

Show HN: I just launched Gift Card Drainer. - kevinstl
https://giftcarddrainer.com

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module17
So it'll cost 8.7% to save a few steps? Or is this somehow otherwise not
possible?

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kevinstl
Thanks for the inquiry.

It is a convenience service.

The major part of the service is that Gift Card Drainer determines the balance
of your card for you. Some people don't know to or don't want to take the time
to go to the card issuer site to determine the balance.

Secondly, learning how to transfer money to yourself via credit card without a
merchant account takes a fair amount of investigation.

The thing that sparked the idea for me was that I had a couple visa gift cards
that I had used but I didn't know the remaining balance. I tried to get a gas
station clerk to just use the remaining balance but they didn't know how and
therefore wanted an exact dollar amount to put on the card. I really wanted
the remaining balance out of principal even if it was only a couple of bucks!
My feeling was why should the credit card company get to keep it?

Also I've had several friends that have told me they would just use the site
for brand new gift cards they had because they don't want to keep the card
around they just want the balance.

I'm aware that the fee is pretty high. I'm not trying to gouge people. The
problem I face is that I get charged for the transfer from the card. Then I
get charged for the transfer to the card holder. After those two expenses I
still have to take a cut, otherwise it's not worth it for me to do this. I'm
working on cutting the cost down, but for now that's where I am. Do you think
that the fee is a major detractor? I've labored over that point quite a bit.

