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Lecturer: Payne
Greetings. Lecture topic: “Gift & E-Gift Cards.”
Gift card, gift certificate, gift voucher or gift token are different names for a prepaid card, the balance (face value) of which can be spent in a specific store or chain of markets. There are two types of gift cards: physical and electronic.
Technically, it is a generated code (sometimes along with a password) for a given amount for payment in a store. Most often, the desired denomination can be selected when placing an order; there may also be limits, for example, from 5 to 1000. After purchase, it is sent by email or, in the case of physical cards, to a real address.
The idea is simple: money as a gift may be socially inappropriate, and in exchange for an item that may be useless, a “Gift Card” is used as a gift and the recipient decides what to buy. Simply put, a ready-made card is a full-fledged, independent payment tool without bank transactions.
As a result, due to its popularity among consumers and convenience for fraudsters, anti-fraud systems are especially careful in this area. Therefore, to believe that the gift card industry is a “promised land” is incorrect and naive.
Characteristics of gift cards.
1. Electronic. There is a common myth: “an electronic gift card cannot be blocked.” This is not true, the card balance in this case is nominal; the information is stored in the merchant or bank database. This means that the cards themselves are returnable and the probability of blocking depends on the material, anti-fraud system, “weather”, and so on.
From the buyer’s point of view, the financial turnover from ordering and receiving a card to purchasing or transferring to a third party is entirely within the scope of online activity. This eliminates the risks associated with the delivery address and sale of goods. However, it does not cancel a variety of client verifications and billing address validation.
2. Physical. In contrast to electronic cards, physical cards also have a material medium of information - plastic, barcodes, magnetic stripe. This makes blocking less likely (more difficult for the issuer to intervene) than with clearly returnable electronic ones, but it all depends on the type of physical card and store.
Since a physical card is an object delivered by courier services, receiving a parcel requires an address with all the ensuing consequences: AVS, sales niche, store or post office opening hours, forwarding (and many official intermediaries do not accept them).
3. For physical and electronic in general. Theoretically, the card may have an expiration date or an additional commission upon purchase, but these parameters are now regulated by law and are almost never found in the West. It is practiced in the CIS countries, which for obvious reasons are not taken into account.
Also, there are two types of cards: one-time and renewable. Unlike one-time ones, which expire after use, renewable ones save a code (or code-password combination) with the ability to re-enter the balance - usually via a link leading to a presentation of the card (sent by email) or somewhere on the store page.
In addition, cards have restrictions on the regions in which they can be used, for example: US, EU, Canada, Worldwide/RegionFree. Depends on the nature of a particular store (local, global) and its assortment - the global store may also sell regional cards.
As a rule, details and conditions of use are indicated in the product description, and the region may be additionally marked in the name of the card with a mark like “Gift Card Europe/EU”.
Features of gift card stores.
There are four conventional subtypes of stores with gift cards: standard, intermediaries, special and corporate.
1. Standard. Clothing or other stores with the ability to sell cards of your (and only your) brand. In other words, store "A" can only have cards "A", not "B" and not "C". Gift cards are a good marketing ploy, so many people use them to expand their product range or for advertising purposes.
Standard stores have a generalized anti-fraud system, where gift cards are treated in the same way as orders from other categories or with minor deviations (preset rules). Thus, this type of store is the easiest to operate.
However, it is important to note: the overall level of a store’s anti-fraud system matters - if it is extremely high, the statement “most simple” may lose relevance.
2. Intermediaries. Continuing the analogy, these are again clothing stores, but in which, in addition to “A” cards, there are also “B”, “C” and others. If in the first case cards are marketing, here they are a developed product category and one of the income items, and orders can be considered in parallel with clothing.
Due to these circumstances and their result - meaningful statistics, anti-fraud systems of intermediaries have a larger set of rules regarding gift cards than standard stores. Naturally, working with the second type is more difficult (all other things being equal).
In some ways, both types are connected: the intermediary may sell standard cards. For example: when buying card “A” in a standard store “A” is too tough, you can try to go the other way - through an intermediary, and buy “A” in store “B”. Of course, it makes sense if the anti-fraud system “B” is softer, otherwise it will only complicate everything.
3. Special. They only sell gift cards and nothing else. Specialty stores concentrate their attention on the only category of goods that is also fundamentally prone to attacks by scammers - gift cards. Includes two types:
• secondary market - sale and purchase of gift cards. It also happens in intermediary stores, the difference is that there is nothing except cards in special ones;
• aggregators. A large number of items (usually dozens or hundreds), while cards from other users are not sold.
Well-functioning mechanisms of anti-fraud systems, well-thought-out scenarios for all occasions and an extensive array of rules are not uncommon here, and the larger the aggregator, the more likely, the stricter its anti-fraud system. Consistent work with this species certainly does not proceed without complications and surprises.
Intermediaries (2) and aggregators (3.2) also have a common, non-obvious feature: in one store, in positions “A”, “B” and “C” the anti-fraud system may have different settings. More accessible: let’s say that scammers buy “A” much more often than “C”, therefore, the procedure for confirming the order “C” can be slightly simplified.
This simultaneously saves store resources (man-hours, checks) and makes life easier for customers, and technically statistics continue to be collected, which allows settings to be adjusted in real time. This follows partly from the principle mentioned in previous lectures about comparing fraudulent orders, and partly from practice.
The system can be called situational - it all depends on the size of the store, its policies and the total number of orders. Not every store has this feature (and you won’t know about it in advance), but as necessary, you can try to reduce the liquidity of the brand.
