12 Easy Ways to Convert Visa Gift Cards to Cash

If you have a gift card that’s sitting unused, then converting it to cash can be a good option. It’s not as easy as taking your Visa gift card to the ATM and withdrawing the funds from it.

But, there are plenty of options for turning your Visa gift card into money you can use anywhere.

And, you have plenty of time to do so. In 2009, Congress passed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility Disclosure (CARD) Act. This set consumer protections for gift cards based on a number of state laws. The law ensures that gift cards cannot expire within five years from the date that they were activated.

Below, I’ll tell you exactly how you can convert a Visa gift card to cash. Perhaps you got the gift card as a gift or as a bonus from a website like Swagbucks!

How to Convert Visa Gift Card to Cash

Whatever the case, here’s how to get cash from Visa gift card.

1. Add a Visa gift card to your PayPal account

Probably the best option for anyone looking to use a prepaid card balance is to add the card to PayPal. It’s essentially turning your gift card to PayPal cash instantly.

When you add a Visa gift card to your PayPal account, you can use it anywhere that PayPal is accepted. Basically, you pay with the prepaid Visa gift card just like you would with any other debit or credit card during checkout.

Since so many retailers nowadays accept PayPal, this frees up the cash on your card to use at a lot of different places.

By adding your Visa card to your PayPal wallet, you have the option to transfer the money to your own linked bank account. This then allows you to use the cash however you want to – whether you decide to withdraw it from an ATM or put it into savings.

2. Add a Visa gift card to your Amazon account

So many of us shop on Amazon, right? In fact, in June 2021, it was reported that Amazon was the most visited eCommerce site with about 2.45 billion monthly visits to Amazon.com!

That’s pretty impressive!

Since most of us do shop on Amazon, funding our gift card balance can be such a good idea. It’s basically free money to spend on the platform.

You can use your prepaid Visa gift card to reload your Amazon gift card balance.

Sure, it’s not cash that you can spend anywhere or withdraw from an ATM. It is, however, money to spend on Amazon, which frees up the money in your bank account that you would have otherwise spent.

Let’s say you want to buy something for $30 on Amazon. Instead of using your debit card, you use a Visa gift card to cover the cost. This means you’ve gotten $30 cash freed up in your bank account.

3. Add a Visa gift card to your Venmo account

If you have a Venmo account, then you could convert a Visa gift card to cash by adding that card to your account. It’s like PayPal where you can add your Visa gift card balance to your Venmo account, and then you can transfer it to your bank account. It’s a good way to use your gift card balance.

4. Sell your Visa gift card to a gift card resale site

An easy way to trade your Visa gift card for cash is to sell it to a gift card resale site, like:

• CardCash
• Raise

And yes, you can even trade your Amazon gift cards for cash!

Now, this option isn’t as good as some of the others, because you won’t get the full value of your gift card. This is because these websites sell discount gift cards. So, for example, if you have a $100 gift card, you may only get $80 for it. Still though, if you’re looking for cash fast, gift card resale sites can be a good option.

5. Use your Visa gift card to buy a money order

Money orders are like checks, but they are a more trusted payment method because, unlike checks, money orders are pre-paid. This means that they are only issued once a buyer pays for one. Money orders can be used to pay for lots of different things.

Some stores, like Walmart and some grocery stores, allow you to purchase money orders using your Visa gift card.

However, not all places allow this so make sure you call ahead to ask if they allow the use of prepaid Visa cards to purchase money orders.

Make sure you read my post about the best places to get money orders near you (and how much they cost) to learn more.

Once you have used your gift card to purchase a money order, the money order can be deposited into your bank account and used as cash!

6. Sell your Visa gift card on eBay or Craigslist

You can sell your Visa gift card on eBay or Craigslist. This can be a good alternative to selling through Raise or CardCash. What makes eBay and Craigslist good is that you can decide how much you want to sell your gift cards for.

Now, you will likely have to sell the card at a bit of a discount because that’s what people are after when they purchase a secondhand gift card.

7. Give your Visa gift cards as a present to friends and family members

Okay, so during the holidays it seems like we have to buy a ton of gifts, right? And if you have a large family or a lot of friends, it can seem like it’s always someone’s birthday that you need to buy a gift for.

