Cardpool Review: Gift of Cheap Gift Cards or Total Scam?

Cardpool.com has been in business for 15 years.

They sell gift cards to a wide variety of popular retailers for up to 35% off.

They are BBB Accredited, and they have an A+ rating.

How Does it Work?

First, this is not only a site from which you can buy discounted gift cards. It actually works both ways. You can sell gift cards too.

Imagine being able to trade in all those gift cards you will never use for cash.

Of course, you don’t usually get full price for them, but if you weren’t going to use them anyway, something is better than nothing right?

How Much Can You Make?

Say you have a $25 gift card to a store that you do not like or a restaurant that does not have any locations near you.

Instead of letting it sit in your wallet, you can sell it to Cardpool.com.

How much you receive for it varies, but their site claims you can get up to 95% cash back.

How Do You Get Paid?

The first step in selling a gift card is to enter the balance of the card.

You are then given the option of receiving an Amazon gift card or being mailed a check.

Once you choose, you will be given a payout quote.

Checks

My $40 gift card was given a payout quote of $31.38 if I sold the card directly to Cardpool.

With this option, your check is processed within one day of them receiving your card, unless it is a high-volume season such as Christmas.

The other option is to choose your own payout, and after your card is purchased and the money is received by Cardpool, they then cut you a check for that amount.

Cardpool offers you a suggested amount to ask for if you choose this option, and for my $40 card, the suggested amount based on the marketplace was $32.

Amazon Gift Cards

If you choose the amazon gift card option, you can get your money faster, as a code is emailed to you. This cuts out the time that it takes a check to make it through the USPS.

They also say that you can get up to 6% more by choosing this option. I would imagine that is because it cuts down on processing costs.

Kiosk

In addition to the website, Cardpool also has kiosks in various locations where you can trade in gift cards for cash.

You can use the “find a location” link on the site if you are asking yourself “How do I find a kiosk near me?”

A+ You Say?

Yes, they have an A+, but you may still be concerned if you check out their profile on the Better Business Bureau’s Website.

This is because they have over 500 complaints.

You may question how they can have an A+ rating with that many complaints.

The key is they respond to each complaint and make it right with the customer.

What Are the Complaints?

I really couldn’t weed through every single one, but it turns out I didn’t have too. They were pretty repetitive.

People either weren’t receiving their checks as fast as they thought they should, or their gift cards didn’t work.

Check Timing

The response from the company about the checks was pretty reasonable. It turns out, when people read that they would be paid within one day of processing, they misunderstood.

It does actually take time for a card to make it to Cardpool, the balance checked, and the check cut.

While Cardpool does do pretty well at getting cards processed in as soon as they are received and mailing checks the next day, it also takes the USPS up to 10 days to get the check delivered.

Cardpool has since tried to do a better job of explaining this process, making sure people understand they will not actually get a check the next day, and ensuring they understand they do have the faster option of receiving the amount on an Amazon gift card.

Bad Cards

While this is a terrible thing from a company that is in this business, if you look at it in perspective it makes sense.

They have been in business for 15 years, and they only have just over 500 complaints. This is out of thousands of customers and cards. That isn’t so bad.

While they do their best to verify each and every card, it is inevitable that some will slip through the cracks.

Some of the complaints said that when they tried to use the card or check the balance it was either a zero balance, or they were told the card was invalid.

Cardpool has a one year guarantee on their cards, so for each of these complaints that fell within the one year guarantee, the refunded the money, stating that they were very sorry for the trouble.

While this obviously happens, it seems to be a rare occurrence comparatively. Cardpool acknowledges the problem when it happens and issues a refund.

Customer Service

This seems to be a severe area of lacking. They have been around for 15 years, and people are still having to contact the BBB to get a response when there was a problem.

They are so responsive to BBB complaints that it doesn’t appear that they are complacent, but if they would respond to the customer service request before they made it to the BBB, they would have far fewer complaint’s.

The argument could be made that perhaps those complaining did not contact customer service first, and that is possible, but there were a lot of complaints that included something about trying customer service and getting no response.

Also, they do not have a customer service phone number. When you click on the contact link, you are only asked which email program you would like to open it with.

That also makes it difficult if your email program is not listed, since there is no email address listed here for you to enter it manually.

Does Cardpool Work?

When it comes to buying gift cards at a discount, Cardpool definitely works. I purchased a $40 Bass Pro Shops gift card for my husband for Father’s Day and paid $31 and change.

The card I chose was an e-card, and it was in my inbox the next day as promised.

It did say it had to be printed to use in store, and that was easy to do.

Note that it states on the print out that it was purchased from Cardpool, so if you don’t want the recipient to know you got a discount, be aware of that.

Is Cardpool Legit or a Scam?

Cardpool is definitely legit. They follow through on the products and services they promise, and if there is a problem, they make it right.

They not only have a high rating with the BBB, but they are also accredited. That would not be the case if it were a scam.

[wps_conclusion-with-button title=”Conclusion” style=”card-success” btn_style=”btn-primary btn-shadow” btn_url=”/gotosite-cardpool” btn_text=”Sign Up Here Now” btn_target=”_blank” btn_position=”text-center”]

Join up! This is a great place to save money on gifts or even shopping for yourself.

It is also a great place to sell gift cards you won’t use to make some extra cash.

There really is no bad deal here, except that they aren’t really a survey site.

You can’t make a living, and you have to realize there may be issues you have to deal with, but it will work out.

The issues are really are not as common as they appear to be at first glance anyway.

If you are interested in making money taking surveys, be sure to check out SurveyJunkie and SwagBucks.

They are highly recommended.

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Have you been using Cardpool for a while?

We would love to know your experience.

Survey Frequency	High
Rewards	Cash, Amazon Gift Cards
Minimum Age	14+
Business Name	Cardpool.com