4. Corporate. Services are not for a wide audience, which are approached by various companies and organizations on individual terms: wholesale purchases, official cooperation procedures, checks. Also, the category can be in any type of store - somewhere on the page you will be invited to contact support or follow a link.
In fact, closer to a transaction from a legal entity, accordingly, you may need bank accounts, front companies (or their visibility thanks to information), communication with service representatives, and verification. In terms of speed and frequency of work processes and financial turnover, this is the most unattractive method, but quite serious.
Work processes.
Once again, we note the importance of all masking components: IP address, digital fingerprints and active session - cookie, warm-up, client data. All this is especially important when working with a direction that is considered risky from the point of view of anti-fraud systems and banks, but in this context the choice of material, stores and structure are no less significant.
Between this and then. To a certain extent, the described rules are relevant not only for gift cards, but also for electronic goods in general: activation keys, game codes, virtual balances, etc. The topics are related, the details differ.
1. Material. The first thing that comes to mind is credit cards. This is the most accessible and understandable way of working, largely consistent with the already familiar trends: firstly, it is more effective to use less famous banks such as Chase, BofA, CapOne, CreditOne, WellFargo, Citi, TD and others.
Of course, you shouldn’t be categorical; you can work productively with everyone. But an operation such as buying a gift card (especially considering the availability of the history and “habits” of the owner) by default creates additional risks, and with the use of capricious banks, everything only gets worse.
Secondly, the card system (Visa, MC, Amex), type (Debit, Credit) and level (Classic, Platinum, Gold). It is not important for the result, except for the specifics: for example, fast chargebacks with Amex or balance with Platinum. However, it matters statistically, in the form of the passability of certain bins - this is always important. Consider also the lethality of card checkers.
In addition, special material - enroll, bank accounts, various kinds of logs and self-registrations. There are no obvious advantages, but in some circumstances it can be a lifeline: requesting mini-deposits or verifications, working with corporate stores and services, balance and billing issues.
2. Answering the question about searching for stores, there are no fundamental differences between ordinary goods and gift cards: it is enough to use the keywords “E-Gift cards” or “Gift certificate”, and having the exact goal - to combine with the brand name, you can go this route to all types of shops.
There's an easy way to find a gift card name that's guaranteed to sell: gauge demand. Services for buying gift cards on the forum are concentrated in the section “VCC, prepaid, checks, gift cards, coupons, vouchers.” In their list you can find brands of different liquidity (the more% in favor of the seller, the more liquid).
In addition to private services, there are peer-to-peer financial exchange platforms. These are sites designed for cryptocurrency exchange, bank transfers, payment systems and, among other things, gift certificates between users.
On such resources, interest rates for the exchange of certificates may differ favorably, or you can find some interesting store name that the “locals” do not work with. Unfortunately, such services usually have extremely unpleasant conditions - various verifications.
Liquidity is determined by the store's product: the popularity of the clothing brand, electronics, equipment and market demand vary from 15 to 90 percent. In addition, liquidity serves as a kind of indicator of the complexity of the store to operate, albeit indirectly. The higher the percentages, the more demanding “standard” stores are, at a minimum.
This, however, does not exclude the possibility of finding a simpler “intermediary”. So, by selecting the name, the path opens to search for stores that have the required certificate: “Buy “A” Gift Card”. In addition, a search by product categories (“notebook”, “phone”) along with keywords (“Gift cards”) or a simple check of the assortment of all and sundry will allow you to notice “standard” stores that do not participate in the turnover of “aggregators” and having no “intermediaries”. In a word, unpopular.
3. Work structure. When interacting with stores, there are three main strategies: using other people’s accounts, your own, or calling. “Alien” includes logs, various types of access or brute accounts (with or without their own saved payment tools). To “theirs” and work by calling - registered manually.
When affecting other people's accounts, you should refer to information on relevant topics, since working with gift cards in this case is one of the ways to sell accounts, and not vice versa. Mentioned more for the purpose of providing information than as a guide to action.
Placing an order by calling (dialing) is structured similarly to any other forms of this work: substituting a phone number, contacting store support. In the context of gift cards, they can be seen as an alternative “approach” when conventional methods are no longer valid, as well as in the form of tests and information mining.
Then, having determined the goal and strategy, you can move on to working with the store. Basic warming up and masking are absolutely the same as when working with a garment, and in order not to be repeated, these details will be omitted. On the other hand, the direction of gift cards has distinctive features that are worth considering in detail.
Basket. Gift cards are quite a flexible product; orders with them can be modified. For example, 1 unit of goods with a nominal value of 200, 2 units with a nominal value of 100, 4 units of 50 - in all cases the amount is equal to 200, but each order will be different. Moreover, the order can be placed together with any other product, so-called “socks” to the client’s address.
Also, for electronic cards you can select a delivery date, in other words, time it. All this in different combinations (today “socks”, tomorrow a card) is a type of warm-up with which you can earn store loyalty. At the same time, you should remember: no “socks” in the order will prevent you from being assessed as an “order with a certificate.”
Logically, working with liquid stores is more difficult than working with illiquid stores. Sometimes you need to reduce the amount of orders if you want to regularly sell only those certificates for which they give at least 50%. With illiquid ones, on the contrary, because the work is relatively simpler - you can increase the amounts, thereby leveling the difference in percentage. For example:
A liquid certificate with a face value of 200 can be sold for 50%, minus investments (for example, $15 - card and socks), the net profit will be: $85. In an illiquid store with a lower level of anti-fraud system, the denomination can be increased to 400, then at a rate of 25% per certificate, the profit will be the same ($85), but the difference in anti-fraud systems will remain.
