I have had a lot of questions recently on Target Gift Cards and how they work. Every week Target puts a lot of great deals in their weekly ad that offer a free gift card with purchase! These deals are awesome because there are very few rules that apply to Target Gift Card Deals right now! I have had a few readers ask for more information on how to do these deals so I thought I would do a simple FAQ post on how these work.
Question: How do I Find Target Gift Card Deals?
Target Gift card deals are typically featured in the Target Weekly Ad. We post the weekly ad a few days before it goes live (Typically Friday Night or early Saturday Morning) So you can get a Heads up on what gift card deals to expect.
Some Target Gift Card Deals are advertised in stores only, typically these are available for several weeks so they aren’t specific to a weekly ad. You should see these advertised in your store but they can also be regional. Also, some stores are better about tagging deals than others. I highly recommend following the Target Deals page for all the best Target Deals each week, we always feature hidden gift card deals or items that are included in the weekly ad deals that may not have been listed in the weekly ad.
Question: How many Target Gift Card Deals can I do in a Transaction?
There is no limit to how many Target Gift Card Deals you can do in a single transaction. You will receive all of your gift cards as the items are scanned. So if you are buying a deal that states you get a $5 Target Gift Card when you purchase 2 items. After the first 2 items are scanned it will prompt the cashier to give you a gift card. If you buy 4 items it will prompt for a gift card after the 2nd and 4th qualifying item. So you can theoretically do as many in one transaction as you would like. Just keep in mind your out of pocket will be higher doing it this way. I suggest rolling the gift cards to keep your out of pocket low by breaking your purchases up into multiple transactions.
Question: Can I spend a Gift Card when I earn it?
You cannot spend the SAME Gift Card you earned on a transaction on that Same Transaction. You can however spend any gift cards you earned PRIOR to that transaction even if it was from the same deal. We call this “Rolling the Gift Cards”
I always have 2 $5 Target Gift Cards in my wallet, I break my transactions into sets of 2 gift card deals, and I spend the $5 Gift Cards when I’m going to earn a $5 Gift Card. That way I keep a lower out of pocket. I only use those $5 Gift Cards in my Wallet when I know I will be earning a $5 Gift Card.
Question: Can I Use Coupons on a Gift Card Deal?
Yes, you can use Target Coupons, Manufacturer Coupons and Cartwheel Coupons all in addition to Gift Card Deals! Target Gift Cards are based on the Pre-Coupon Prices and typically are based on the number of items purchased not the price of the items. So as long as your total of all items required for the gift card is $5 or more BEFORE Coupons you’ll be good to go! – I’ve got a post on the Target Gift Card Minimum Here.
Question: Is there a Minimum Purchase Required for Gift Card Deals
There isn’t a minimum transaction amount required, but the total of items required for the gift card must be over $5 (Or the gift card amount in the case of higher value gift cards). This is RARELY an issue but I have seen it pop up on small travel size items occasionally. If you have 3 items priced at $1.50 and the gift card deal is Buy 3 get a $5 Gift Card then it won’t qualify. You’ll need to mix and match with a higher priced item (Buy 2 of the $1.50 items and a larger item priced over $2) As long as the total of all 3 items is over $5 you’ll be good to go! I’ve got an entire post on this rule here.
Question: Can I mix and match items or do I have to buy all of the same item?
This question is a little tricky because it really depends on the deal. Target lists all items that qualify for that same offer on the price tags. So for example on this price tag shown above the item tag is for Degree Deodorant, but the details under the item say Free $5 Gift Card when you buy 4 Dove, Suave, St. Ives, Vaseline, Caress, Ponds, Noxema, Simple, Lever 2000, Qtips, Degree, Axe, Clear or Nexxus Products. That means you can mix and match your 4 items within all of these brands but the items from that brand must have Gift Card Signage because not all products from every brand will be included.
Those are pretty much the most commonly asked questions I get regarding gift card deals. These are really SO SIMPLE because there are very few complicated aspects, You just purchase the required number of items and the gift card prompts at the register once that number of items has been scanned. Make sure you follow our Target Deals Page and check out the Target Weekly Ad each week for all the best Gift Card Deals going on each week.
I also have a post on How to Save Money at Target featuring all the different options for saving at Target that you don’t want to miss if you’re a new Target Shopper!
Make sure you check out the Target Deals Page to see all of the Target Deals going on this week!
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Can a Target limit how many giftcard deals you do? This recently happened. It was buy three items at $1.99 each and receive a $5 giftcard. And they said they were limiting one free giftcard deal per person. Just wondering. I spend so much money at Target a year so was kind of disappointed.
How do you prepare your coupons to do the shopping?I know you can use 4 like coupons. What if the deal says you have to buy more then four maybe six items and be able to use your coupons for each item and get the gift cards?
Hi Amanda, In that case you would have to mix and match your products. This happens frequently on Unilever brands like Suave and Dove. The Unilever coupons have a max of 2 like coupons per day so you have to mix and match products that are all included in the same gift card deal.