Raise Marketplace - Gift Cards Reviews

I have been using Raise for a couple of years and until recently haven’t really had any serious problems. But a few weeks ago I bought four $25 gift cards to a store and only one of them worked. The manager of the store searched for the cards in her system and printed me evidence that 3 of them were invalid. So I bought 3 more because I still wanted my items and I figured Raise would just refund me the invalid gift cards. Well 2 of those were invalid too! I went to the online chat and it is just a bot that said someone would email me within 24 hours. They didn’t. A few days later I sent an email. Finally got an auto response saying that they are slow because of COVID which is ridiculous because as an internet only company, work at home shouldn’t be that big of an issue. I emailed again and sent proof of the invalid cards. Nothing. I called the 800 number that was in the email and it simply refers me to chat or email. I chatted again (both times I was well within the stated “chat hours”) and again it said someone would email me within 24 hours and again they have not. They owe me over $100 and no one has responded in weeks. I don’t know if they are going out of business and just stealing peoples money or what, but it sure feels like they stole mine! Beware!

I absolutely love RaiseMarketplace. I have saved so much money. Super easy to use. Responsive and professional customer service. The categories are super easy to navigate. It tells you upfront if you can use the gift card online or in-store or both, which is a super important feature. The check out process is super simple. It establishes and keeps an order history of all my gift cards sold and bought, so that I can review it anytime, for clarification purposes. The process of selling and buying gift cards is just simply amazing and secure. I have not had any problems so far, and I hope it stays that way

Got $90 Texas Roadhouse gift cards from them a year ago and I didn't get to spend it cuz of covid and the closest restaurant is an hour away. Then I tried to use them last week when we finally visited the restaurant and were told the cards were invalid (=already used). That was our first time visiting the restaurant for the past year so there is no way we could use the gift cards. Then I contacted the Raise customer service and they refused to do anything to this. And they sent me to ask Texas roadhouse for help. Yes I did. Then Texas Roadhouse told me the gift cards were used in Maryland!!! And I'm in Texas and never been to that state!!! The Texas Roadhouse customer service told me RAISE is a very bad company and not their official gift card selling company. They have warned this company numerous times of their miserable behavior. For this case it's if you do not use your gift cards right away after purchase, they will retrieve your cards and resold them to someone else. And when you find out they will say oh it's not their fault and send you to contact the card issuer company like what they've done to me here. Such a shame for a company to exist and operate this way. BUYER BE AWARE and DO NOT do any business with this company.

As a former Sr Financial Sales Advisor, I worked in a corporate bank for 11 yrs. I retired after having my little girl. In this age where ppl can buy equipment on the black market (machines & plastic cards) to copy the coding from debit & credit cards, I am sure the next step has been to do the same with gift cards, especially with the popularity of these apps & self check outs. I just caution users (and I use these apps myself) to buy with caution. Buy smaller amts if you don’t plan to use soon or buy just before you plan to shop, which is what I do. Sometimes I’m not able to find what I’m looking for but I’m also not losing money. There are very smart thieves out there. I encountered them everyday. And they are only getting smarter.
Developers...please find a way to protect buyers from this or offer a different guarantee. I read some of the reviews. You can’t offer a gift card that doesn’t expire & only protect it for a yr. All of those ppl that endorsed your app would not endorse it if they thought users were now possibly losing money to dishonest card sellers. Something different needs to be put in place. Maybe a way to trace the cards back? It is fraud 🤷‍♀️

I never even got to talk to anyone. I have a card I need to sell. I have my correct password, but they’re paranoid because I have a new phone. Whatever, but even though they supposedly have multiple ways of verifying my identity (per their website), they will ONLY use the phone number attached to my work desk (I’m not at work now, and won’t be back for a few days) to attempt to do so. Other apps and organizations give you the option of contacting you through another number or email - this one does not, it just keeps pumping out codes to the same number. So I called their help line to get it straightened out. Had I gotten a recording that said “Our office is currently closed” - all right, fine. Instead, I got a recording telling me to make a selection, then I got put on hold, then I got hung up on. Then I tried again and got hung up on again. The fact that they can’t work our alternative methods of verification (it’s 2020, for God’s sake) or how to either get their people to answer the phone, or make a “Sorry, we’re closed right now, try again during open hours” message, makes me think they don’t quite have this figured out.

