

      • +1

        Happened to me too. Just one day tool late to cancel my 2nd year. :(
        And it was charged from Switzerland which plus 3% foreign currency transaction. 😡

      • +2

        They even made a false claim that I had already been refunded months ago. I contacted PayPal and they said they cannot help with a subscription. (so why make yourself available as a payment method in the first place?)
        Their sheer will, determination and effort in screwing a long-term customer for $48.99 were plausible, must be really desperate.

      • +4

        You can check your eBay Plus membership renewal details at any time and put a reminder in your calendar a few days before that to cancel. It's nice to get a courtesy email (I have both eBay Plus and Amazon Prime so understand the difference here), however the onus is also on the subscriber to ensure they've got something in place to remind them to cancel, and not just rely on the service to do all the legwork for them.

        • I did cancel my subscription on the 3rd day so I am still a member until the subscription finish.

        • +4

          I have probably misled you all. This is a brief timeline:

          1. I signed up with ebay plus for a full year of subscription via the $1 promotion last September.

          2. In last October, One month after the sign up, eBay charged me $48.99, which should not happen until Sept 2020.

          3. I contacted eBay Plus support immediately and although they had been polite and admitted their mistake and promised a refund within 5-7 business days, it never happened. I have contacted them numerous times already and everytime they would say 3-5 business days or 5-7 business days. They blamed their own department. They then say they cannot promised when. In the end they simply lied that I have already been refunded.

      • +1

        No courtesy email like amazon do

        Only if you enable reminders and then they only give you 3 days notice. My Amazon Prime just renewed, they didn't even send me an email (receipt) AFTER the fact, so clearly they're hiding it much as they can and hope you won't notice.

      • +2

        FK eBay

        +1.eBay are absolute scum.

    • They did the same thing to my friend and I but we both got refunds eventually. Funny thing is I signed up not long after eBay Plus launched and they said it was an issue they were working on. Seems to be charging people who cancelled by design now though.

    • +1

      Same thing happened to me, i bypassed ebay and sought a refund through paypal, which was approved after i attached screenshots of the banner ad and payment screen, which stated I would only be charged $1

    • Untick the sub in you PayPal account right after payment is cleared. It is in you PayPal account under "Manage Automatic Payments", not eBay account.

    • Do a PayPal dispute. Only way to get your money back. They also charged me in full when everything shows $1

  • When do they send the gift card?

    • +17

      When do they send the gift card?

      FTFY

      • +8

        What is FTFY………is it that hard to type words :-)

        • +5

          Fixed That For You

          • +2

            @digilinx: Ha…..that one was "not so obvious" to me, but I tend to write words (unless SMSing).

            • +1

              @Borg: I’m with you on this LMFAO! We must be getting old FWIW
              All these abbreviations I forget as I don’t use them.
              GL and remember, if you can’t figure it out then you’re probably not missing anything.

          • +3

            @digilinx: Thanks for fixing it. Not sure what was broken. Anyway, what does FTFY stand for?

          • @digilinx: Or, For The F…..n Year.

        • +1

          Triggered memories of the old Two Ronnies sketch:

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-mX9T2qyIQ

    • +2

      I just signed up and got this message on a page:-
      "Your $50 code will be delivered via email & to your eBay Messages in the coming days, once your membership fees have been processed."

      • +8

        A code cannot be stacked with another code so make sure they give you a gift card, which can be stacked with promotional codes like PMID20 or PLUM10.

        • Yup, so practically you only get less than 45$ giftcard because you are unable to stack with other promo codes, let alone you have to spend at one

        • good to know, was planning to use plum10 on an item with the gift card

          • +1

            @kehuehue: A gift card can come in the form of pure digits, but if they say they can issue a voucher(usually a long and random mix of alphabets and numbers) assigned to your account then it is not stackable.

            They may tell you gift cards and voucher are the same and that they can issue a voucher now but cannot issue a gift card.

