Gift cards below face value at warehouse clubs

How the discount works

Warehouse clubs sell gift cards for restaurants, entertainment, delivery apps, games and other brands, often in packs, for less than the cards are worth. Costco, for example, lists an Outback Steakhouse pack of two $50 eGift cards as a $100 value with a 20% discount. You spend the full $100 at the restaurant, but you paid less for it.

The math is simple. Subtract the price from the face value to get the dollars saved, then divide by the face value for the percent. A $100 card for $80 saves $20, or 20%. The saving is real only if you would have spent that money at the brand anyway.

Consumer Reports described these as member discounts at Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's, some reaching 30 percent off face value, in an article last updated in December 2022. Prices change often, so treat any figure as a snapshot and check the club's own page.

Who can buy

Costco's member conditions, as of November 2026, say only members may buy in its warehouses. Online, the same page says non-members pay 5% more than members on the items they are allowed to buy, which eats into a gift card saving. Costco's Shop Card FAQ says you must be a member to buy a Costco Shop Card, the club's own card.

Sam's Club and BJ's set their own rules, so read the listing and the club's membership terms before you count on buying. If you'd join a club only for its gift cards, take the membership fee off the saving before you decide it's worth it.

Limits and delivery

Many listings cap how many you can buy. Costco's Grubhub listing for two $50 eGift cards allows one transaction, with at most two units per membership every 14 days. Limits differ from card to card, so check each listing. Costco's Shop Card FAQ also says governing laws make it limit the total value of certain gift cards it sells to $10,000 a day, counting store and online purchases together.

Many club gift cards are digital. Costco's eGift listings say the code normally arrives by email within 24 hours, and you enter the recipient's email at the shipping address step. BJ's eGift FAQ says codes usually arrive within minutes, but extra checks by BJ's or your card company can delay them, and an order that fails those checks is cancelled. BJ's sends you to the brand, not to BJ's, to check a balance.

Read the brand's terms

The card's terms come from the brand, and they can be narrow. Costco's Outback listing, as of November 2026, says the cards:

• work only at Outback Steakhouse in the US (not at airport locations), Puerto Rico and Guam
• are valid for food and beverage only
• can't be used to buy another gift card
• can't be returned, refunded or replaced if lost or stolen

Costco's Grubhub listing says the cards may not work on certain orders or accounts, such as some campus dining or corporate accounts, and that you need a Grubhub account with a second payment method on it.

Federal rules help with expiry. Under Regulation E, a store gift card can't be sold with an expiration date unless you had a fair chance to buy one with at least five years left. Inactivity fees are allowed only after a year with no use, at most one a month, and must be stated on the card. The rule doesn't cover every card: cards good only for admission to events or venues, and loyalty or promotional cards, are among the exceptions.

Before you buy

1. Confirm the face value and the price on the club's own product page, and work out the percent saved.
2. Check the membership the listing needs, and whether the fee changes the math.
3. Check the limit per membership and whether the card is digital or mailed.
4. Read the brand's terms: where the card works, what it excludes and whether it expires.
5. Keep the email or receipt and the card number until the balance is spent. The FTC says this helps you report a card that doesn't work.
6. Pay with a credit card if you can. The FTC notes that a card payment may let you dispute the charge if something goes wrong.

How CartRevolt lists them

CartRevolt's gift card page lists cards that Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's and other stores sell on their own sites for at least 15% under face value. Each listing shows the price, the dollars and percent saved, the membership it takes, whether it comes by email or as a mailed card, and when the price was last checked.

A listing says Verified when an editor read the price on the club's own product page, and Reported when nobody has confirmed it yet. The Buy button goes to the club's product page, and members can say whether they bought the card and whether it worked.

See gift cards below face value