Love the site but I’ve encountered some limitations as well. Notifications don’t come through in a timely manner and are only good for ONE day. As much money as I’ve spent on this site, I feel that they could easily provide a 2-3 day promo window. One day is ridiculous. I also feel that there should be a way to give a gift card using the discounted amount, because the Raise cash back amount is usually nowhere near the regularly discounted card price. For example, Krispy Kreme has discounted cards for 23.9% off. To give it as a gift, you get a measly 10% back in Raise cash. So if I send a $10 gift card, I get $1.00 in Raise cash. If I buy a $10 gift card at 23.9% off, it’s close to $4 in savings. All in all, I have enjoyed the discounted cards, and I’ve never had a problem using them. I’ve spent a lot of money on this site. I think they could throw a nice perk my way every so often. Otherwise, why not use one of the many, many sites like this?

I first got RaiseMarketplace in 2019 to save money on iTunes cards, which are no longer available. I also used it for other purchases and saved about $45 over 2 years. RaiseMarketplace was great when it worked. However, there were constantly errors when trying to make a purchase that especially happened during sales. The electronic gift cards usually get delivered immediately, but I made a fool out of myself once when trying to quickly purchase a card that errored out while I was at a register at a store. I’ve been constantly having issues of orders being cancelled.

The final straw was when I was trying to purchase a gift card on Black Friday. My first purchase got cancelled which I thought was because PayPal was having issues, so I tried again with my credit card. Well, the order was cancelled again. So I gave up and just went to place my order with the merchant with a different payment method. The next day, one of the purchases that was supposedly CANCELLED went through and I got charged for the gift card which I didn’t need anymore! I tried contacting customer service 5 times, through RaiseMarketplace , email and phone. No response. So I decided to just eat the loss and use the card and be done with the service for good.

Almost 3 months later, I get an email stating that they looked into my case but couldn’t help me. What a joke.
Will never use RaiseMarketplace again because it’s a headache. Forget trying to sell your cards to them too because I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

Thought I’d get a simple process m. Purchased two PlayStation and Macy’s gift cards, but couldn’t send as a gift. Had to screenshot the cards to send. Later discovered a Raise cash section and noticed that here was space where you could purchase and send as a gift. WHY??? Why are there two places/methods to purchase gift cards, one for Raise cash and one just in general. What’s sense does that make? Of course I want to purchase a gift card and receive a reward or cash back, isn’t that the purpose of RaiseMarketplace ??? To add insult to injury the initial Macy’s card I purchase I still have not received, says it may take up to 24hrs. Why? Still haven’t gotten it. Tried to purchase the Macy’s card to other way via Raise cash, would not process. Got a response, “Could not process, please check your account before submitting again.” Terrible! Now I can’t even log back into RaiseMarketplace to follow up with my purchases.

Great idea but it’s currently being poorly implemented. Feels more like a SCAM than a service! I’m done.

My wife bought 2 gift cards for whole foods and both failed in a pretty embarassing fashion at the in-store check out.

We applied for refunds and were told to wait for up to 7 - 10 business days for the process. It has now been more than 20 days and no feedback at all... We therefore had to call the customer service - as if we have no better thing to devout our time to - and they shamelessly told us that they were aware of the problem and yet, they were still waiting a response from the gift card supplier (which is whole foods). We then were simply told that they have nothing to do and that we have to wait.

With this cheap attitude how do they think their ‘business model’ could survive if they cannot even handle a glitch with their b2b partners and shift the entire risk to their customers. Cannot wait to see their situation if there is a more systemic issue stemming for example from frauds and scams... Not considering to use this platform again!