            • @shungyiu: I've got a "Digital Gift Card" code but how do I stack it with other promotional codes? Apply both at checkout? What will happen with left over credit?
              I've tried to use the monthly $5 code and can confirm that it cannot stack with other promotional codes so I'm assuming that the Discount code field at checkout only take in 1 code?

              • +2

                @BadBargain: Yes you can apply them one after another in the same apply voucher/coupon box.

                Usually, I would apply the promotional code, i.e. PLUM10, first, and checking the top right section that the balance has been reduced, meaning the code has been effective.

                Then, I would apply my gift card. If there are any leftover, you will see the balance of it on where it has been ticked.

                The monthly $5 code is considered a promotional code so you can stack it with a gift card but not another promotional code, i.e. PLUM10.

      • It’s a gift card not a voucher. I signed up Monday got that message too but I got the gift card today.

    • +3

      I'm pretty sure I got mine a day or two after

  • +14

    why are we paying for something that was free before? Most of the sellers had free shipping in the past, all of a sudden when this ebay+ comes along, they started charging for shipping, and if you join ebay+ shipping is free again, seems like I am getting scammed somewhere here :)

    • +6

      That's not true. For non-eBay Plus items, the "free" postage isn't actually free. The buyer is paying for it one way or another. That's why without 20%, 15% feeBay discount, most of us don't even bother buying feeBay items.

      The feeBay Plus items, in some cases, can take advantage of feeBay actually funding the postage portion. There is a fine line the sellers need to walk and attempting to abuse it is unwise. Earlier on, quite a number of sellers took advantage of it, but feeBay have tightened the rules somewhat (on those sellers).

      Not saying you should get feeBay Plus, but we do get SD card deals which clearly taking advantage of the "free" postage. Expensive items don't benefit much from "free" postage because the postage portion is small compared to the actual item price.

      • Great assessment from "netsurfer" as always :-)

        • +1

          Use those $50 on Coles and relax.

  • +10

    Had receive that promo several times. Still not interested.

  • +3

    Took a week to receive code, but it did come.
    Was eligible for this even though I did a trial earlier.

  • +9

    Signed up during the $1 promotion back in December and totally regret it. Days later i found out that I was charged $49 and thought a simple phone call would have it resolved. Took about 8 phone calls, multiple emails and over 6 weeks to finally have the money returned to my account.

    • Glad you got the money back.. I was in the same boat but gave up after an escalation in their chat couldn't help me.

      • Sounds like a system wide scam as similar experience as "shungyiu" above.

        • +2

          I have now set multiple reminders a week prior to the anniversary to ensure I cancel and never sign up again. I won't be surprised if I'm charged and have to go through the whole process all over again.

          I was also told that there's just no way to turn off auto renewal and once cancelled, you lose membership immediately? So consumer friendly.

          • @cheepo: Other than in the circumstances set out in clause 2.3 below, if you cancel any time after becoming a paid member or your membership automatically renews at the end of your membership year:
            1. you will not be refunded your membership fee regardless of whether or not you made any eligible purchases or have taken advantage of any eBay Plus benefits since your latest Plus membership charge; and
            2. you will continue to receive all eBay Plus benefits until the end of your membership year, but your membership will not be automatically renewed for a further year.

            You're fine to cancel whenever, even up to 14 days after the automatic anniversary renewal.

    • +1

      Hence never ever sign up this rubbish again

  • +5

    Last time there was a promo for a free (or perhaps discounted) year or something; saw the banner, clicked through, and was charged the full amount. eBay support was not interested in my claim saying it was only for people who received the email when the T&C clearly stated that anyone who saw it was eligible.

    So I now have a full-priced Plus membership (no gift card or any bonus) that I don't even use. Ugh.

    • Have you considered issuing a chargeback via your payment method?

  • Unfortunately you cant make use of 2 codes i.e. if there's a 20% off code, and same time you can't apply your $50 code against the payment.

    • +1

      incorrect, you can pay with the $50 gift card and apply a promo code.

