Turn a Vanilla Visa Gift Card Into Cash

Visa’s Vanilla gift cards are usually pretty easy to use in person. But because they’re only intended for purchases, it can be tough if you want to trade them in for cash. To find out more about your options, we talked to budget and affordable living expert Karrie Thatcher, who says, “Vanilla Visa gift cards can’t be redeemed for cash directly, but there are safe and legitimate ways to convert them into usable money.” Keep reading to find out how, including buying money orders, exchanging the gift cards, or using them for purchases.

How do you get cash from a Vanilla Visa gift card?

Budget and affordable living expert Karrie Thatcher says that Vanilla Visa gift cards can’t be redeemed for cash, but there are ways to convert them into money. Here are a few ideas:

Use the Vanilla Visa gift card to pay bills or buy groceries.
Convert it through a gift card exchange website or app.
Buy a money order with the gift card.
Use a Gift Card Exchange Kiosk to swap your gift card for cash for a small fee.
Sell your card in person.

Section 1 of 13:

Buy a Money Order with the Gift Card

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Visit a Walmart, USPS, or Western Union. You can purchase a money order with a prepaid gift card, but only at certain storefronts. Walmart, USPS, and Western Union all allow you to purchase money orders with a Vanilla Visa gift card. If there’s a Kroger near you, you may be able to buy one from there, as well.^{[1]
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- A money order is a document issued by a bank that permits the recipient to cash in a check for the prescribed amount.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Karrie Thatcher is an affordable living expert, lifestyle content creator, and the founder of Goglitch deals. She has 135k+ followers on her social media channels, where she shares tips on finding deals and saving money.
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Purchase the money order. Use the Vanilla Visa gift card to pay for the order. There may be a fee for the money order, so remember to account for that when you choose the amount of the money order. (For example, if your Vanilla gift card is worth $50 and the money order costs $1, you’d buy a money order for $49.)
- When you fill out the money order, write your name down as both the sender and the recipient. Be sure to write down the correct amount, as well.
- Do not endorse the back of the money order, as this is to be signed when you receive the money order.
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Once your money order has been approved and received, take it to your bank and deposit it or cash it in.

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Exchange the Gift Card at a Gift Card Exchange Kiosk

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Visit your local mall or grocery store. Many shopping malls or grocery stores will have a kiosk where you can exchange your gift card for store credit, another gift card, or cash.^{[2]
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- Coinstar kiosks are a common gift card exchange kiosk. Keep in mind Coinstar's gift card kiosks are different from their traditional coin-counting machines.
Once you have found a kiosk, swipe your Vanilla Visa gift card on its gift card reader.
Most kiosks will offer you anywhere from 60% to 85% of the gift card's current balance. If you are comfortable with such an offer, you can accept it and take the kiosk's printed voucher to a cashier for disbursement.

Section 3 of 13:

Exchange the Gift Card Through a Website or App

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Find a gift card exchange vendor that accepts Vanilla cards. Thatcher says that one option for converting a Vanilla Visa gift card into usable money is through “exchange platforms or marketplaces.” She says, “you can sell the balance for cash or direct deposit—usually at a small discount.” Thatcher cautions, “It’s important to only use well-known, trusted platforms, and never share the card number publicly to avoid scams.”^{[3]
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Expert Source

Karrie Thatcher
Budget and Affordable Living Expert

Expert Interview} Here are some platforms you might use:
- CardCash: Thatcher says that this is “one of the oldest, most established gift card exchange marketplaces where you can sell your card for cash or trade for another card.”^{[4]
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- Raise: This is “a marketplace where you list your gift card at your price and get paid when it sells,” says Thatcher.^{[5]
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- GiftCash: Thatcher says that this is “another reputable service that buys gift cards and pays you cash.”^{[6]
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- Gift Card Granny: This one is “not a buyer itself, but a big comparison/search site that shows you options from trusted buyers,” says Thatcher.^{[7]
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- uSell/Buy Back World: Thatcher explains that this is “a marketplace that sells your card to professional buyers and pays you cash.”^{[8]
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Review the offer before you complete the transaction. Gift card exchange sites typically offer a percentage of your card’s value in exchange for the convenience of cashing it out. However, the amount they offer can fluctuate depending on a lot of factors, including demand for that type of card and how much your card is worth. Carefully look over the offer to be sure you’re happy with it.
- You may also pay less in exchange for getting the money faster.^{[9]
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- Enter your banking information, address, and any other information the app needs to finish the transaction.

