It turns out GC Galore is older than I thought it was!
I’d set myself a calendar reminder ages ago to write a post for December 28, 2023 as that was going to be the 5th birthday of this site. When checking last night though, I found that the very first deal posted on here was a Newegg deal for Domino’s gift cards which went out on December 20, 2018, so 5 years and 1 week ago. Oops.
How GC Galore Came To Be
At the start of 2018 I started writing part-time for Frequent Miler. We sometimes covered gift card deals on there, but usually only those travel-related or when there were some other notable offers (e.g. iTunes, Amazon, etc.). Doctor of Credit covered some gift card deals too, while you could also find some offers on sites like Slickdeals, but I realized that there didn’t seem to be any site out there that only focused on gift card deals.
I’d been reselling gift cards since October 2015, so I knew that there were quite a few deals around that were good for reselling but which didn’t get covered on sites like FM, DoC, etc.
I’d created 50+ websites over the previous 10 years and knew I had the discipline to make a go of this if I wanted, but I sat with the idea for several weeks over the fall of 2018 to make sure it was something I was truly interested in working on. Resource ideas consumed my thoughts over the course of those following weeks, so I decided to get it set up just before Christmas.
From 30 Minutes To Hours & Hours
I was hopelessly naïve though.
At the time, I thought I had a good grasp on all the gift card deals out there. I figured there’d be – on average – 6 new deals per day. Assuming I could post those quickly by making each deal post nice and concise, I’d spend maybe 30 minutes per day on the site. That’s what I assured my wife, confident that GC Galore wouldn’t be a time suck.
As it turns out, there are far more gift card deals out there than I’d anticipated. I’m not someone who likes to do things by halves and I’m quite pedantic, so I like completeness in what I do. Over time, I’ve discovered an ever increasing number of places to source discounted gift cards, whether that’s some random small grocery store chain in the middle of Iowa to a store that sells spices to white labeled online gift card portals for grocery stores and much more. I therefore add each one to my list of sites to check.
To help ensure I don’t forget anything, I use Google Calendar to send me email reminders for which stores to check when. H-E-B deals are available from 1am ET on Wednesdays (or shortly thereafter), Safeway digital coupons sometimes go live at 12am ET and other times at 3am ET, MyGiftCardsPlus deals go live at 12pm ET on the first of the month and sometimes other days too, etc.
All that’s meant that what I thought was going to be a project taking up maybe 30 minutes per day has pretty much become a full-time job. November and December are a nonstop cascade of deals, so during those months I’m like the parent of a newborn just taking naps whenever there’s a quiet moment as otherwise I’m up all night!
I Still Love It
It might sound like I’m complaining, but I’m not. Although GC Galore hasn’t turned out to be what I thought it would in terms of how long I spend working on it each day, I love what it’s become and that it’s such a thorough resource.
What makes it all worthwhile is you – the reader. Many of you have reached out in one way or another over the years to say thank you which is always greatly appreciated. Even if you haven’t done that, just know that you visiting the site warms my heart and makes it all worthwhile. Knowing that you’re getting value from the site – whether that’s because it’s helping you find profitable deals for reselling or just by saving you money on your everyday purchases – helps keep up the motivation. Thanks also to everyone who’s sent in tips for gift card deals that I’ve missed, as well as those who’ve let me know when I’ve made an error when writing up a deal. Like I said earlier, I’m pedantic and so like everything to be correct, so I genuinely appreciate when people let me know about mistakes so that I can fix them.
Here’s To Many More Years
Five years (and a week) isn’t a very long time in the grand scheme of things, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I can still remember sitting at the kitchen table of the Airbnb we were staying at on the outskirts of Denver over the holidays, working on getting the site set up. A lot has changed over those five years and a lot will change over the next five, but one thing I’m certain about is that I’ll be able to write another post in 2028 for GC Galore’s 10th anniversary thanking you for reading 🙂
Thank you for all you do!
Thank you 🙂
Thank you, Stephen. I enjoy your work very much. This is the best place to get all the gift card deals and learn how to stack all possible deals to get the best price. Thank you again for the amazing website.
Thanks! I’m glad it gives to much value.
Congratulations on 5 years Stephen!
Thank you!
Thank you very much Stephen. God bless you.
Thanks, I appreciate it
Thank you for all you do! I had no idea you’re manually checking each site each day. When do you sleep? Lol
I tend to get 5-6 hours of sleep at night, then try to have a good nap at some point during the day or in the evening. In November & December it can be less than that though!
Great Job Stephen! Best wishes for your continued success!
Thanks!
Happy Birthday and congratulations Stephen!
Thank you for all your hard work. I greatly appreciate all you do and am sending best wishes for another successful year in the making!
Best,
Thia
Thanks – appreciate you too 🙂
Love the site Stephen! Thanks for all the hard work.
Thank you!
Happy Birthday!!! Thanks for all you do. You have changed my family’s lives for the better. Happy Holidays to your family too.
That’s awesome – I’m glad it’s had such a positive impact 🙂
Nice work, and please do continue your focus on gift cards!
Will do!
Congratulations, Stephen! GCGalore is a must read every day!
Thank you!
Happy Site Birthday! It’s appreciated how much work you put in, especially since so many gift card deals don’t pay commission or pay very low rates in the unlikely event they do.
Thanks!
Congratulations. You are appreciated! Thanks for all your hard work.
Thank you 🙂
Thank you Stephen and Happy Birthday to your lovely offspring, which I visit almost on a daily basis!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Keep up the amazing job!
Thank you – I appreciate all you do too, particularly the jokes!
As others said, but if it helps, I check the site quite a few times every day too, lol! Thanks for your contribution, obviously the go-to for gc!
Thanks for visiting so frequently 🙂
thank you!
Thanks!
I want to make sure you’re making money though? Can we send a Christmas gift?
Yep, the site is making money. I’ve never tried to work out what I’m making on an effective hourly basis (it’s probably not great) as I’ve no idea how much actual time I spend working on GC Galore throughout the year, but it makes enough to make it worthwhile and hopefully it’ll only continue to grow as time goes on.
Thanks for making it so easy to save $
I’m glad it makes it so easy 🙂
Thank you very much for all the work you do to get us the giftcard deals . I visit the site few times a day . Congratulations on 5th Birthday.
Thanks!