Can You Buy Gift Cards With Store Credit?
Gift cards are a nifty idea and whoever invented them deserves all the praise in the world.
Think about it, you have an awkward parent that is a notoriously difficult gift receiver because they “don’t really like anything” then gift cards are perfect, you simply need to find a store they like which can literally be anything because well most stores offer gift cards these days and if they don’t they’re missing out. This isn’t to be confused with some stores that offer credit cards.
The store that you choose will offer many gift cards often ranging in price and what they are available for. Seriously Gift cards are amazing for anyone you find difficult buying for.
One thing you may find yourself asking to perhaps save you a little more money around the Christmas period is can you use store credit to purchase a gift card instead of actually paying with cash or another form of purchase.
For those who don’t know store credit is essentially money that you can use issued to you by the store to purchase products in, well, the store. In this article I will explain whether you can or whether you can’t use store credit to buy a gift card.
Benefits Of A Gift Card
Like mentioned above the benefits of gift cards are almost immeasurable and obviously they don’t offer any real downside but what are the benefits of a gift card from the stores perspective?
Well really they create customer loyalty as it is ensuring the customer or perhaps a customer who has received the gift card come back at a later date which will then help the store have a consistent profit allowing them to expand their business.
Some stores however will not accept store credit as a form of purchase for a gift card. The reason for this is that store credit is either earned through refunded purchases or by loyalty earned by you the customer.
Again you may be asking why can’t you use store credit still, after all you’ve earned it. The reason for this is because using store credit isn’t a form of purchase in the same sense that making a purchase actually is.
What that means is that technically the company is losing out if you don’t physically pay for it because they are not receiving anything they are just giving things away at that point which lets be honest companies don’t like to do that.
Store Credit
Store credit is a very nifty way that stores can create a loyal customer base just like with gift cards.
Normally you can sign up to a loyalty scheme which can either offer you a discount on selected products or just an ability to outright pay for something entirely using store credit, obviously if you have enough store credit.
The fact that they can create a loyal customer base is enough of a reason alone to consider offering this type of scheme as it will help grow your business and expand your customer base who like to shop for rewards.
Like mentioned above you can not purchase a gift card with store credit as you are not actually exchanging goods and would simply only be receiving goods. With this in mind the store does not offer you the ability to make a purchase using store credit for a gift card.
You can however use credit cards to purchase a gift card which is maybe a route you should consider going down but as mentioned you can not directly purchase a gift card through services offered by the store like store credit or other loyalty systems that they may have in place.
Why Can You Buy A Gift Card With A Credit Card
The reason that you can purchase a gift card with a credit card is because you are technically lending funds to be able to make the purchase, these funds are provided by your creditor when you apply for your credit card.
Credit cards work differently than store credit because well they are very different things. Store credit is a system that is offered by the store themselves whereas a credit card is money that is loaned to you which you pay back at a later date.
This is why you can use credit cards to purchase gift cards but not use store credit, it is simply because the store are only losing out in that scenario which again like mentioned isn’t something they will willing do as it offers no benefit through them.
Store credit is literally only credit that has already been spent by you whether through returning products or earning it through loyalty.
With money that is loaned by your creditor you are technically exchanging goods just at a later date than if you had used a debit card or cash where you would make the purchase with money that was already in your account.
In Summary
You can not use store credit to purchase gift cards because of the above stated reasons.
The reasons being that you are basically offering the store nothing in return for a gift card, a gift card can be used to purchase a product at a much later date as long as the gift card is still within its expiration date.
Store credit is a system in place that is offered by the store to create a loyal customer base or in some cases earned through returning products that you the customer does not want anymore because perhaps you’ve decided against the purchase or have gone off of it.
Gift cards are very nifty little products that you can buy when you are stuck on an idea for a present for someone.
You can however, use credit cards to purchase a gift card because technically at that point you are in fact offering an exchange of goods for the services that the gift card provides. Vice versa you cannot use a gift card to purchase store credit for the same reasons provided.