I’ve only been using Raise for a few months and normally it’s been a good experience but today was awful. RaiseMarketplace was very glitchy today and so slow. It logged me out of my account and when I tried to log back in I had to restart my phone because RaiseMarketplace kept freezing. Once I finally got back into my account and got the gift and I was trying to purchase it froze again on me. Finally I ended up paying with my regular debit card because the purchased gift card was taking a good amount of time to show up in RaiseMarketplace .

I also let me people cut in front of me in line a few times while I was messing with RaiseMarketplace and it still didn’t get the job done.

Maybe needs an update. Hopefully I’ll have a better experience next time I’m brave enough to try again.

I just got off the phone with Raise😩😤🤯🤬😭😳 the woman I spoke to not only Did absolutely nothing to help me she was one of the rudest disrespectful, unhelpful and unhappy customer service reps I have ever had the displeasure of having to speak to! I am not using Raise and going to CARDCASH Because I knowTHEY ARE POLITE AND HAVE BETTER Customer SERVICE! I am completely disappointed in Raise ! I get that my account was confusing as I was trying to tell her I had a old roommate who messed with a bunch of my accounts and the customer service chick was so just mean and Ownry ... she had the nerve to tell me my name wasn’t me! I just at that point told her I was done and she didn’t have to be mean ! Raise u just lost an extremely good customer! Your customer service needs major attention and major attitude adjustment! Card cash here I come ! To the lady on the phone u really need to get whatever issues u have worked out because u sounded extremely sad and unhappy from the first word u spoke to me!

I usually have no issues with using Raise. I recently purchased a gift card through RaiseMarketplace for GameStop and was charged and didn’t receive the instant gift card (raise cash back option). I tried to contact the support team for this to discuss the matter and the phone support line is useless literally telling me to use the online chat option. Ok. Go to RaiseMarketplace and website and try to click on the online chat option and there is no link to start an online chat so no one to discuss how to get my money back that they took and didn’t provide a product for. I intend to dispute the charge and contact the BBB if the matter isn’t resolved in a timely manner. There is literally no excuse to not have a direct support line for any issues that may arise. Hopefully someone will reach out to me from here but I literally shouldn’t have to go through this channel. Unbelievable.

Purchased some Cabelas Cards for $380. The first payment didn’t go through so I had to resubmit. Even though Raise only shows one completed transaction and one failed, PayPal has 2 authorizations. PayPal dinged my PayPal balance for the first one and my bank account for the second, putting it in the hole. PayPal won’t release the funds until Raise cancels the authorization. May be PayPal’s fault, may be Raise. Either way I’m out $380 for now. The 2 companies have issues with the way they take money and it needs fixed. Right now neither one will fix it. They both tell me to call the other company. Super frustrating.

Each time I’ve ordered from them, I’ve gotten the e-gift card with the accurate amount on it. My biggest issue with them is their claim that the e-gift card ‘Delivers Instantly’. In most cases, they deliver the e-gift card quickly, but in some instances, I’ve had to wait for hours, or up to a day to get my gift card that ‘delivered instantly’. On the orders page, they make a note that says most orders deliver right away but some may take up to 24 hours. I’m okay with that, but put that on the e-gift card listing page, instead of embedding it on the orders page, after the sale is finalized. I emailed their customer support and told them the same thing I said here...

I bought a gift card and used it once. I purchased $100 to a restaurant and still had $45 left balance. I tried using it once more only to find out it has $0 balance. I contacted the restaurant and I was told the second time used was at another restaurant across the states. I contacted raise twice for assistance and they refuse to offer any help because my purchases falls out of the 1 year warranty. I asked how my gift card information could have been given to someone else, or how someone could have used it. I got no help whatsoever. They offered a $5 raise cash as if I would trust RaiseMarketplace ever again after this incident. Pretty much after a year they wipe their hands and refuse to further help. I downloaded RaiseMarketplace and purchased my gift card in hopes of saving money but just ended up paying $80 for a $55 meal.

