Warning: eBay eGift Card Issue – Funds Stuck, No Resolution!

changunsw on 28/03/2025 - 09:47
Last edited 30/03/2025 - 18:10 by 1 other user

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share my recent terrible experience with eBay eGift cards to warn the community.

The Issue
  • I purchased $1,000 eBay eGift card (2*$500) from giftcards.com.au.
  • Both card show the correct balance when checking on eBay’s giftcard balance page.
  • However, I can’t use them for any purchase—every attempt results in the error:
    "This code can't be applied to your order."
  • eBay's support has been extremely slow and unhelpful, with no clear resolution.
eBay’s Misconduct

Here’s the worst part—eBay’s own website currently states:

"Digital gift cards are currently unavailable on eBay as we develop a better-than-ever experience to be launched soon."

Yet, third-party resellers are still selling eBay eGift cards, and eBay has not stopped them or issued any warnings. This means people are still unknowingly buying gift cards that may not work at all!

Why This Is a Serious Problem
  • eBay is allowing resellers to sell unusable gift cards while claiming they are unavailable.
  • Their support team is offering vague responses and delaying resolutions—they even suggested a 3-day wait time, which is unacceptable.
  • There’s no option for an immediate refund, meaning customers could be stuck with worthless gift cards.
Be Careful Before Buying

If you’re considering purchasing an eBay gift card—DON’T until this issue is resolved. I’m sharing my experience so others don’t get scammed like I did.

Has anyone else faced the same issue? Let’s get the word out and hold eBay accountable.

Update on 30/3/2025

The e-gift card is working now

Financial Gift Card

Related Stores

eBay Australia
eBay Australia
Marketplace

Comments

  • Bruceflix on 28/03/2025 - 09:50
    +8

    Yet another reason ebay has lost it's appeal

    • rumblytangara on 28/03/2025 - 13:47
      +3

      Yet another reason ebay the idea of gift cards has lost it's appeal

      FTFY

      • Bruceflix on 28/03/2025 - 14:00

        Both work

      • Dr Phil on 29/03/2025 - 11:23
        +1

        Yeah

        I hardly ever look at eBay any more

        Besides there are lots of FAKE brand listings.

        Watch out for FAKE NGK spark plugs listed on both ebay and AliExpress.
        Not good for your car engine

  • skid on 28/03/2025 - 09:51
    +2

    Digital gift cards are currently unavailable on eBay

    This means that gift cards can't be purchased from eBay. You should still be able to use gift cards.

    • changunsw on 28/03/2025 - 09:52
      +3

      I just spoke with their customer support. eGift cards purchased from third party can't be used also due to this issue. There's no ETA for a fix.

      • McMaferMur on 28/03/2025 - 09:56
        -4

        I doubt that.
        If true we will see this on the news already. But okay see what other says

        • AwesomeAndrew on 28/03/2025 - 13:04
          +4

          Can confirm. An ebay gift card leftover from a previous purchase no longer works. Says this code can't be applied to your order.

    • brisdaz on 29/03/2025 - 14:48

      I concur with skid's remark.

      See current and past webpages - Dec 2022 Web Archive => eBay gift cards | eBay that sentence has been there since December 2022. In the same paragraph it says:

      However, physical gift cards are still available from most supermarkets (including Coles and Woolworths) and many other local retailers such as convenience stores and petrol stations.

      which aligns with what @skid says.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/03/2025 - 10:02
    +12

    Adagchs

    • MS Paint on 28/03/2025 - 10:14
      +6

      Interesting mix of upper and lower case. Is this approved by @mapax?

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/03/2025 - 10:36
        +3

        I am Taking shitposting to strange new places

        (I hope he does approve it but)

      • mapax on 28/03/2025 - 10:59
        +7

        One off approval has been granted because the board likes Jimothy, but they said to tell him not to push his luck.

    • Gunnar on 28/03/2025 - 22:02

      At this point people who complain about gift cards is basically natural selection

      Maybe we could have our TV show: When gift cards go wrong

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/03/2025 - 22:08

        Sounds like good watching

        • Gunnar on 28/03/2025 - 22:41
          +1

          Right up there with worlds blankiest blank

  • MS Paint on 28/03/2025 - 10:15
    +3

    I purchased a $1,000

    And how much did you save? Was it worth it?

