Archived Discount Policy

[mrknownothing]

Just play it safe and don't buy yourself a gift card.

 

[Hasrdotkotu]

You can't use your TM discount if you pay with a Target VISA/AmEx Gift Card, because it is essentially a credit card with the logo and is even run through as a credit. That is part of why they cannot be paid with by a regular Target GiftCard, because the regular Gift Card can't be used to purchase credit.

Buying regular GiftCards with cash is probably fine, but completely redundant. You can get your discount when you pay with cash or GiftCard, so there's no reason to even need to purchase a GiftCard with cash in the first place. The policy is only against buying GiftCards with your non-Target debit and credit cards, because you're not supposed to get a discount if you use those.

I understand, and thanks for the advice. The reason I'm interested is because I have a credit card that earns me good miles when I use it. Using that card is worth more (to me) than the extra 5% I can save using my Redcard. Losing the additional 10% TM discount, however, makes it less worth it... I was hoping to find a way to still be able to hang on to my 10% discount while earning my rewards. I do know that Target wants to prevent exactly that from happening though, so I expected this would be the answer.

Just for the record, my proposed idea would be more like this- Use credit card to purchase Visa/AmEx gift card-> Use Visa/AmEx gift card to purchase Target gift card (not using discount, because they don't apply to the purchase of Target gift cards anyway)-> Use Target gift card along with TM discount for my regular daily shopping. I do know this is really just a more convoluted way to get around the store policy, but it was worth a shot to see if it might work. Thanks again for the feedback!

Just play it safe and don't buy yourself a gift card.

Agreed. Keeping my job is worth more than the 10% anyway.

~~~

Okay, so I have one other theoretical question. Can I buy myself a Target gift card using a non-Target credit card and just choose not to apply my 10% discount whenever I use the Target gift card? I'd basically be choosing to sacrifice the 10% from Target in exchange for the rewards from my personal credit card. Of course, I could always just directly use the credit card for all my Target purchases, but I have separate reasons for going through gift cards instead... It wouldn't be against policy though, right?

 

[FlowMonkey]

your also paying 5% extra for the amex cards so that negates half of your discount anyway

 

[ptl]

You can't use your TM discount if you pay with a Target VISA/AmEx Gift Card, because it is essentially a credit card with the logo and is even run through as a credit. That is part of why they cannot be paid with by a regular Target GiftCard, because the regular Gift Card can't be used to purchase credit.

Buying regular GiftCards with cash is probably fine, but completely redundant. You can get your discount when you pay with cash or GiftCard, so there's no reason to even need to purchase a GiftCard with cash in the first place. The policy is only against buying GiftCards with your non-Target debit and credit cards, because you're not supposed to get a discount if you use those.

I understand, and thanks for the advice. The reason I'm interested is because I have a credit card that earns me good miles when I use it. Using that card is worth more (to me) than the extra 5% I can save using my Redcard. Losing the additional 10% TM discount, however, makes it less worth it... I was hoping to find a way to still be able to hang on to my 10% discount while earning my rewards. I do know that Target wants to prevent exactly that from happening though, so I expected this would be the answer.

Just for the record, my proposed idea would be more like this- Use credit card to purchase Visa/AmEx gift card-> Use Visa/AmEx gift card to purchase Target gift card (not using discount, because they don't apply to the purchase of Target gift cards anyway)-> Use Target gift card along with TM discount for my regular daily shopping. I do know this is really just a more convoluted way to get around the store policy, but it was worth a shot to see if it might work. Thanks again for the feedback!

Just play it safe and don't buy yourself a gift card.

Agreed. Keeping my job is worth more than the 10% anyway.

~~~

Okay, so I have one other theoretical question. Can I buy myself a Target gift card using a non-Target credit card and just choose not to apply my 10% discount whenever I use the Target gift card? I'd basically be choosing to sacrifice the 10% from Target in exchange for the rewards from my personal credit card. Of course, I could always just directly use the credit card for all my Target purchases, but I have separate reasons for going through gift cards instead... It wouldn't be against policy though, right?

To answer the second question first: That would be fine. You can do anything you want, payment-wise, if you don't use your TM discount.

To the first scenario: Don't even worry about buying the prepaid credit cards. Go ahead and use your rewards-earning credit card to just buy Target giftcards directly, but don't buy them at Target. Buy them at a grocery store. That way the grocery store pays the transaction fee, not Target--so Target doesn't care if you turn around and use that giftcard at the store with your discount. This isn't even "cheating" or "against the spirit of the rule" because the spirit of the rule is that Target doesn't want to pay transaction fees. Everybody (except the grocery store) wins.

