One of my 17 favorite slogans is “always be probing.” Sometimes, that probing involves throwing every gift card type you can think of at a FinTech to see what sticks. But, it’s also easy to get stuck in a rut because you don’t want to buy another American Express gift card as a test since they’re hard to liquidate. So you end up never buying one nor testing it, and then you potentially miss out on a goldmine.
To counter this effect, I’d suggest that you find a way to liquidate every type of gift card out there even if it comes at a relatively high cost, because obscure gift cards might be integral to your next six figure play but you have to buy one to test first. A few ideas for last resort:
- Prepay your cell phone bill
- Prepay your electric bill
- Use Kiva
- Find a mid-sized local grocer that sells money orders
- Load your Amazon balance
- Buy a Walmart gift card
Finally, don’t forget that you don’t need to buy a $1,000 gift card when you’re testing, $10 will probably work.
Happy probing!
Always be probing, 1980s style.