Amazon accounted for 8% of gift-card sell requests received by Gift Card Granny between September and November 2016, ahead of Best Buy and iTunes at 7% each. The platform published the ranking on December 26, 2016, using requests from visitors seeking cash offers for unwanted cards. [S01]

The reported request mix

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The reported request mix

Brand

Share of platform sell requests

Amazon

8%

Best Buy

7%

iTunes

7%

Target

4%

Walmart

4%

Apple Store

3%

Macy’s

3%

Lowe’s

2%

Home Depot

2%

Starbucks

2%

Source: Gift Card Granny requests for cash offers, September to November 2016. These percentages describe the company’s observed requests. They are not transaction-completion rates or a measure of all US gift-card sales. The release did not provide the absolute number of requests. [S01]

A signal of resale interest

A request for a cash offer is an expression of interest in selling. It does not establish that the holder accepted a price or completed a transfer. That distinction matters when interpreting a ranking whose original headline referred to the most resold brands.

Brand size also complicates the picture. A widely distributed card can generate many resale requests even if only a small proportion of its holders want to sell. Without figures for cards outstanding or total issuance by brand, this table cannot show which brand had the highest propensity to be unwanted.

The same limitation applies to value. A share of requests does not reveal the average balance offered for sale or the cash received. Counting cards and measuring their dollar value answer different questions.

For analysts of the secondary market, the useful historical evidence is the mix of brands appearing in one platform’s incoming demand during a defined three-month period. It offers a snapshot of resale interest, with the scope kept visible, rather than a national market-size estimate or a claim about current consumer preferences.