Section 4 of 13:

Sell the Gift Card Manually

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Friends and family in your immediate circle may be interested in giving you cash in exchange for your Vanilla Visa gift card, particularly if you offer it to them at a discounted price.
Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist both allow users to sell gift cards. Customers likely want a value, so you may want to consider listing the card at a slight discount..

Section 5 of 13:

Pay Your Bills with the Gift Card

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Pay off any bills with your Vanilla Visa gift card. Paying your bills with a gift card is essentially the same as turning the card into cash. There are no extra fees attached, you’re using the card for something you have to buy anyway, and you can probably use the card's balance up in one fell swoop.
- You can use your gift card with any bill provider that accepts Visa as a form of payment.
- Thatcher notes that some people transfer the card's balance by adding it to Venmo or an online wallet. Then, they use it to pay bills or payments.^{[10]
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Purchase Groceries with the Gift Card

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Thatcher says that a common method of converting Vanilla cards is to “use the card to purchase everyday essentials (like groceries, gas, or household items), which effectively frees up cash you would have spent anyway.”^{[11]
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Expert Source

Karrie Thatcher
Budget and Affordable Living Expert

Expert Interview} Heading to the grocery store with your Vanilla Visa gift card is a way to treat the card like cash and use its balance up quickly.

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Buy and Sell Items with Your Gift Card

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Purchase a potentially valuable item on an online marketplace. Using the gift card, buy something on eBay or Facebook Marketplace that you think you could resell for a decent value.
- This means of turning your gift card into cash is a bit more labor-intensive, but it may ultimately result in you making more than the card's initial value!
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List the item on an online marketplace. Resell the item for what you deem to be a fair value. In doing so, you have essentially turned your gift card into cash!
- You may also consider buying or selling the items in person, either informally or even at a yard sale or flea market.
- Note that this approach is different from buying and returning items at a merchant.
  - While this may be a way of getting cash from your gift card, it is also a common scam and merchants are therefore cracking down on offering cash for returns on purchases made with a gift card.

Section 8 of 13:

Buy Another Merchant's Gift Card

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You may wish to turn your Vanilla Visa gift card into cash because it is not accepted at a certain merchant. A clever workaround might be to purchase a gift card to that merchant with your Vanilla Visa. Then, you can use that new gift card, effectively turning your Vanilla Visa into usable "cash."

Section 9 of 13:

Sell Your Gift Card to a Pawn Shop

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Pawn shops will often accept prepaid gift cards, but the return on value will likely be capped at just 50% of the card's actual value. So, while this may not be a recommended approach, it can be viable for those feeling impatient.

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Convert the Gift Card Into Miles

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Purchase another merchant's gift card with your Vanilla Visa gift card. While miles may not be cash, frequent travelers may appreciate turning their gift card's value into miles via United MileagePlus.
- Unfortunately, MileagePlus does not accept gift cards with expiration dates as part of its exchange program, but you can work around this by first purchasing a gift card that MileagePlus accepts.
- MileagePlus accepts gift cards from many popular retailers:
  - Target
  - Walmart
  - Starbucks
  - Best Buy
  - And many more!
Sign in with United MileagePlus and exchange your gift card for miles. Note that cards must have a minimum of $15 to be eligible for this swap. Now you have extra miles you can put towards your next flight purchase!

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Regift Your Gift Card

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Looking for a nice gift to get someone? Consider giving your gift card to somebody else. It is essentially the same as gifting somebody cash, and takes the gift card off of your hands.

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Can you add a Vanilla gift card to PayPal?

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No, you can’t directly add a Vanilla card to your PayPal account. PayPal used to be one of the primary methods for cashing out a Vanilla gift card—you could add the card as a payment method, transfer the money on the gift card to your balance, and cash it out to your bank. At some point, though, that stopped working. This may have something to do with the issuer rather than PayPal, though, since their website states that they do accept prepaid gift cards.^{[12]
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- You may be able to send the money to someone else through PayPal. Some users have reported that they were able to use a Vanilla gift card to send a payment to someone else while using PayPal Goods & Services (not Friends and Family). This might work if you have two PayPal accounts (cash out the balance once it transfers to your second account), or if you send the money to someone you trust, then have them send it back to you.

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Can you add a Vanilla gift card to Venmo?

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Users report trouble adding Vanilla cards to Venmo. Venmo does accept prepaid gift cards from major issuers like Visa and Mastercard.^{[13]
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Research source} But while there’s nothing official on their site stating you can’t add Vanilla Visa gift cards to your Venmo account, most people who’ve tried it recently say that it doesn’t work.
- If you decide to try Venmo anyway: Venmo states that cards must have a ZIP code to be linked to your account, so if you haven’t already, be sure to go to the Vanilla website and register your card and ZIP code.