    • changunsw on 28/03/2025 - 10:16

      $100 I thought it was but now it wasnt

  • star-ggg on 28/03/2025 - 10:22

    Did you buy using CC? Do a chargeback with the communication from ebay as evidence that the GC is not as advertised (ie it dosen't give you credit to use on ebay).

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 28/03/2025 - 10:44

    tbh im surprised ebay wasnt just like -

    well seller advertised a ebay gift card,

    you were sent a valid ebay gift card

    transaction finished.

    —

    I've been through plenty of mental gymnastic arguments with ebay CS before (mainly relating to their now not very advertised ebay best price guarantees) , so I know how shit they can be to deal with.

  • rumblytangara on 28/03/2025 - 11:12
    +3

    Honestly I have always expected the slight potential for some weird screwup for gift cards. Which is why the only gift cards we've ever bought have been for small amounts- kids' birthday gifts like Robux.

    Their support team is offering vague responses and delaying resolutions—they even suggested a 3-day wait time, which is unacceptable.
    There’s no option for an immediate refund, meaning customers could be stuck with worthless gift cards.

    Why is a 3 day wait time unacceptable?

    3 days to go through some kind of checking and approvals process seems pretty quick to me. It's not like they are saying 3 weeks or 3 months.

  • plmko on 28/03/2025 - 11:20

    Why don't you tell us who the reseller is?

    How do did you check the Ebay cards are legit?

    You are quick to attack Ebay but aren't giving the whole story.

    • tenpercent on 28/03/2025 - 11:28
      +2

      He said "resellers".

      Tbf Ebay shouldn't be allowing the sale of Ebay gift cards if they are not valid. Unless they want to run the platform like The Silk Road.

      But it seems the cards are valid.

      The card show the correct balance when checking on eBay’s balance page.

      Ebay is just not honouring them.

      every attempt results in the error:
      "This code can't be applied to your order."

      • Muppet Detector on 28/03/2025 - 18:31

        Ebay shouldn't be allowing the sale of Ebay gift cards if they are not valid. Unless they want to run the platform like The Silk Road.

        Similar to imitation goods. Need to report the listing to eBay.

        Not sure why their bots can't pick up gift cards, but ultimately, eBay relies on the users to report non compliant listings as they can't effectively monitor every listing that is published.

        eBay is simply a platform that provides a meeting place for buyers and sellers to form contracts of sale. The due diligence is largely left up to the users to perform. They're really not responsible for what is listed for sale.

        Think of it as Tinder for buyers and sellers. It's up to the users to work out if the person they're communicating with is legitimate.

        The fact eBay buyer protection and PayPal don't provide cover for gift cards should be a bit of an indication to use a lot of caution when relying on these.

        • tenpercent on 29/03/2025 - 11:14

          I'm not convinced the gift card OP purchased fake if what OP says is true:

          The card show the correct balance when checking on eBay’s balance page.

          To me that sounds like Ebay not enabling the use of that valid gift card.

    • changunsw on 28/03/2025 - 11:29

      giftcards.com.au

      check balance via Ebay
      https://www.ebay.com.au/help/buying/paying-items/ebay-gift-c…

  • eccaz on 28/03/2025 - 11:27

    I bought and used eBay gift cards from BUPA last week with no issue, as usual. Who did you buy yours from? Has the gift card previously been registered to someone else’s eBay account? If so, I believe it is locked to that account.

    • changunsw on 28/03/2025 - 11:30

      giftcards.com.au

    • benzino on 28/03/2025 - 16:54
      +1

      I think this is an ebay issue as I also have a BUPA purchased gift card that had worked and is now not working.

  • Jaduqimon on 28/03/2025 - 12:10

    i had some left over ebay $. seemed to work fine.

  • tobinm on 28/03/2025 - 12:13
    +12

    Just did a Prezzee swap which was fortunately only $50, however also seems to be broken.
    Chat with CS agent was vague about some issue that could take 3 days to fix.
    So heads up for anyone using Prezzee swaps.