That’s why giving a Visa card to someone as a gift can be a good idea. You can use the cash you would have spent on their gift for whatever else you want. It’s not just for birthdays and holidays that you could give Visa cards as a gift either. There are lots of other occasions, like weddings, anniversaries, retirement, etc. where you could give a Visa card as a gift.

8. Use your Visa gift card to pay bills

The bills just seem to keep coming, right? Did you know that some service providers will allow you to use your Visa gift card as a form of payment?

Well, they do!

This means that you could actually use your Visa gift card to pay bills. This leaves the cash you would have usually spent on bills waiting for you to spend like cash in whatever way you want!

Insurance, cable, and other companies that bill you monthly will often accept prepaid Visa cards as a payment method.

Since Visa gift cards are treated the same as Visa credit cards, you can use this method with any billing provider that accepts Visa credit cards. While not every single company will allow this, many will. So do check with your service providers, like your phone company, utility companies, etc. to see if they allow you to use a prepaid Visa card as a payment method.

9. Get cash for your Visa gift card with Prepaid2Cash

Okay, so there’s an app called Prepaid2Cash that you can use to turn prepaid cards into cash. It’s pretty easy to do as well. Basically, using the app, you can scan your prepaid card in seconds, transfer it directly into your bank, and receive the money in as little as 15 minutes. You can get instant or next day cash delivery.

The app can deposit your funds directly into your bank account, debit card, or Bitcoin wallet.

The app supports lots of different prepaid cards, like Visa cards. You can get the app for iOS and for Android.

10. Use it to get another gift card

Another option is to use the Visa gift card to buy gift cards for other brands and retailers. Perhaps you want to buy something at a place that doesn’t accept your Visa gift card for purchases? Instead, you can use the Visa card to buy a gift card for a store where you want to purchase something.

Using a Visa gift card to buy another gift card can also be a good idea if you are looking to get more for your money because sometimes you can find gift cards on sale. For example, you could find a gift card for 10% off, which means that you’re getting 10% of your Visa gift card balance for free!

You could get gift cards for Nike, Walmart, Amazon, or Starbucks so you can pay with them instead of cash out of pocket.

Oh, and you can actually earn gift cards for retailers by using apps like Swagbucks and Ibotta. You can learn more about this in the “Get more cash with these websites and apps” section below.

11. Get cash from your Visa gift cards by buying and reselling stuff

I have a tip for you that’s a little more unorthodox. It does require a few extra steps and a bit more effort than the options above, but it’s still one to consider.

Basically, with this method, you use your Visa gift card to purchase stuff. Since Visa cards are accepted at a lot of retailers, you can use them to purchase everything from gift cards for other retailers to furniture to beauty products.

Then, you resell this stuff on websites like eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp.

You can not only get back what you originally spent with the gift card in cold hard cash, but you can also get extra cash!

Look out for items that are on sale, discounted, or in the clearance section.

Let’s say you purchase a bag at TJ MAXX that’s worth $100, and it’s discounted to $70. You use your Visa gift card to purchase it and resell the bag for $90.

The customer still gets a 10% discount since the retail price of the bag was $100, but because you bought it at a discount, you make a $20 profit on the sale. This means that you not only get $70 back in cold hard cash that you can actually spend, which would have otherwise been stuck on a gift card, but you also get an extra $20!

As I said before, this one does require a little more effort, but you can turn a Visa gift card into cash when you buy and resell items.

12. Use the gift card like a regular Visa card

Visa gift cards are one of the best gift card types out there. This is because they are much more widely accepted than other gift card types. For example, Walmart gift cards can only be used at Walmart, and Xbox gift cards can only be used at the Xbox or Microsoft store.

Visa gift cards can actually be used at any location that accepts Visa debit or credit cards. Since a TON of places accept Visa cards, this means that you could use your gift card at stores, gas stations, restaurants, and plenty of other places.

Why not see if there’s a way to use your gift card to buy something? Then, you can withdraw the cash you saved by using the gift card, or just use it however you want to.

Get More Cash with these Websites & Apps

Visa gift cards are great because you can spend them anywhere that Visa cards are accepted, and this includes a ton of retailers like grocery stores and department stores, but also other places like restaurants and barbers.

Still though, a Visa card is not cash that you have right in your bank account unless, of course, you transfer it from PayPal, as we mentioned above.

