Walmart is known for having low prices.
But if you know how to get free Walmart gift cards, your next purchase might not cost a penny.
This article explains the best strategies and sites, as well as how to avoid a number of all-too-common scams.
Strategy One: Take Surveys
Taking paid online surveys for money is a well-known strategy for making extra money in the frugal living world, and they’re a great way to earn free Walmart gift cards.
#1. Swagbucks
Quick summary: Many people know that Swagbucks is a great place to earn free gift cards by taking part in online surveys, but the site also offers many other ways to earn points. These options include doing online searches, watching videos, and shopping through the Swagbucks online portal.
Minimum cash-out amount: The minimum to cash out via gift card is 300 points (100 points are worth $1). To cash out via Paypal, the minimum is $25.
How to earn your first gift card: There’s a very simple way to earn your first free Walmart gift card with Swagbucks: just sign up! You’ll get a $10 sign-up bonus when you join, which you can redeem for a $10 Walmart gift card.
Put cash back in your wallet
Get paid to shop online, watch videos, take surveys and play games with this all-in-one rewards site. Redeem your points for gift cards and PayPal cash starting at just $3.
Learn More: Our Comprehensive Swagbucks Guide.
#2. Survey Junkie
Quick summary: Survey Junkie is one of the best survey sites for making free money without wasting time, because users can see how long a survey takes and how many points it’s worth before starting. This allows you to spend your time where it will have the best payoff.
Minimum cash-out amount: The minimum to cash out is $5.
How to earn your first gift card: Choose the surveys worth more points and be active on the platform. Regular users are sent invitations to participate in higher-earning surveys.
#3. LifePoints
Quick summary: LifePoints is a paid survey site that, unlike many survey sites, allows those under 18 to participate (the minimum age is 14). The site also offers surveys in 26 languages and is available in several countries outside the U.S.
Minimum cash-out amount: The minimum to cash out is 500 points, which is equivalent to about $5.
How to earn your first gift card: Be on the lookout for “boosters.” The site randomly offers users the chance to complete short surveys, and the boosters allow you to redeem points at a lower-than-usual threshold.
Strategy Two: Earn Points by Shopping
Using online shopping portals is a great way to save money, and a great way to earn free Walmart gift cards while you’re at it. If you really want to ramp up the savings, check out Cashback Monitor. The site lets you compare the current cash-back offers from nearly every online shopping portal to find the best savings for each dollar you spend at a particular store.
#4. Rakuten
Quick summary: Rakuten (formerly called Ebates) is a cash-back site that has partnered with hundreds of retailers. When you browse the site, you can see the percentage of cash-back each retailer is offering. Then, just click the link to visit a retailer’s website and complete your purchase as usual. Once the retailer verifies the transaction, your cash-back will be deposited into your account.
Minimum cash-out amount: Payouts are made quarterly via PayPal or check.
How to earn your first gift card: Rakuten has a great sign-up bonus. New members can receive a free Walmart gift card worth $10 after spending $25 or more at any online store partnered with the site.
#5. TopCashback
Quick summary: TopCashback offers users two ways to cash in when shopping via its online portal. You’ll earn cash-back for your purchases, and the site also gives you coupon codes that you can use to save even more.
Minimum cash-out amount: There is no minimum to cash out your earnings.
How to earn your first gift card: New users can sign up and receive a free $20 bonus after spending at least $20 at Walmart.com through the shopping portal.
Learn more in our TopCashback review
#6. Ibotta
Quick summary: Ibotta is one of the best apps for saving money at the grocery store (as well as other select retailers). The app offers digital coupons; just browse them before you head to the store and “clip” them to your account. Then, simply buy the items you’ve chosen coupons for and upload the register receipt. There are also online shopping options.
Minimum cash-out amount: The minimum to cash out is $20.
How to earn your first gift card: Users can cash out for Walmart.com gift cards, among others. New users can reach the $20 threshold more quickly by taking advantage of the $5 bonus for making a $15 purchase the app.
#7. BeFrugal
Quick summary: BeFrugal is one of the biggest cash-back shopping sites, with more than 5,000 partnered retailers. The site also offers a browser extension that will automatically apply any eligible coupon codes to your purchase.
Minimum cash-out amount: The minimum to cash out is $25.