  • +1

    Signed up for same promo in January - have never received gift card/code.

    And dealing with ebay has been like extracting teeth. This post has reminded me to resume the crusade as soon as I've upped my immunity for Covid and painful online merchants…

    • In my case I received the $50 gift card almost immediately, then a couple of months later eBay sent an email apologizing for the delay in delivering the original gift card {??) and as recompense, here have another $50 gift card. Moral of the story is that I don't think eBay quite has their shit together (also karma may soon bless me with a double-dose of Corvid).

      • -1

        Did you receive 1/2 Gift Cards, or were they like some type of discount code ( so unable to double up with a 10/15/20% off code )?

        • +2

          Two separate $50 cards. They sent me the first immediately which I then spent, then a couple of months later they sent me the same card again. A week or so after this they sent me a new $50 card to compensate for the lateness of the first card, along with an apology. Hey, $50 of free money at eBay's expense!

          • @slothful: Nice! So those comments above about not being able to stack these is not correct going by your experience. Unless they change their policy for this one now lol.

  • +3

    Dont bother with this rubbish.

    It's gotten worse the longer it's been around. Haven't had selling offers at all this time around.

    • Probably wait until the eBay EOFY super crazy deals, (aka $99 airpods), then that will be different story…

      • That is impossible to get.

  • -7

    Not sure why the title says digital gift card. They send you a single use coupon code. An unused amount is forfeited.

    • +2

      why did you do negative vote

      • It's unconscionable conduct. The banner suggest that it's a gift card (ie multiple redemptions like other giftcard), turns out to be a single use voucher with the unused value forfeited. The ebay website encourages you to use the voucher on purchases less than the voucher amount. You can understand why I'd neg the promotion.

    • +6

      No, they give you a $50 eBay GC
      if you spend less than $50 the remaining balance will go into your eBay account
      you can use those balance at the next time during checkout

      • +2
        • This is what I see

          That's what I mean. The T&C don't say gift card. It says voucher, which happens to be single use and the unused value is forfeited.

        • This is what I saw too, it may be a mistake. Check out the app. The $50 gift card terms and conditions are there.

      • No, they give you a $50 eBay GC

        Let me know how it goes for you. I was burnt by it last month. The live chat reps were uninterested and it wasn't worth my time to hassle them.

        I doubt they've had a change of heart this month.

        • I signed up last Monday, got the gift card yesterday. Not a voucher.

  • +2

    I've read horror stories of people getting ebay giftcard, but purchased something small and automatically forfeited the remaining $$$ because apparently it needs to be spent in 1 transaction.

    I signed up for $1. Got charged $49. Had to jump through hoops, and ended up doing a chargeback to finally get refunded. Have avoided ebay like the plague since, so can't personally attest to how the gift card works. I advise everyone to be careful.

    • -2

      Go on, neg the deal, do it. You know you want to.

    • Agree, be aware there are many instances of people being charged in error, or getting the run around when chasing up the non delivery of gift cards or Ebay Plus refunds.

  • +2

    I get the banner ad for this promotion on the ebay homepage, but when i click on it the actual deal it offers me is 1 Year for $29 and NO $50 gift card - be careful to check this for yourself as once you click on the banner ad, you are only 1 click away from confirming/signing up - pretty dodgy false advertising/bait and switch.

    • See my comment above about it being a single use voucher, instead of a gift card.

      • Yeah, well whatever you want to call it, the banner indicated i would be getting it but the following payment confirmation screen does not.

  • +2

    Maybe I was lucky but signed up last time and got the voucher within a week. Spent on a number of separate transactions maybe 3 with no issues. And think the vouchers valid for quite long, you’ll use it up before it expires.

  • One of the rare eBay success storys! Combined this with the $29 eBay plus membership a few months ago so was effectively going to get a $50 eBay card and only pay $29 for the membership which was a good deal imo. They billed me the entire $48.99 so I contacted them via chat and told them about my predicament. They verified that I was eligible for both promos confirmed they would refund me $20 as that was the difference. After 2 weeks I was pleasantly surprised to see a refund of the whole $48.99 in my PayPal, the $50 eBay card and a whole year of eBay plus!

