If you have a general-purpose gift card
If you end up with a little balance on your gift card issued by Mastercard®, Visa®, or American Express®, spending it can be tricky while you're checking out after shopping online. When buying a product online, you need to type in the Visa® or Mastercard® gift card number into the debit or credit card field on the site and not the gift card field, since this is reserved for the store’s branded gift card. In other words, you won’t be able to pay using both the gift card and your debit card or credit card. The good news is, you do have options. You can purchase an e-gift card from online retailers such as Amazon or Walmart® since they allow you to use a general-purpose gift card to purchase an e-gift card. There are no additional fees involved and you can apply the e-gift card value to any purchase, and pay the balance with a regular debit or credit card.
Another tip is to talk to a store employee while checking out, so that you can ask them to apply the remaining balance on your gift card towards a larger purchase. Doing this will take a dollar or two off of your order.
If you have a store-specific gift card
If you have a balance on a gift card issued by a retailer, and you don’t want to buy anything else from the store, you have some alternatives. First off, you could ask the retailer to give you cash. Some states may have laws that require retailers to cash out balances on the gift cards they issue. Next, you could try to use your gift card at a sister store. If you have a small balance but there’s nothing you want to buy, try using the gift card at another store owned by the same company.
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