    • ssdexecutor82 on 29/03/2025 - 01:07

      Also just bought a $50 one through shopback that is redeemable through prezzee and isn't working on ebay either

  • largeyak on 28/03/2025 - 13:41
    +1

    I'm having the same issue with an existing eBay gift card that's been partially used (i.e. it worked previously). It has ~$40 left on it, and when I try to use it for a ~$20 purchase I'm getting an error "This code can't be applied to your order." Gift card was purchased from rewardgateway.com.au - I've lodged a support request with them and given them a link to this thread.

  • Heatherfield on 28/03/2025 - 15:30
    +2

    Both leftover and new card won't work on any item for me atm. They were all from reward gateway.

  • flud on 28/03/2025 - 16:02
    +1

    Wish I saw this before swapping a gift card!

  • benzino on 28/03/2025 - 16:52

    I have a gift card that I used the other month but got refunded when I returned the product.
    Just went to use the balance today, selected the gift card from the payment method page (it shows correct balance), and am getting the same message…

    Hopefully a temporary issue.

  • AkuroPlays on 28/03/2025 - 18:18
    +3

    I had this issue when I was buying some goods on eBay. I was able to check out with an eBay Digital Gift Card last night, but not this afternoon.

    I use a lot of eBay Gift Cards to buy stuff, and this is the first time I got this issue. I thought it was an account restriction, but checked my emails and did not receive any buying restrictions or suspensions. I believe this has something to do with their system side since no one is able to use any digital eBay Gift Cards today.

    This is really disappointing - like OP, I contacted Customer Service, which prompted me to wait up to 20 business days for a resolution, utterly ridiculous as I won an auction and needed to pay so the seller could post my stuff - ended up just paying with PayPal, wasn't able to stack an eBay % discount with my Gift Cards.

    Hopefully this is a temporary issue and gets fixed soon. For people holding Prezzee Swaps or thinking of buying discounted eGift Cards, do not buy yet.

  • Downvoter on 28/03/2025 - 21:16
    -1

    Lol

  • test8888 on 28/03/2025 - 21:27
    +1

    should be just happened today … at least after 5am I paid with GC. now none of leftover could be applied.

  • altomic on 28/03/2025 - 23:49

    WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WILL SHOCK YOU!!!!

    • Herbs on 30/03/2025 - 07:40

      With this one simple trick Ebay makes a profit…

  • Neoika on 29/03/2025 - 00:15

    Australian businesses will now be able to sell their products on the wildly popular Chinese-owned online retailer Temu.

    It couldn't be more coincident on Friday. eBay must be facing a challenge and may busily restructure all fees.

  • XJX on 29/03/2025 - 08:05
    +8

    FYI it's working again

    • benzino on 29/03/2025 - 08:20

      +1 @changunsw appears to be working again for me too.

      • changunsw on 29/03/2025 - 11:14
        +4

        Thanks. I just used my gift card and it works now

    • ibuy on 29/03/2025 - 10:44

      Better use up the value before it is blocked again?

  • Universal Constant on 29/03/2025 - 12:31

    Remember when a specific retailer lobbied to have GST applied to ebay purchases? Well guess who does not pay GST on expired gift cards? That retailer plus ALL others that have an expiry date. Please don't purchase gift cards that expire. We have been conned!
    Yes, there are a few that don't expire. So it can be done.

  • leeroys_dad on 30/03/2025 - 07:17

    Can you redeem on eBay.com ?

  • mrhugo on 30/03/2025 - 11:18

    S&ht. I just got a whole stack of gift cards from rewards gateway, but lucky I spent them last week. Hopefully it's fixed by the next time I need to buy something on eBay.

  • gromit on 30/03/2025 - 11:51

    shouldn't this be a case of demanding refund from the gift card seller rather than ebay. Will probably also be a whole lot more effective as those ebay partners will scream blue murder when they have to start refunding.

  • jugsy on 31/03/2025 - 14:12

    MFW free money button dont work

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