Finance Fridays – Zeek

For last week's Finance Fridays we were looking at how much the change in your pocket could really be worth. For this week we are talking about a new way to buy gift vouchers. For some years now you have been able to buy gifts vouchers at both the retailer it is for and in other shops such as supermarkets. However if you hand over £10 in cash you will get a voucher for £10 back. Wouldn't it be great to buy gift vouchers at a price lower than the amount on them? This is where Zeek comes in.

Zeek is a website and app which allows people to sell unwanted gift cards which are then sold on to people wanting to buy them. I was asked to try out the Zeek app and see what I thought of it. One thing I have done before knowing I wanted to buy a certain item is to buy gift vouchers in one shop in order to get a promotional deal and then spend the voucher on the item I wanted. On this occasion I was able to buy a £50 Toys R Us voucher for £47. It may not seem like much of a discount but at the moment they have a 3 for 2 deal on my son's favourite toys and in the coming months it is both his birthday and Christmas. By ordering online I was able to get free delivery and go through Quidco to get another £3 back in cashback. At the payment stage I simply entered the code that Zeek had sent me. So retailer discount, cashback and gift voucher discount.

If you are looking for gift vouchers for bigger amounts then of course the discounts get bigger. Whilst looking through I saw a Marks and Spencer voucher for £439 selling for £393 – great if you were already intending to buy a high price item such as some furniture. If you are also needing to buy several gift vouchers say for Christmas presents then the small discounts on each one could add up.

Of course in order for Zeek to sell the gift vouchers they need people to sell on their unwanted gift cards. If you have a gift card for over £10 and under £500 you can upload the details to the Zeek site and wait for someone to buy it. Zeek charge a processing fee of 7% (minimum £3) and amount you charge for the card needs to be at least 10% lower than its face value. Of course if you're after quick cash you could put it on at a far lower amount than what is worth but if you're willing to wait for a buyer then pitch it higher. Once it has been sold if it is a digital voucher you just wait for your payment to come through. If it is a physical gift you will need to send it to Zeek to send it onto the buyer. Zeek then pay you through either PayPal or bank transfer. I've won some gift vouchers through competitions before and often thought I would have preferred the cash and now I know there is a way to achieve this.

My only criticism is that on the app the retailers available are not listed in any order. I think it would be better to lay them out in alphabetical order or even have them divided into types of retailers such as clothing, books, sports, supermarkets etc. On the main website you can do this. There is however a search function if you had a specific brand in mind. Of course if no one is selling a gift voucher for your chosen retailer and/or amount then you won't be able to purchase one.

If you fancy giving the Zeek site a try I have an affilate code giving new users £5.00 off their first purchase. Just enter the code 282FPQ6N at the checkout.

Have you ever wanted to sell unwanted gift vouchers? Would you use an online voucher site?

I received credit for using the Zeek app but all words and opinions are my own.