The example is formal and does not take into account the performance of the material or losses, but practically it says that it is not necessary to immediately rush to liquid stores and it makes sense to give preference to illiquid ones, especially if you are inexperienced in this area.
Emails. At the registration stage and then placing an order, you will need to enter a total of two emails: the client (buyer) and the recipient of the electronic gift card (recipient). Both parameters are included in the array of rules of the anti-fraud system, which ultimately determines the fate of the order. The priorities, on average, are:
• a decent domain from among @gmail, @yahoo, @hotmail/outlook, @aol, or, as a last resort, @mail.com;
• if technically possible, then corporate (“@mysite.com”) or specific type @comcast, @cox, @att;
• preferably with the name in the address - johndoe@mail.com. If the name is taken, you can add numbers - johndoe33@mail.com, but without fanaticism;
• the recipient's name can be generated on sites similar to this: https://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ or, at least, combined from different ones;
• undoubtedly, registering social networks by email, activity and temporary tracking can have a positive impact on the result.
For reasons of variety, the recipient's email can be set to a different domain, such as gmail buyer, while the recipient is yahoo. It cannot be said that mail plays a major role in evaluating an order. But there is also reason to believe that these parameters are still taken into account, depending on the anti-fraud system.
In many stores, you can ignore the opportunity to send the certificate directly to the recipient, instead using delivery to yourself or simply entering the buyer’s email in the recipient’s column (to then give in person, use it yourself, etc.). The method is viable, but the concept of “recipient” may well increase store loyalty.
Personal message. A gift certificate is usually accompanied by something like a “postcard” - text written by the buyer when placing an order in a special field on the product page. There is no need to write in verse or formulas - it is enough to compose a meaningful, natural message.
This could be a birthday greeting, a wish on the occasion of a wedding, anniversary, funeral and other memorable events; a simple thank you or, say, a quote from a book. On the Internet you can find entire sites on this topic for the query “congratulations on ... in English”, which, nevertheless, are already worn out inside and out.
Always leaving the field blank is not a good idea because the message is somehow part of the entire customer persona. Writing the same thing every time, especially in the same store, is an even worse idea for obvious reasons. The solution is simple: replenish your vocabulary with semantic constructions from the above-mentioned sites and be creative.
AVS & Phone. When working with electronic certificates, there is no need to manipulate billing - the order arrives by email, unlike physical cards, which require a parcel delivery address. And yet, in addition to the address, billing contains a telephone number, and a call from a store, as we know, can be a nuisance.
Historically, the number is not a completely accurate billing attribute (it is completely normal to have several, divided into work and home), therefore, as a countermeasure to calls, it can be changed. Despite this, at least for electronic certificates it would be better to leave the number correct.
Reasons: firstly, most stores would rather ask for contact than call themselves, and if they call, it’s either a small store with a small number of orders, or an “error” in the scale of statistics; secondly, a correct number is a positive feature in the eyes of anti-fraud systems. For physical persons, change as necessary.
Time orientation: when to work and how long to wait for results. With physical cards, you need to take into account the store’s operating schedule and sending packages; electronic ones, for the most part, do not depend on time, with the exception of manual verification of orders when operators do not work around the clock in stores.
Typical purchase results for this area look like this:
• Instant. Order fulfillment instantly or within 5 minutes. For electronic gift cards the result is positive, for physical ones it is conditional, since the order has not yet been delivered;
• Instant Cancel, Decline and verification. Cancellation instantly or within 5 minutes (Cancel), refusal before the order is formed (Decline), as well as request for verification. It is no different from working with other product categories and demonstrates a negative response from the anti-fraud system, problems with the payment method or store;
• Response from 20 minutes to 12 hours - either fulfillment of the order or cancellation. In the case of gift cards, this is the average processing time without taking into account the work schedule, but if the store previously gave an instant response, it may mean a re-analysis of the anti-fraud system or an operator checking the order;
• Over 24 hours. Typically a bad sign: manual review is almost inevitable; Attempts may be made to contact the owner of the material. Moreover, often a long silence can be followed by blocking an account in a store if the client has been identified as a fraudster.
Important note: some types of reactions may not be provided for in principle - for example, processing will always take 12 hours. In such a situation, the attitude of the anti-fraud system can only be understood based on the “Yes/No” results. Typically, approximate frames can be found on the checkout page or in the product description.
Let's say, if something similar to “Instant Shipping” is written, apparently, there is a technical ability to process orders quickly. On the other hand, this is also influenced by the general condition of the anti-fraud system: at some point in time, due to a “bad mood”, it will not be inclined to compromise, regardless of the actions of an individual client.
Merchandising is the purchase of a physical product using a gift card. A physical card can be sold in a local store, an electronic card can be used to pay online. Using physical payment on the Internet or electronic payment in a local store is not possible with every brand.
The craft of gift cards, in particular electronic ones, allows you to use all the advantages of the sphere at once: AVS, completely online activity, a developed economic niche, relative independence from specific stores and services (not counting material suppliers, of course).
With all this, it is not always possible to sell the card to buying services or sell it on the forum, for example, due to illiquidity; In addition, the certificate can initially be purchased for the purpose of purchasing, for reasons of a specific assortment, brand, store or for other reasons. And if this happens, it is useful to know the following.
First, payment: stores have restrictions on product categories, for example, you cannot buy another gift card using a gift card. Then the payment button with a certificate will be inactive and/or this prohibition may appear in the product description.
The store account can have a replenishable balance in order to deposit a number of cards for use at the same time. It looks like this: the position costs 1000, two certificates with a face value of 500 add up to the total balance for a one-time payment.