RaiseMarketplace is really easy to use, and you get the gift cards almost right away. We just decided to go to Burger King, so I opened RaiseMarketplace to check for gift cards first. I was able to find some that were 14% off! Just like that, we saved almost $2 off our trip that would normally be close to $10. I like that you can manually adjust the balance in-app (so if you have some money left over on the gift card, you will know how much is there).

I got RaiseMarketplace and download it it I found one to give her up there and ordered it and I had to jump through so many hoops just to get them to actually give it to me and then suddenly my account was frozen and I had to call so I called and the guy said everything was fine it was just a little name mixup so a few days later I tried to get another card from there and it won’t let me and says my account is frozen and I have to call them..ForThe second time even though they said that it was fixed and everything was fine. In my opinion if you’re going to make an app for people please don’t do it unless you really actually know what you were doing because these people clearly do not know what they’re doing over there or are up to something.

You used to be able to search for a card and then select dollar ranges to grab specific kinds of cards. I’m not really excited to save 6% off 200 when I can save 5.9% off 25. Some times I might be, but I’d rather have that filter control back.

I worry they took it away because it made it easier to compare raise cash vs the discounted cards. Either way I’m spending money on the platform - now I just feel like I’m being deceived through inconvenience.

At the same time, I’ve saved about $60-$75 a month/average on RaiseMarketplace for the last three months. Would like to continue.

I love RaiseMarketplace for the discount on gift cards. I am a true believer of every penny counts, the reason why I use RaiseMarketplace. Do NOT believe their advertisement “100% money back guarantee”, this is a LIE! I purchased two 5 dollar gift cards to Dunkin’ Donuts and I tried to add one of them to my Dunkin app and it said sorry already used. Yes, I only paid 4 dollars and some odd change for the card but it’s the principal. I reached out to customer service via email and I was told to reach out to Dunkin. Like what were they going to do?! So I sent another email out asking if they could just credit my account with five dollar raise cash. I was emailed back the same response, “unfortunately we can not, please contact Dunkin’ Donuts”. Long story short use RaiseMarketplace with cautiousness.

First time using RaiseMarketplace , the process of purchasing was quite efficient; however, the gift card I purchased didn’t have the correct balance so I filled out the form so CS could help me with it. A week later-nothing. That’s when I started contacting support by chat. The first day, they couldn’t find an agent because it was not the right time of day. It was around noon! Someone had to be working. So I left an email with the robot so I could be contacted later. Two days later, still nothing. So I contacted through chat again. Fortunately, I finally go ahold of someone ~15 minutes later and received my refund, but WOW. That was such a long process. Not worth doing another time is the problem arises again.

Thought I’d get a simple process m. Purchased two PlayStation and Macy’s gift cards, but couldn’t send as a gift. Had to screenshot the cards to send. Later discovered a Raise cash section and noticed that here was space where you could purchase and send as a gift. WHY??? Why are there two places/methods to purchase gift cards, one for Raise cash and one just in general. What’s sense does that make? Of course I want to purchase a gift card and receive a reward or cash back, isn’t that the purpose of RaiseMarketplace ??? To add insult to injury the initial Macy’s card I purchase I still have not received, says it may take up to 24hrs. Why? Still haven’t gotten it. Tried to purchase the Macy’s card to other way via Raise cash, would not process. Got a response, “Could not process, please check your account before submitting again.” Terrible! Now I can’t even log back into RaiseMarketplace to follow up with my purchases.

Great idea but it’s currently being poorly implemented. Feels more like a SCAM than a service! I’m done.

For buying gift cards at a discount, RaiseMarketplace is totally easy to use. Apply Pay makes it extra easy and secure. I wish there was Passbook integration, and the way to copy gift card numbers isn't intuitive.