  • I bought this last time, after 4 follow ups / escalations saying I never received my voucher, I asked for my money back. They gave me the 12 months ebay plus for free. Then about 2 weeks ago I received the $50 voucher.

    Im not sure if I should neg this deal or recommend it

  • I signed up Monday for this offer. I got the gift card today. I can confirm it’s a gift card not a voucher.

  • +1

    I clicked on the offer on the eBay site, however, the page that opened said I had previously used the free trial offer and would be charged the annual fee immediately, No mention of any $50 eBay gift card.

    Hence, I have no idea if I am eligible.

    • Try logging out and then refresh.

      This made the offer appear back in Dec and Jan for previous subscribers who couldn't initially see it.

      As others have mentioned, actually getting your giftcard/code delivered is an entirely more difficult challenge…

    • Same. I've signed up again. Let's wait and see if we get our $50 gift card. Otherwise ask PayPal for a charge back.

      • +1

        I need your update please, same here…. not sure if I'm eligible. So I haven't signed up yet.

        • I'll try to remember to post my outcome. I've already been charged $49. No email about a gift card so far

  • +2

    Let me remind you everyone.
    I joined the this promotion last December and they charged me $48.99 membership fee almost immediately. The problem is I didn’t receive the gift card until 3 telephone calls and it was one or two months later. And also the gift card was changed to a “voucher” which can only be used in one transaction and expires in one month.
    I cancelled the membership.

    I’m happy with my current amazon prime, with a monthly membership fee of $6.99 it provides free video streaming and free domestic and international shipping of ranges of items.

    • +1

      +1 for Amazon Prime. It is tremendous value. 2 day shipping. Video streaming. Music streaming. Twitch subscription

      A lot of the time it's usually cheaper to sign up for a month, than it is to pay the shipping fee(s). Bezos can have my $7 a month.

      • Yeah, I like their shipping time. Even in Tasmania most items arrive in 3 days.
        Always the first choice.

  • +1

    Guys, be aware that it is. gift voucher and can only be use with 1 transaction, you will forfeit remaining credit if not used all. Happened to me when I signup for this offer.

  • +1

    I got this message after clicking the banner: "You have already tested eBay Plus for free. If you sign up now, the annual membership fee is due immediately."
    It doesn't say if I'm eligible for this promotion.

  • +3

    After you click on "take up offer", where do you check to make sure it includes the $50 GC? I've already used their free trial before so I'm not sure if I'm eligible.

    • Same guess you need to gamble ,
      Looked at T&C couldn’t see why not .

      • So I talked to someone on live chat who wasn't helpful. They said "I believe you will be prompted if you're not eligible for the promotion when signing up through the banner." and some other things.
        So I tested it and after I payed I got the message "Your $50 code will be delivered via email in the coming days".
        I guess it worked? Now let's see if I get the code. But this is a terrible website design to not inform you that you ARE eligible.

        • Pulled the trigger and got that message as well. Hope it's a gift card code (which can be stacked with the 10-15% off stuff) instead of a voucher that doesn't.

  • +1

    Good deal. I signed up in Jan, and got $20 off an ebay plus item.

    I Contacted ebay because i didn't get $50 through livechat, they said they'd issue me $50 voucher, then 2 days later i didn't get it, contacted them again, i ended up getting 2 x $50 vocuhers.

    I quickly spent it all and haven't heard about it since

  • thanks just reminded me to make sure my membership is set to cancel and not renew :)

  • +2

    I would just like to add my voice to those cautioning Ebay Plus - I was charged unexpectedly and despite numerous contacts with them failed to get a refund. I was very disappointed with Ebay having used them for many years and hundreds of purchases. I rarely use Ebay now - how to destroy brand loyalty. My interactions with them were appalling.

Login or Join to leave a comment