If there is no balance, then during the ordering process they may allow the use of several different certificates as a payment method. And on the contrary, these options may not exist at all - there is no balance and payment is only with one certificate, and if the product is more expensive - an additional payment.
Second, addresses: stores, especially liquid ones, are biased towards the addresses of well-known intermediaries and forwarding services, and even blacklist them. A questionable address is a risk factor and, if possible, it is better not to push your luck. There is also difficulty on the side of intermediaries: not everyone accepts gift cards or goods paid for by them.
Of course, the order is placed by masking (IP address, system) the desired country and location as the recipient of the gift card (it is assumed that the buyer gives the card to a third party as a gift). In this case, it is not necessary that the name matches the one entered when purchasing the card - this is a non-critical indicator and, if something happens, it can be resolved by calling.
Third, to check the functionality and balance of the card, the store’s website almost always has a special column (or button, page) called “Check Balance/Check Gift Card”. Check as necessary, preferably from the IP address and masking the country of the owner of the material, otherwise you can provoke blocking of both the card and the account.
It is better to move from receiving an order to purchasing the goods after a natural period of time, say, a day or several hours (if you are purchasing on behalf of the person to whom this gift was given), but you can transfer the certificate to the buying services immediately.
Reuse of payment methods - credit cards, payment system accounts. A cost-minimizing solution that is particularly effective in this industry. The order amount with a gift card is on average an order of magnitude lower than when working with other categories of goods, which ultimately wastes less material and wastes the balance.
Two material reuse scenarios:
• after order cancellation (Decline, Cancel, blocking). It is rational when it is impossible to check the performance of the material from the supplier and subsequently return the money if it turns out to be dead. Non-refundable bases, expired time for verification, simple reluctance, etc.;
• after the certificate is sold (sale, merchandise). Sales should be considered receipt of the goods “in hand” or a net payment; until then, subsequent activity increases the likelihood of the death of the material, and therefore the first order. However, these circumstances are influenced by the type of material and the speed of return.
After cancellation it is necessary in order to more accurately verify the quality of the material and camouflage. If the order was sent to another store (with a different anti-fraud system), it seems that the problem is in the anti-fraud system of the first one and the client; if you can’t fit anywhere from the word at all, even reducing the liquidity or amount, there must be a problem in the material.
In the case of post-implementation use, this is profit maximization with virtually no additional financial costs if masking elements such as the IP address are still available. Here two relevant questions arise: which store and order amount to work with.
Firstly, working with the same store is advisable only with minor changes in disguise, otherwise the chance of re-evaluating the client from scratch increases and the loyalty earned by a successful purchase may evaporate. If the IP address is no longer relevant, you should choose a new store or put the matter on hold so that the changes can be explained.
Secondly, the order amount. To avoid the same type of actions, it is better to order in one store for different amounts - more or less depending on the type and level of the card. In different ones - as desired and without excesses, and if there were changes in the masking, then you can lower the amount to slightly relieve the pressure on the material.
Speaking about the time after which it is acceptable to use the material again, the recommendations are as follows: after cancellation, you can not delay and work immediately, warming up the new magazine, but you can also take a different path - do not shake the material with many attempts one after another, since it can hypothetically be alive—waiting, for example, a day won’t make things worse.
After implementation, you need to maintain a balance between the desire to try and the pattern of ordinary customers. Of course, buying yourself a certificate every couple of hours is at least suspicious, but at the same time, waiting for months is not an option.
Ultimately, all that remains is to try somewhere between “immediately” and “sometime in the future”, and then adjust the behavior in accordance with the reaction of certain beans and anti-fraud systems. Unfortunately, there are no universal answers.
Regarding payment system accounts: their health status is in most cases known, because they are mostly accessible. If the order does not go through, this shows the degree of trust and swing of the account itself. There are no differences in time, except for the characteristics of the payment system (calendar restrictions on expenses, etc.).
When ordering again, it is reasonable to change the recipient of the gift card. In general, reusing material not only brings additional profit and understanding of the work of certain stores, but also allows you to determine the vector for solving problems, make sure of the material, camouflage, and bins.
To sum up everything described above, we can safely say that the field of gift cards is rich and complex. Alas, it’s not the best option for a beginner, but if the choice has already been made, you shouldn’t start with the most liquid and complex stores.
That's all. Let's move on to the questions, put "?".
ya8no 20:28
Good evening.) Does AF take into account the mail that we indicate as the recipient of the Gift? Is it better to use old regs for them or does it make no difference?
Payne 20:29
Depends on the anti-fraud system, but rather takes it into account.
And since it takes into account, then naturally it’s better to trust.
ya8no 20:31
Another question) with what amounts is it better to start driving accounts into Gifts? If you conditionally make a gift on Amaz for 2k as your first order, is there a chance of success?
Payne 20:31
0 chances. This amount, even for a physical product, is not the smallest, and it’s absurd to even discuss it with such stores.
Payne 20:32
Depends on liquidity. Illiquid up to 400-500. Liquid divided by two.
wimmont 20:32
Let's say there are two sites selling Razer Gold cards. One is a small medium, and the other is off. Where is it better to try to drive in initially, and why? In case of failure on the off-site, do you need to change the mat, or immediately go to the middle one?
Payne 20:34
Depends on assumptions about both services. Where the anti-fraud system seems simpler in appearance or based on public information about the store, start there. The number of attempts after which it is appropriate to change the service depends on the quality of the material. If you try to make a transaction 1-3 times using initially dead material, this will tell you practically no important information about the store.
Well, since there are no more questions, I thank everyone for their presence and wish them good luck.
