Someone in a group I’m in asked if there was a resource that listed which sites that sell gift cards allow you to use a VPN when submitting orders, so this post is to collect data about that.
In case you’re not familiar with VPNs, it stands for Virtual Private Network. Some people use them for security, especially if they’re using a public Wi-Fi network (such as in hotels, coffee shops, etc.). My wife and I travel full-time and so are pretty much always on public Wi-Fi networks, so we both have a VPN installed on our laptops that automatically connects anytime we’re online.
Other people use them to get around country restrictions. For example, the BBC only allows UK residents to stream online content on the BBC iPlayer. When popular shows come out in the UK first (e.g. Sherlock), people could use a VPN to make it look like they were based in the UK and so were able to stream that content before it became available overseas.
One problem with VPNs is that some sites put restrictions on people using them. For example, Ally Bank doesn’t allow you to load their website whatsoever if you have a VPN turned on. Considering many people use a VPN for security, forcing those customers to use an insecure internet connection seems nonsensical, although it’s presumably to help overseas hackers from accessing compromised accounts.
Some retailers won’t allow you to submit orders with a VPN turned on. Other retailers will allow you to submit orders, but they’ll auto-cancel your order due to the VPN.
There’s a list below of various sites that sell gift cards. Please contribute your data points in the comments as to whether or not you’ve had problems submitting orders with a VPN turned on. ‘Yes’ means you can order gift cards from them using a VPN, while ‘No’ means you can’t. With ‘No’ answers, please share if you’re simply not able to place an order or if your order gets auto-cancelled. Please also add data points for other sites that aren’t listed below and I’ll add those to the list.
Please could you also share which VPN you use as that might influence the results below – a list of initials is at the end of the post.
Best Buy
Yes – 1 (PIA)
No – 1 (PIA)
eBay
Yes – 1 (PIA)
No –
eGifter
Yes – 1, 2
No – 1 (EVPN*), 2 (PIA), 3 (EVPN), 4 (OL)
*It might be location dependent based on your billing address rather than VPNs being inherently a problem – thanks to Adam in the comments.
Giant Eagle
Yes – 1 (PIA)
No –
GiftCardMall
Yes – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN)
No – 1 (PIA)
GiftCards.com
Yes –
No – 1 (PIA)
Gyft
Yes –
No – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN), 3, 4 (PIA)
Kroger
Yes – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN)
No – 1 (PIA)
MyGiftCardsPlus
Yes – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN)
No – 1, 2 (PIA)
Newegg
Yes – 1 (PIA), 2 (PIA)
No –
PayPal Digital Gifts
Yes – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN), 3 (PIA)
No – 1 (PIA)
Raise
Yes – 1, 2, 3 (PIA)
No – 1 (PIA), 2
(n.b. I’ve been unable to log in to my account with a VPN turned on, but I think I’ve then been able to submit an order when turning the VPN back on after logging in.)
Staples
Yes – 1 (PIA)
No – 1 (PIA)
Swagbucks
Yes – 1 (PIA)
No – 1 (PIA), 2 (EVPN), 3
(n.b. Swagbucks will lock your account when redeeming Swagbucks for gift cards when using a VPN.)
List of VPNs
PIA = Private Internet Access
EVPN = Express VPN
OL = Outline
I think one of my friends sent in my data to you regarding VPN usage in response to your initial query, so I wouldn’t add any data points based upon what I’m going to say, but rather maybe edit what you’ve already written down if you used the data points I gave him. I provided data on Swagbucks. MGC+, gcm, Kroger, ppdg, gyft, egifter, and Raise
For VPN, I use ExpressVPN. I don’t think the city I select matters too much.
For eGifter, I said that the VPN doesn’t work, but I may have misspoken. I think eGifter is very sensitive to where you are actually accessing the internet from, and if you are accessing the internet from a location different than your billing address, you will have problems. I’ve tried to use a VPN while traveling both overseas and domestically and have never had success with eGifter unless I was geographically close to home. So I don’t think VPN actually matters with eGifter, but rather your physical location. I’ve never used my VPN from home with eGifter, so I can’t know for certain how well it works.
Thanks for all those DPs – I’ve updated the post to include the VPN you use and the info you provided about eGifter.
Just a question after what @adam has written. I have been able to use the 4G network on the phone to buy from egifter. Given this, how does egifter know my location?
I’m assuming they still get some kind of location data based on where your phone is located, but I’m not certain about that.
Data points since I live outside the US –
All using PIA
Best Buy – canceled immediately
eBay – yes
regifter – canceled immediately
Giant Eagle – yes
Gift Card Mall – canceled immediately
GiftCards.com – canceled immediately
Gyft – no, app can tell you’re not in US
Kroger – canceled immediately
MyGiftCardsPlus – canceled immediately
Newegg – yes
PPDG – yes
Raise – have to ‘log in with facebook’ not via password
Staples – canceled immediately
Swagbucks – yes
Thanks for all those DPs – I’ve added them to the post.
There’s a note that Swagbucks locks your account if you redeem with a VPN on. I redeemed last week and am logged into my account right now with no issues.
Used PIA. However, my PIA subscription ran out yesterday, and I’m switching to ExpressVPN as someone in a buying group I’m in said she has much better success with Express than with PIA regarding canceled orders.
That’s really strange. They locked my account every time I tried redeeming and they specifically stated it’s because I used a VPN, but there must be inconsistent enforcement of that.
Here’s an interesting one: your site just blocked me!
I’ve started my expressVPN account and was connected to Tampa 1, site said my IP is blocked. Changed to Miami 2 and now here I am 🙂
That’s really strange! I don’t have anything set up to disallow people using a VPN, so maybe Hostgator blocks it?
Sorry for the noob question, but can anyone clarify what is private internet access? Does it mean using your phone data plan?
As for egifter, I have tried Express VPN and Outline using servers located in state, but it did not work
Thanks for those additional DPs – I’ll add to the list.
As for Private Internet Access, it’s the name of a VPN.
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