 

[Hasrdotkotu]

To answer the second question first: That would be fine. You can do anything you want, payment-wise, if you don't use your TM discount.

To the first scenario: Don't even worry about buying the prepaid credit cards. Go ahead and use your rewards-earning credit card to just buy Target giftcards directly, but don't buy them at Target. Buy them at a grocery store. That way the grocery store pays the transaction fee, not Target--so Target doesn't care if you turn around and use that giftcard at the store with your discount. This isn't even "cheating" or "against the spirit of the rule" because the spirit of the rule is that Target doesn't want to pay transaction fees. Everybody (except the grocery store) wins.

Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful, and I will do just that!

 

[researchr]

I didn't know Target gift cards were available at grocery stores...

 

[redeye58]

Yep, they sell 'em at groc stores near us.
The main difference is those cards take 24 hrs to activate as opposed to the ones we sell that activate immediately. Discovered it when a teacher got one as a gift which had been purchased earlier in the day (way to wait until the last minute, folks). When she brought it back the next day, it worked fine.

 

[3LetterDevil]

Okay.....here's one for ya.....my minor son got a Target gift card for Christmas. When we used it, he spent over the amount on the card so I paid for the remainder with my red card and wanted to use my discount. The b**** ETL that was working the register tried to tell me that I "technically wasn't supposed to use the discount since I wasn't paying for over 1/2 of the purchase, but she'd make an exception"??? WTF!!! He's 10!!! If he were 16, he'd be able to have his own "dependent" card, but since he's not, isn't it perfectly acceptable for me to use mine with his gift card and my red card? I mean, it's not like I'm using it for some random child, it's MY child!!!

 

[TargetTeam]

I never really worry about giftcards anymore. I got them when I got a new RX at the pharmacy but somehow they stopped that ( weird) and focused on the 5 percent mailings in the mail.

 

[redeye58]

Okay.....here's one for ya.....my minor son got a Target gift card for Christmas. When we used it, he spent over the amount on the card so I paid for the remainder with my red card and wanted to use my discount. The b**** ETL that was working the register tried to tell me that I "technically wasn't supposed to use the discount since I wasn't paying for over 1/2 of the purchase, but she'd make an exception"??? WTF!!! He's 10!!! If he were 16, he'd be able to have his own "dependent" card, but since he's not, isn't it perfectly acceptable for me to use mine with his gift card and my red card? I mean, it's not like I'm using it for some random child, it's MY child!!!

Your ETL was wrong. Your son is a dependent & should have been allowed your discount.

 

[3LetterDevil]

Okay.....here's one for ya.....my minor son got a Target gift card for Christmas. When we used it, he spent over the amount on the card so I paid for the remainder with my red card and wanted to use my discount. The b**** ETL that was working the register tried to tell me that I "technically wasn't supposed to use the discount since I wasn't paying for over 1/2 of the purchase, but she'd make an exception"??? WTF!!! He's 10!!! If he were 16, he'd be able to have his own "dependent" card, but since he's not, isn't it perfectly acceptable for me to use mine with his gift card and my red card? I mean, it's not like I'm using it for some random child, it's MY child!!!

Your ETL was wrong. Your son is a dependent & should have been allowed your discount.

That's what I thought! It made no sense to me that he couldn't get the discount because of his age???

 

[mrknownothing]

Okay.....here's one for ya.....my minor son got a Target gift card for Christmas. When we used it, he spent over the amount on the card so I paid for the remainder with my red card and wanted to use my discount. The b**** ETL that was working the register tried to tell me that I "technically wasn't supposed to use the discount since I wasn't paying for over 1/2 of the purchase, but she'd make an exception"??? WTF!!! He's 10!!! If he were 16, he'd be able to have his own "dependent" card, but since he's not, isn't it perfectly acceptable for me to use mine with his gift card and my red card? I mean, it's not like I'm using it for some random child, it's MY child!!!

Your ETL was wrong. Your son is a dependent & should have been allowed your discount.

That's what I thought! It made no sense to me that he couldn't get the discount because of his age???

This. It shouldn't matter how old (or young) he is, as long as he is a dependent.

 

[nobiliscus]

Don't forget about the Target Credit Union! I switched my checking/savings account over to them and love it. No fees and amazing customer service. It's a division of BCU so you get free access to all Co-op network ATMs (like ATMs at other credit unions including School's First and Arrowhead). To top it all off you get a fancy red debit card that you can use in conjunction with your discount 😉

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

7-11 is a co-op too.. Lovin'it.