Greetings. Lecture topic: “Gift & E-Gift Cards.”
Gift card, gift certificate, gift voucher or gift token are different names for a prepaid card, the balance (face value) of which can be spent in a specific store or chain of markets. There are two types of gift cards: physical and electronic.
Technically, it is a generated code (sometimes along with a password) for a given amount for payment in a store. Most often, the desired denomination can be selected when placing an order; there may also be limits, for example, from 5 to 1000. After purchase, it is sent by email or, in the case of physical cards, to a real address.
The idea is simple: money as a gift may be socially inappropriate, and in exchange for an item that may be useless, a “Gift Card” is used as a gift and the recipient decides what to buy. Simply put, a ready-made card is a full-fledged, independent payment tool without bank transactions.
As a result, due to its popularity among consumers and convenience for fraudsters, anti-fraud systems are especially careful in this area. Therefore, to believe that the gift card industry is a “promised land” is incorrect and naive.
Characteristics of gift cards.
1. Electronic. There is a common myth: “an electronic gift card cannot be blocked.” This is not true, the card balance in this case is nominal; the information is stored in the merchant or bank database. This means that the cards themselves are returnable and the probability of blocking depends on the material, anti-fraud system, “weather”, and so on.
From the buyer’s point of view, the financial turnover from ordering and receiving a card to purchasing or transferring to a third party is entirely within the scope of online activity. This eliminates the risks associated with the delivery address and sale of goods. However, it does not cancel a variety of client verifications and billing address validation.
2. Physical. In contrast to electronic cards, physical cards also have a material medium of information - plastic, barcodes, magnetic stripe. This makes blocking less likely (more difficult for the issuer to intervene) than with clearly returnable electronic ones, but it all depends on the type of physical card and store.
Since a physical card is an object delivered by courier services, receiving a parcel requires an address with all the ensuing consequences: AVS, sales niche, store or post office opening hours, forwarding (and many official intermediaries do not accept them).
3. For physical and electronic in general. Theoretically, the card may have an expiration date or an additional commission upon purchase, but these parameters are now regulated by law and are almost never found in the West. It is practiced in the CIS countries, which for obvious reasons are not taken into account.
Also, there are two types of cards: one-time and renewable. Unlike one-time ones, which expire after use, renewable ones save a code (or code-password combination) with the ability to re-enter the balance - usually via a link leading to a presentation of the card (sent by email) or somewhere on the store page.
In addition, cards have restrictions on the regions in which they can be used, for example: US, EU, Canada, Worldwide/RegionFree. Depends on the nature of a particular store (local, global) and its assortment - the global store may also sell regional cards.
As a rule, details and conditions of use are indicated in the product description, and the region may be additionally marked in the name of the card with a mark like “Gift Card Europe/EU”.
Features of gift card stores.
There are four conventional subtypes of stores with gift cards: standard, intermediaries, special and corporate.
1. Standard. Clothing or other stores with the ability to sell cards of your (and only your) brand. In other words, store "A" can only have cards "A", not "B" and not "C". Gift cards are a good marketing ploy, so many people use them to expand their product range or for advertising purposes.
Standard stores have a generalized anti-fraud system, where gift cards are treated in the same way as orders from other categories or with minor deviations (preset rules). Thus, this type of store is the easiest to operate.
However, it is important to note: the overall level of a store’s anti-fraud system matters - if it is extremely high, the statement “most simple” may lose relevance.
2. Intermediaries. Continuing the analogy, these are again clothing stores, but in which, in addition to “A” cards, there are also “B”, “C” and others. If in the first case cards are marketing, here they are a developed product category and one of the income items, and orders can be considered in parallel with clothing.
Due to these circumstances and their result - meaningful statistics, anti-fraud systems of intermediaries have a larger set of rules regarding gift cards than standard stores. Naturally, working with the second type is more difficult (all other things being equal).
In some ways, both types are connected: the intermediary may sell standard cards. For example: when buying card “A” in a standard store “A” is too tough, you can try to go the other way - through an intermediary, and buy “A” in store “B”. Of course, it makes sense if the anti-fraud system “B” is softer, otherwise it will only complicate everything.
3. Special. They only sell gift cards and nothing else. Specialty stores concentrate their attention on the only category of goods that is also fundamentally prone to attacks by scammers - gift cards. Includes two types:
• secondary market - sale and purchase of gift cards. It also happens in intermediary stores, the difference is that there is nothing except cards in special ones;
• aggregators. A large number of items (usually dozens or hundreds), while cards from other users are not sold.
Well-functioning mechanisms of anti-fraud systems, well-thought-out scenarios for all occasions and an extensive array of rules are not uncommon here, and the larger the aggregator, the more likely, the stricter its anti-fraud system. Consistent work with this species certainly does not proceed without complications and surprises.
Intermediaries (2) and aggregators (3.2) also have a common, non-obvious feature: in one store, in positions “A”, “B” and “C” the anti-fraud system may have different settings. More accessible: let’s say that scammers buy “A” much more often than “C”, therefore, the procedure for confirming the order “C” can be slightly simplified.
This simultaneously saves store resources (man-hours, checks) and makes life easier for customers, and technically statistics continue to be collected, which allows settings to be adjusted in real time. This follows partly from the principle mentioned in previous lectures about comparing fraudulent orders, and partly from practice.
The system can be called situational - it all depends on the size of the store, its policies and the total number of orders. Not every store has this feature (and you won’t know about it in advance), but as necessary, you can try to reduce the liquidity of the brand.