How to earn your first gift card: There’s a signup bonus for new users worth $10. So just signing up puts you almost halfway to your first free Walmart gift card.
Strategy Three: Trade in Your Unused Gadgets
Turn those old gadgets lurking in your junk drawer into free Walmart gift cards.
#8. Gadget to Gift Cards
This is a Walmart program that lets customers trade in old cell phones, tablets, gaming consoles, video games, and voice speakers for Walmart.com gift cards.
This can all be done online. Just answer a few questions about your device, receive and accept the quote, print out the free shipping label, and send the item off.
Once the item is received and accepted, you’ll receive your Walmart gift card via email.
#9. Get an Amazon Gift Card and Sell it on Raise
Amazon has a similar trade-in program. So the best approach is to enter the information for your gadget into both Walmart’s “Gadgets to Gift Cards” program and Amazon’s trade-in program, to see which gives you a higher quote.
If Amazon offers you a better deal, take it and then sell the Amazon gift card on Raise.
Then you can buy a discounted Walmart or Sam’s Club on Raise to further increase your savings.
Bonus: Get Free Walmart Gift Cards for Scanning Barcodes
While you’re in Walmart spending your free Walmart gift cards, why not earn even more free Walmart gift cards? That’s what you can do with Shopkick. Members can earn points, called Kicks, for walking into Walmart stores, scanning barcodes on eligible items, and making purchases.
Kicks are available at other stores as well, and you can also earn them by linking a credit card or debit card to your account, by buying eligible items, and by uploading receipts to the Shopkick app. There’s a 500 point threshold to cash out (which is equivalent to $2) and the points can be redeemed for gift cards (including free Walmart gift cards).
Learn more about how it works in our Shopkick review, and see the latest sign-up bonus on our Shopkick referral code page.
Discounted Walmart Gift Cards
Free Walmart gift cards are always the best kind, but discounted gift cards are pretty good too. The sites below purchase unwanted gift cards from people and re-sell them at a discount off their face value
Raise: Raise gives you the option of buying discounted gift cards, or buying them at face value and earning Raise Cash (which can then be used to purchase other gift cards on the site).
Cardpool: Cardpool is unique in that it allows you to sell your unwanted gift cards at Target stores. The site tends to have slightly better discounts than Raise, but some brands and stores (like Walmart) are frequently out of stock.
CardCash: Twice a week, CardCash offers further discounts on their gift cards with coupons and price drops. Sign up for notifications to really get some great deals.
RIP Savings Catcher
Walmart used to offer a great service called Savings Catcher. If there was a price drop on an item a shopper purchased, they would automatically receive the difference in the form of a Walmart e-gift card. Unfortunately, this program was ended in May 2019.
Free Walmart Gift Card Scams: What to Watch out For!
Because Walmart is the biggest brick and mortar retailer in the world, there’s ample opportunity to scam people when they’re looking for ways to earn free Walmart gift cards.
You can not earn free Walmart gift cards through the following methods.
- Clicking on a link sent to you in a text message. This is a phishing scam. You’ll be redirected to a page asking for personal details, including credit card numbers.
- Sending a text message to enter a contest. This is another phishing scam trying to steal personal information.
- Liking a post or a page on Facebook. This is a crude attempt to get people to like a Facebook page, which will then spam you with tons of junk (not to mention more phishing attempts).
- Clicking on a link in a pop-up window. This is perhaps the worst of the scams because it can install malware on your computer or device.
- Responding to an unsolicited email. Another phishing scam, or an attempt to infect your computer or device with malware.
Summary
Free Walmart gift cards and Walmart e-gift cards really aren’t hard to come by. The sites listed above are all well-known and trustworthy, and offer several ways to earn. For example, if paid surveys aren’t your thing, you can shop using a cash-back portal.
But whatever you do, stick to these sites. If you Google “how to get a free Walmart gift card,” you’ll almost certainly come across one of the scams we listed, as well as more legitimate sites with less earning potential and poorer reputations.
What to read next: How to get Free Money.
Hello,
Wouldn’t you just lose money buying the Walmart discount cards, since the sales tax on the cards, is going to be more than the discount?
Shawn
There is no sales tax when purchasing gift cards. Only the purchased is charged sales tax. If you’re seeing something else though, please let me know.