Thinking of getting the entire office a gift to celebrate their hard work or a successful quarter? Keep things manageable and avoid having to purchase dozens of distinct gifts from big retailers, opt to buy gift cards in bulk.

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Let us break down how to buy bulk gift cards without breaking the bank or running into a few possible hiccups.

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Why Buy Gift Cards in Bulk?

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Simply put, digital cards make perfect gifts and incentives for your team members.

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Corporate gift cards for brands like Target, and more are ideal employee rewards. A solid incentive program almost always includes a gift card or two for holiday gifts or special bonuses for jobs well done.

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However, these employee incentives have to be purchased and picked carefully.

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How To Buy Bulk Gift Cards

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The first thing to consider when buying gift cards in bulk is that there are two types of gift cards: physical and digital or “eGift” cards. They both have some pluses and minuses, though eGift cards are usually better choices for purchasing in bulk for a variety of reasons.

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Physical Cards

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Physical gift cards are the kind you can pick up in person at any store these days. They’re small rectangles of plastic and make the perfect accompaniments to written cards.

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However, there are a few problems with buying a bunch of physical gift cards in bulk. For example, if you want to purchase 100 or more gift cards for everyone in your company, keep in mind that you’ll have to keep all of those cards:

• Organized
• Safe
• Labeled (unless they’re all identical)

Physical gift cards present a security risk:

1. Package Theft. Mail theft is at an all-time high. Three in four Americans lost mail to porch pirates, amounting to over 260 million parcels. A gift that goes un-received is akin to a gift that was never sent in the first place.
2. Barcode Theft. Thieves are getting smarter when stealing physical gift cards. Instead of running off with a gift card that hasn’t been activated, they head to a local supermarket, pull out some gift cards, and take a picture of the card number and PIN. Then, when the rightful owner redeems the information later, the thief swoops in and makes a purchase first. Grocery stores are not liable for this, leaving many without the gift cards they paid for.

Put simply, bulk physical gift card purchases place a lot of extra logistical work on your shoulders. That may or may not be a dealbreaker for you, but you should remember that you don’t have to deal with that if you purchase eGift cards instead.

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Why eGift Cards Are the Better Option

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eGift cards are digital equivalents of physical gift cards. Rather than being physical cards, they are digital gifts delivered to recipients' inboxes at a predetermined date and time. The buyer can specify when the cards arrive (such as immediately or on a recipient's birthday).

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Note that there's no difference in how these types of cards can be used. Practically every retailer that offers gift cards these days allows both digital cards and physical cards to be redeemed online or in person.

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There’s no denying that eGift cards are a little easier to handle when buying in bulk! You won’t have to store them physically, for example, nor do you have to worry about them not being delivered on time — or worse — stolen.

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The Details That Make a Big Impact

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These four factors can make a maximum impact on your employees, VIP clients, and sales prospects:

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Retail Brand

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Naturally, you’ll want to consider which retail brands you purchase gift cards for. Some of your team members may prefer one brand over another. When you buy gift cards in bulk from Prezzee, you can choose gift cards labeled for over 370 different brands, ensuring that there’s something for everyone.

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These brands include retailers for a whole range of necessities on shopping lists and wish lists. For a late-night snack, recipients will be grateful to pull out their Panera Bread®, or other food and drink eGift cards. Target, and similar home goods eGift cards will add that extra comfort their space has been missing.

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But what if you guess wrong? In that case, if you choose Smart eGift Cards, recipients can simply swap the brands that the cards apply to for a store of their choice. This way, everyone wins, and no one gets a gift card they don’t think they’ll spend in the near future.

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Corporate Imagery

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Say that you are buying bulk gift cards in order to reward your team for a particularly profitable quarter. This can show employee appreciation and help motivate your team to do even better in the next quarter!

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To make sure the team knows where the gift cards come from, incorporate your branded or corporate imagery, like a brand logo, on the card designs. That’s not possible with physical gift cards unless you custom order them, but it’s easier than ever to do with digital gift cards from Prezzee.

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Consider adding corporate imagery to the gift cards so that your employees know exactly where they came from as soon as they open them in their inboxes or incoming text message.

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Personalization Elements

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Don’t forget to add some personalization elements to your gift card program whenever possible. When you order digital gift cards from Prezzee, you can include personalized video messages to each recipient.

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Recording one video to send company-wide is an easy way to make mass gifting seem more personal. Then, when sending out individual gifts, like for onboardings, work anniversaries, or birthdays, you can then record a specific message for the recipient if you choose to do so.

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Environmental Impact

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Physical gift cards are linked to environmental concerns. As these cards are made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and threaten the Earth and the people living there. The main ingredient of plastic gift cards is a carcinogen called vinyl chloride.

It’s harmless to touch, but the production process and breakdown of the plastics after use are where it gets dicey. While it’s possible to dispose of these single-use plastic cards safely, they still often end up dumped illegally in countries like Malaysia, India, Mexico, and Turkey.

Digital gift cards mean that PVC isn’t part of the equation. Sending digital gift cards (like those from Prezzee) is a more environmentally-friendly option that the recipient is sure to appreciate! They can shop guilt-free, knowing unnecessary plastic waste isn’t part of their purchase.

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Pricing and Card Value: What To Know

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Speaking of splurging, think about how much money you want to include on each card.

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If you have a reward budget, you already have your limit or cap for how much money you can spend. If not, check in with HR and your finance team to figure out what money can go where. That limit will affect how many gift cards you can dole out.

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Here’s how Prezzee helps businesses make big-impact, budget-friendly purchases:

• It’s free to sign up
• You can protect eGift cards in a digital wallet
• We have multiple payment options, including bank transfer, credit card, and pre-paid float

Specify the Dollar Amount Per Card

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Whatever you do, don’t skip this step in the checkout process: Always specify the dollar amount you want to purchase per card.

Alternatively, depending on the checkout page, the gift card shipper might first ask you how much money you want to spend in total. Be sure not to put that amount for each card. The last thing you want to do is order 100 gift cards only to discover that each card has $1,000 on it.

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Bulk Buy Gift Cards Ahead of Time (Unless They’re Digital)

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There’s one last thing to remember when buying bulk gift card orders: delivery and timing.

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If you purchase physical gift cards, you’ll want to buy them well ahead of time, especially if you are looking to buy gift cards for a specific retail brand (like a local store in your business’s community).

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That’s doubly true during the holidays, especially considering how slowly offices can run when large parts of the workforce take time off. And then, don’t forget the time it will take to mail or ship them all out afterward.

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None of this advice applies if you purchase eGift cards, of course. eGift cards don’t really run out, and they can be delivered at a time and email inbox of your choice, ensuring that there will be no such thing as late delivery or accidental misdelivery. That’s just another reason why eGift cards are typically considered to be superior to their plastic counterparts.

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Reward Programs Made Simple

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In the end, buying bulk gift cards for your team members could be a great way to reinvigorate them and reward them for all their hard work. Each of your staff members will surely be thrilled when they get a gift card to their favorite retailer, especially if you get a digital eGift card that’s delivered straight to their email inbox.

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Prezzee makes it easier than ever to treat your staff and make sure you never forget to get a gift for an anniversary, an employee of the month, or successful project completion. Check out our eGift card catalog today.

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Sources:

260 million packages disappeared in 2022; how to keep your deliveries safe | KRCR

How to avoid a gift card scam that could ruin the holidays | WCPO ABC 9

Climate minute: Single-use plastics like gift cards could be harmful to the environment | WHAS11 ABC

Plastic gift cards on environmental advocates' 'naughty list' this Christmas | ABC7 Los Angeles

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