4. Corporate. Services are not for a wide audience, which are approached by various companies and organizations on individual terms: wholesale purchases, official cooperation procedures, checks. Also, the category can be in any type of store - somewhere on the page you will be invited to contact support or follow a link.
In fact, closer to a transaction from a legal entity, accordingly, you may need bank accounts, front companies (or their visibility thanks to information), communication with service representatives, and verification. In terms of speed and frequency of work processes and financial turnover, this is the most unattractive method, but quite serious.
Work processes.
Once again, we note the importance of all masking components: IP address, digital fingerprints and active session - cookie, warm-up, client data. All this is especially important when working with a direction that is considered risky from the point of view of anti-fraud systems and banks, but in this context the choice of material, stores and structure are no less significant.
Between this and then. To a certain extent, the described rules are relevant not only for gift cards, but also for electronic goods in general: activation keys, game codes, virtual balances, etc. The topics are related, the details differ.
1. Material. The first thing that comes to mind is credit cards. This is the most accessible and understandable way of working, largely consistent with the already familiar trends: firstly, it is more effective to use less famous banks such as Chase, BofA, CapOne, CreditOne, WellFargo, Citi, TD and others.
Of course, you shouldn’t be categorical; you can work productively with everyone. But an operation such as buying a gift card (especially considering the availability of the history and “habits” of the owner) by default creates additional risks, and with the use of capricious banks, everything only gets worse.
Secondly, the card system (Visa, MC, Amex), type (Debit, Credit) and level (Classic, Platinum, Gold). It is not important for the result, except for the specifics: for example, fast chargebacks with Amex or balance with Platinum. However, it matters statistically, in the form of the passability of certain bins - this is always important. Consider also the lethality of card checkers.
In addition, special material - enroll, bank accounts, various kinds of logs and self-registrations. There are no obvious advantages, but in some circumstances it can be a lifeline: requesting mini-deposits or verifications, working with corporate stores and services, balance and billing issues.
2. Answering the question about searching for stores, there are no fundamental differences between ordinary goods and gift cards: it is enough to use the keywords “E-Gift cards” or “Gift certificate”, and having the exact goal - to combine with the brand name, you can go this route to all types of shops.
There's an easy way to find a gift card name that's guaranteed to sell: gauge demand. Services for buying gift cards on the forum are concentrated in the section “VCC, prepaid, checks, gift cards, coupons, vouchers.” In their list you can find brands of different liquidity (the more% in favor of the seller, the more liquid).
In addition to private services, there are peer-to-peer financial exchange platforms. These are sites designed for cryptocurrency exchange, bank transfers, payment systems and, among other things, gift certificates between users.
On such resources, interest rates for the exchange of certificates may differ favorably, or you can find some interesting store name that the “locals” do not work with. Unfortunately, such services usually have extremely unpleasant conditions - various verifications.
Liquidity is determined by the store's product: the popularity of the clothing brand, electronics, equipment and market demand vary from 15 to 90 percent. In addition, liquidity serves as a kind of indicator of the complexity of the store to operate, albeit indirectly. The higher the percentages, the more demanding “standard” stores are, at a minimum.
This, however, does not exclude the possibility of finding a simpler “intermediary”. So, by selecting the name, the path opens to search for stores that have the required certificate: “Buy “A” Gift Card”. In addition, a search by product categories (“notebook”, “phone”) along with keywords (“Gift cards”) or a simple check of the assortment of all and sundry will allow you to notice “standard” stores that do not participate in the turnover of “aggregators” and having no “intermediaries”. In a word, unpopular.
3. Work structure. When interacting with stores, there are three main strategies: using other people’s accounts, your own, or calling. “Alien” includes logs, various types of access or brute accounts (with or without their own saved payment tools). To “theirs” and work by calling - registered manually.
When affecting other people's accounts, you should refer to information on relevant topics, since working with gift cards in this case is one of the ways to sell accounts, and not vice versa. Mentioned more for the purpose of providing information than as a guide to action.
Placing an order by calling (dialing) is structured similarly to any other forms of this work: substituting a phone number, contacting store support. In the context of gift cards, they can be seen as an alternative “approach” when conventional methods are no longer valid, as well as in the form of tests and information mining.
Then, having determined the goal and strategy, you can move on to working with the store. Basic warming up and masking are absolutely the same as when working with a garment, and in order not to be repeated, these details will be omitted. On the other hand, the direction of gift cards has distinctive features that are worth considering in detail.
Basket. Gift cards are quite a flexible product; orders with them can be modified. For example, 1 unit of goods with a nominal value of 200, 2 units with a nominal value of 100, 4 units of 50 - in all cases the amount is equal to 200, but each order will be different. Moreover, the order can be placed together with any other product, so-called “socks” to the client’s address.
Also, for electronic cards you can select a delivery date, in other words, time it. All this in different combinations (today “socks”, tomorrow a card) is a type of warm-up with which you can earn store loyalty. At the same time, you should remember: no “socks” in the order will prevent you from being assessed as an “order with a certificate.”
Logically, working with liquid stores is more difficult than working with illiquid stores. Sometimes you need to reduce the amount of orders if you want to regularly sell only those certificates for which they give at least 50%. With illiquid ones, on the contrary, because the work is relatively simpler - you can increase the amounts, thereby leveling the difference in percentage. For example:
A liquid certificate with a face value of 200 can be sold for 50%, minus investments (for example, $15 - card and socks), the net profit will be: $85. In an illiquid store with a lower level of anti-fraud system, the denomination can be increased to 400, then at a rate of 25% per certificate, the profit will be the same ($85), but the difference in anti-fraud systems will remain.