But, why not skip the part where you have to add your Visa card to your PayPal account and instead just go straight to PayPal?

Having money in your PayPal account is always so handy because not only can you spend your PayPal balance anywhere that accepts PayPal, but you can also withdraw the money right to your bank account.

This is why PayPal gift cards can work out a whole lot better than Visa gift cards.

If you’re looking to add more money to your bank account – which you can withdraw in cash at the ATM, put into your savings account, or just use however you want, then I would highly recommend you get your hands on some free PayPal cash.

Here’s how:

1. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a website and app that gives you money right to your PayPal account when you do simple tasks. Most of these tasks you may already do on your phone or computer anyway – so it really is a no-brainer.

You can earn points for doing things like:

• Playing games
• Shopping online
• Taking surveys
• Watching videos
• Completing offers
• Browsing the internet

You can then exchange your points for cash right to your PayPal account. Then, that cash can go right to your bank account where you can withdraw it from an ATM, save it, use it to pay bills or spend it however you would like.

In addition to PayPal payments, Swagbucks also offers a number of gift card options. There are gift cards available for lots of retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. So if you’re looking for gift cards too, then the site could be for you.

2. Ibotta

Get cash to your PayPal account with Ibotta. This is an app that pays you when you buy specific products, and then upload a photo of your receipt as proof of purchase. The app gives you rebates that range from $1 to $3 or more back for each product.

There are sometimes bigger rebates available than that as well. You can have your cashback sent to your PayPal, Venmo, or bank account. So, it’s a good way to get cash. There are also free gift cards available.

3. Qmee

Qmee gives you money to your PayPal account when you do easy tasks like taking surveys, searching the internet, and shopping online. The good thing about Qmee is that it has no withdrawal limit meaning you can get your cash at any time. You can have your money sent to your PayPal account within minutes. It pays fast! There are also Amazon gift cards available.

4. TopCashback

TopCashback is an app that gives you cashback at more than 4,400 stores! You can have the cash sent right to your PayPal account. There are gift cards on offer too for retailers like Amazon.

5. i-Say

With i-Say, you can get money sent to your PayPal account when you take surveys. The company also has gift cards available for retailers like Walmart and Amazon.

6. AppTrailers

Update (6/26/2024): AppTrailers is no longer available!

AppTrailers pays you for watching video trailers of apps, celebrity gossip, and DIY videos. And, you can earn rewards for playing trivia games. You can get your earnings sent right to your PayPal account. And there are gift cards available for retailers and brands like Amazon, Target, and Starbucks.

7. Survey Junkie

Get money sent to your PayPal account from Survey Junkie. The app pays you to take surveys. There are also gift cards available for retailers like Amazon and Target.

8. Dosh

Dosh is such an interesting app that gives you free cash when you shop, dine out, and book hotels. You can have your money sent to your PayPal account. And, there are gift cards available too for places like the Xbox store.

9. AppKarma

With AppKarma, you can get free cash sent to your PayPal account when you install or play on apps. There are also gift cards available for retailers like Amazon, Starbucks, and Google Play.

10. TapChamps

Update (6/26/2024): TopChamps is no longer available!

If you enjoy playing games, then you may want to try out TapChamps. It’s a reward app for gamers that gives you free PayPal money when you play games. It also offers gift cards for places like Amazon, the Nintendo store, eBay, the Xbox store, and Gamestop.

Closing Thoughts

Visa gift cards are one of the best gift card types around because you can use them at pretty much any store that accepts Visa. That being said, sometimes we want the cash.

Adding your Visa gift card to your PayPal account or Venmo account is one of the easiest ways to turn a Visa gift card into cash. You can simply withdraw the balance from PayPal or Venmo and have it in your bank to use as cash.

Using the Visa card to free up cash in your bank is also a good idea, which is why options like using your gift card to pay bills or giving them as gifts to friends can be worthwhile. You can then withdraw the cash that you would have spent on bills or gifts, or you can spend it, or save it.

Selling the gift card is also a good choice because you can get cash fast, but you have to keep in mind that you won’t likely get the full value of the card back.

Choose the option that best suits you, and if you are looking to add more money to your account (and who isn’t, right?), then make sure you try our tips for adding cash to your PayPal account. You can then withdraw your balance right to your bank account.

What do you think is the best way to change a Visa gift card to cash? Let us know in the comments section below.