From a sellers perspective, there seems to be a lot of hoops to jump through. You can’t even sell gift cards through RaiseMarketplace ... the website is needed. And cashing in after selling cards could be smoother. To get available funds, I’d prefer getting a paper check but they charge a fee of $30, which seems outrageous.

Still, overall it’s a great app, especially for people buying gift cards (instead of selling). And it will probably save you tons of money in the long run.

The deals used to be better as were the daily discounts. Also until now I had never had problems but today was charged 2 times without checkout completion and now have to get my bank to refund it. Also you can’t use the in app or website contact info, when trying to send them an email from the link it only says unable to send message. And how am I supposed to have an order number to give as reference when my order didn’t go through but I was charged anyway?! It was nice while it lasted but I’m probably done with this service for good. 2 stars cause you can still save some money if they don’t charge you falsely

I love to stock up on gift cards I know I’ll be using, especially when Raise has a sale! I’ve been using RaiseMarketplace for about 3 months and saved about $75! The stores I tend to buy are: Ulta (usually 10% off), Fandango (usually 15% off), and Forever 21. Combined with Raise sales that can go up to an extra 7-9%, you can see that the savings stack up! I tend to use the gift cards on myself so I can’t say on the experience of gifting, but it’s a gift to myself!

I order two itunes E-gift card each worth 50 dollars. I never received my order and the email said e-gift card are usually delivered in few minutes after the order is been placed. Even after a day I didn’t receive my order. So, I contacted the support and I never received any help.

Please be careful people, they charge my card and I never received my order. This is a scam app please avoid using it.

I purchased a $100 gift card 1-2years ago, and finally want to buy something from this store. When I use it, the cashier told me there s no balance inside of the card. And when I go back to raise and ask them what’s going on, they refused to solve my case, the reason is the purchase date is over one year. But when I purchased this card, there is no such plan. And gift card cannot be expired, so I just keep it until I want to use it.
They also told me this:”Even though we do verify the balances of these cards before delivered to your account, we cannot guarantee you won't have an issue with a pre-owned product.”
.........
very disappointed purchase

I’ve attempted twice now to purchase gift cards from RaiseMarketplace and both times my transaction has been stopped and I’ve been told to call customer service. Against my better judgement and after talking with someone else they recommended I call and resolve whatever the problem was the first time so I did but was given no explanation as to what the problem was when I called. Now the second time I have attempted to buy I got yet another message to call customer service. I value my time far more than the few dollars I will save by buying cards from RaiseMarketplace. Definitely will not ever recommend this to anyone and highly discourage its use.

I have encountered problems with purchasing electronic gift cards, verifying the balances only to find that they have a zero balance when I attempt to redeem them. I lost out on several hundred dollars recently when I was told by Raise that several cards I’d purchased from different sellers (according to them) had been used in the same location in store—somewhere I’d never set foot. They refused to honor guarantee because the cards I’d purchased 3 months prior were “in my possession” at the time of redemption. Their guarantee does not cover unscrupulous sellers and merchants don’t cover cards bought via a third party, so I was basically screwed and I no longer use this service.

If you're going to buy something somewhere, why not check Raise first? Gift cards are as good as money and you're basically buying money for LESS money?? I'm sure this sounds like an ad but I've had a 100% great experience with Raise. I've only had issues once regarding one of my payment methods, and support was very accommodating. I've never sold a card, only purchased, but thus far I have no complaints whatsoever.

I have been a buyer over 5 years they do have great customer service and will guarantee their cards if within the year. I have saved so much money with them. Yes I have gotten a card that had a zero balance that they had no problem refunding me, this may be because there r dishonest people who use stolen credit cards to purchase the cards (that was the reason in my case).

So often you get a gift card as a gift but most likely aren’t going to use it it’s nice to know there is an option of having it converted to cash & even though there’s a small fee... money is money! Not to mention who doesn’t want to get a gift card that costs less than it’s worth... like I said, brilliant idea