The example is formal and does not take into account the performance of the material or losses, but practically it says that it is not necessary to immediately rush to liquid stores and it makes sense to give preference to illiquid ones, especially if you are inexperienced in this area.
Emails. At the registration stage and then placing an order, you will need to enter a total of two emails: the client (buyer) and the recipient of the electronic gift card (recipient). Both parameters are included in the array of rules of the anti-fraud system, which ultimately determines the fate of the order. The priorities, on average, are:
• a decent domain from among @gmail, @yahoo, @hotmail/outlook, @aol, or, as a last resort, @mail.com;
• if technically possible, then corporate (“@mysite.com”) or specific type @comcast, @cox, @att;
• preferably with the name in the address - johndoe@mail.com. If the name is taken, you can add numbers - johndoe33@mail.com, but without fanaticism;
• the recipient's name can be generated on sites similar to this: https://www.fakenamegenerator.com/ or, at least, combined from different ones;
• undoubtedly, registering social networks by email, activity and temporary tracking can have a positive impact on the result.
For reasons of variety, the recipient's email can be set to a different domain, such as gmail buyer, while the recipient is yahoo. It cannot be said that mail plays a major role in evaluating an order. But there is also reason to believe that these parameters are still taken into account, depending on the anti-fraud system.
In many stores, you can ignore the opportunity to send the certificate directly to the recipient, instead using delivery to yourself or simply entering the buyer’s email in the recipient’s column (to then give in person, use it yourself, etc.). The method is viable, but the concept of “recipient” may well increase store loyalty.
Personal message. A gift certificate is usually accompanied by something like a “postcard” - text written by the buyer when placing an order in a special field on the product page. There is no need to write in verse or formulas - it is enough to compose a meaningful, natural message.
This could be a birthday greeting, a wish on the occasion of a wedding, anniversary, funeral and other memorable events; a simple thank you or, say, a quote from a book. On the Internet you can find entire sites on this topic for the query “congratulations on ... in English”, which, nevertheless, are already worn out inside and out.
Always leaving the field blank is not a good idea because the message is somehow part of the entire customer persona. Writing the same thing every time, especially in the same store, is an even worse idea for obvious reasons. The solution is simple: replenish your vocabulary with semantic constructions from the above-mentioned sites and be creative.
AVS & Phone. When working with electronic certificates, there is no need to manipulate billing - the order arrives by email, unlike physical cards, which require a parcel delivery address. And yet, in addition to the address, billing contains a telephone number, and a call from a store, as we know, can be a nuisance.
Historically, the number is not a completely accurate billing attribute (it is completely normal to have several, divided into work and home), therefore, as a countermeasure to calls, it can be changed. Despite this, at least for electronic certificates it would be better to leave the number correct.
Reasons: firstly, most stores would rather ask for contact than call themselves, and if they call, it’s either a small store with a small number of orders, or an “error” in the scale of statistics; secondly, a correct number is a positive feature in the eyes of anti-fraud systems. For physical persons, change as necessary.
Time orientation: when to work and how long to wait for results. With physical cards, you need to take into account the store’s operating schedule and sending packages; electronic ones, for the most part, do not depend on time, with the exception of manual verification of orders when operators do not work around the clock in stores.
Typical purchase results for this area look like this:
• Instant. Order fulfillment instantly or within 5 minutes. For electronic gift cards the result is positive, for physical ones it is conditional, since the order has not yet been delivered;
• Instant Cancel, Decline and verification. Cancellation instantly or within 5 minutes (Cancel), refusal before the order is formed (Decline), as well as request for verification. It is no different from working with other product categories and demonstrates a negative response from the anti-fraud system, problems with the payment method or store;
• Response from 20 minutes to 12 hours - either fulfillment of the order or cancellation. In the case of gift cards, this is the average processing time without taking into account the work schedule, but if the store previously gave an instant response, it may mean a re-analysis of the anti-fraud system or an operator checking the order;
• Over 24 hours. Typically a bad sign: manual review is almost inevitable; Attempts may be made to contact the owner of the material. Moreover, often a long silence can be followed by blocking an account in a store if the client has been identified as a fraudster.
Important note: some types of reactions may not be provided for in principle - for example, processing will always take 12 hours. In such a situation, the attitude of the anti-fraud system can only be understood based on the “Yes/No” results. Typically, approximate frames can be found on the checkout page or in the product description.
Let's say, if something similar to “Instant Shipping” is written, apparently, there is a technical ability to process orders quickly. On the other hand, this is also influenced by the general condition of the anti-fraud system: at some point in time, due to a “bad mood”, it will not be inclined to compromise, regardless of the actions of an individual client.
Merchandising is the purchase of a physical product using a gift card. A physical card can be sold in a local store, an electronic card can be used to pay online. Using physical payment on the Internet or electronic payment in a local store is not possible with every brand.
The craft of gift cards, in particular electronic ones, allows you to use all the advantages of the sphere at once: AVS, completely online activity, a developed economic niche, relative independence from specific stores and services (not counting material suppliers, of course).
With all this, it is not always possible to sell the card to buying services or sell it on the forum, for example, due to illiquidity; In addition, the certificate can initially be purchased for the purpose of purchasing, for reasons of a specific assortment, brand, store or for other reasons. And if this happens, it is useful to know the following.
First, payment: stores have restrictions on product categories, for example, you cannot buy another gift card using a gift card. Then the payment button with a certificate will be inactive and/or this prohibition may appear in the product description.
The store account can have a replenishable balance in order to deposit a number of cards for use at the same time. It looks like this: the position costs 1000, two certificates with a face value of 500 add up to the total balance for a one-time payment.
If there is no balance, then during the ordering process they may allow the use of several different certificates as a payment method. And on the contrary, these options may not exist at all - there is no balance and payment is only with one certificate, and if the product is more expensive - an additional payment.
Second, addresses: stores, especially liquid ones, are biased towards the addresses of well-known intermediaries and forwarding services, and even blacklist them. A questionable address is a risk factor and, if possible, it is better not to push your luck. There is also difficulty on the side of intermediaries: not everyone accepts gift cards or goods paid for by them.
Of course, the order is placed by masking (IP address, system) the desired country and location as the recipient of the gift card (it is assumed that the buyer gives the card to a third party as a gift). In this case, it is not necessary that the name matches the one entered when purchasing the card - this is a non-critical indicator and, if something happens, it can be resolved by calling.
Third, to check the functionality and balance of the card, the store’s website almost always has a special column (or button, page) called “Check Balance/Check Gift Card”. Check as necessary, preferably from the IP address and masking the country of the owner of the material, otherwise you can provoke blocking of both the card and the account.
It is better to move from receiving an order to purchasing the goods after a natural period of time, say, a day or several hours (if you are purchasing on behalf of the person to whom this gift was given), but you can transfer the certificate to the buying services immediately.
Reuse of payment methods - credit cards, payment system accounts. A cost-minimizing solution that is particularly effective in this industry. The order amount with a gift card is on average an order of magnitude lower than when working with other categories of goods, which ultimately wastes less material and wastes the balance.
Two material reuse scenarios:
• after order cancellation (Decline, Cancel, blocking). It is rational when it is impossible to check the performance of the material from the supplier and subsequently return the money if it turns out to be dead. Non-refundable bases, expired time for verification, simple reluctance, etc.;
• after the certificate is sold (sale, merchandise). Sales should be considered receipt of the goods “in hand” or a net payment; until then, subsequent activity increases the likelihood of the death of the material, and therefore the first order. However, these circumstances are influenced by the type of material and the speed of return.
After cancellation it is necessary in order to more accurately verify the quality of the material and camouflage. If the order was sent to another store (with a different anti-fraud system), it seems that the problem is in the anti-fraud system of the first one and the client; if you can’t fit anywhere from the word at all, even reducing the liquidity or amount, there must be a problem in the material.
In the case of post-implementation use, this is profit maximization with virtually no additional financial costs if masking elements such as the IP address are still available. Here two relevant questions arise: which store and order amount to work with.
Firstly, working with the same store is advisable only with minor changes in disguise, otherwise the chance of re-evaluating the client from scratch increases and the loyalty earned by a successful purchase may evaporate. If the IP address is no longer relevant, you should choose a new store or put the matter on hold so that the changes can be explained.
Secondly, the order amount. To avoid the same type of actions, it is better to order in one store for different amounts - more or less depending on the type and level of the card. In different ones - as desired and without excesses, and if there were changes in the masking, then you can lower the amount to slightly relieve the pressure on the material.
Speaking about the time after which it is acceptable to use the material again, the recommendations are as follows: after cancellation, you can not delay and work immediately, warming up the new magazine, but you can also take a different path - do not shake the material with many attempts one after another, since it can hypothetically be alive—waiting, for example, a day won’t make things worse.
After implementation, you need to maintain a balance between the desire to try and the pattern of ordinary customers. Of course, buying yourself a certificate every couple of hours is at least suspicious, but at the same time, waiting for months is not an option.
Ultimately, all that remains is to try somewhere between “immediately” and “sometime in the future”, and then adjust the behavior in accordance with the reaction of certain beans and anti-fraud systems. Unfortunately, there are no universal answers.
Regarding payment system accounts: their health status is in most cases known, because they are mostly accessible. If the order does not go through, this shows the degree of trust and swing of the account itself. There are no differences in time, except for the characteristics of the payment system (calendar restrictions on expenses, etc.).
When ordering again, it is reasonable to change the recipient of the gift card. In general, reusing material not only brings additional profit and understanding of the work of certain stores, but also allows you to determine the vector for solving problems, make sure of the material, camouflage, and bins.
To sum up everything described above, we can safely say that the field of gift cards is rich and complex. Alas, it’s not the best option for a beginner, but if the choice has already been made, you shouldn’t start with the most liquid and complex stores.
That's all. Let's move on to the questions, put "?".
ya8no 20:28
Good evening.) Does AF take into account the mail that we indicate as the recipient of the Gift? Is it better to use old regs for them or does it make no difference?
Payne 20:29
Depends on the anti-fraud system, but rather takes it into account.
And since it takes into account, then naturally it’s better to trust.
ya8no 20:31
Another question) with what amounts is it better to start driving accounts into Gifts? If you conditionally make a gift on Amaz for 2k as your first order, is there a chance of success?
Payne 20:31
0 chances. This amount, even for a physical product, is not the smallest, and it’s absurd to even discuss it with such stores.
Payne 20:32
Depends on liquidity. Illiquid up to 400-500. Liquid divided by two.
wimmont 20:32
Let's say there are two sites selling Razer Gold cards. One is a small medium, and the other is off. Where is it better to try to drive in initially, and why? In case of failure on the off-site, do you need to change the mat, or immediately go to the middle one?
Payne 20:34
Depends on assumptions about both services. Where the anti-fraud system seems simpler in appearance or based on public information about the store, start there. The number of attempts after which it is appropriate to change the service depends on the quality of the material. If you try to make a transaction 1-3 times using initially dead material, this will tell you practically no important information about the store.
Well, since there are no more questions, I thank everyone for their presence and wish them good luck.
