If you’re looking for a perfect gift for a gamer friend of yours, Xbox gift cards are your best bet. The Xbox gift card isn’t your ordinary gift card since it comes with much greater flexibility and offers more options to the redeemer.
Using an Xbox gift card allows you to indulge in a variety of things, such as buying full Xbox games online, buying movies, and paying for apps and devices. Take note that the card cannot be used in the physical Microsoft stores. However, it can be used in the online Microsoft stores, windows, and the Xbox.
Reasons To Give Xbox Gift Cards To Your Friends
Let’s take a look at some of the advantages of buying an Xbox Gift Card to your gamer friends:
1. The Gift of Choice
Don’t know the kind of games your friend likes? Can’t recall names of particular games your friend wanted to buy? With a gift card, you don’t have to remember all these details.
A plethora of entertainment-related purchases could be made using the Xbox gift-cards. Since these gift cards don’t come with an expiration date or fee, they’re perfect for Xbox users. These cards offer their users the freedom to select what they want when they need it.
In addition, these cards can be redeemed on the Windows 10 account, too, giving the redeemer more options to choose from.
2. Quick and Effective
Since you can just buy it online, purchasing an Xbox gift card or code doesn’t require you to stand in long lines at the store. All you have to do is go to Microsoft’s digital gift card portal, select the desired design, enter the amount you want to spend, then check out.
Xbox also boasts of an instant digital code email delivery that lets you pay with one of their many secure payment options. After paying, you can then redeem and begin using it in less than 10 minutes of purchase. This makes the gift card a very tempting option, especially if you’re busy.
3. Cardless Transactions
With the gift card, your friends don’t need credit or debit cards to spend money on purchases. They’ll be able to buy the games or accessories they want without the hassle of passcodes and digital transactions.
This is especially useful for younger gamers who don’t own credit/debit cards to make purchases and rely on the adults around them. The gift card acts like a loaded account waiting to be redeemed at the user’s leisure.
4. Custom Accessories
Gifting someone a gift card is the same as gifting them the ability to upgrade their entertainment experience to a whole new level. Games, movies, and applications are all useful, but how can one thoroughly enjoy these without suitable accessories?
By giving your friend an Xbox gift card, you enable them to buy everything–from controllers, headsets, to racing and console accessories. Not only do these have brilliant quality and performance, but Xbox also lets you customize the gaming experience in ways you may have never dreamed of.
With the Xbox Designs Lab, your friend will have the freedom to create their custom controllers. For a gamer, this is a fantastic possibility as it can be made to cater to one’s personality and gaming style. This custom controller can also feature millions of color combinations, a specific game inspired option, such as ‘shadow of the tomb raider,’ and more. Lastly, the wireless controllers made with Design Labs allow for full customization of controller features, such as device compatibility, textured grip, 40-foot range, and headset jacks.
The gift card is a ticket to access all of this and more.
5. Doesn’t Require a Console
With the number of utilities the card provides, it’s ideal for an Xbox user. However, you don’t need an Xbox to enjoy the privileges the card affords as the gift card can be redeemed on PC games as well.
Purchasing either the Xbox gift card or the Microsoft gift card will put credit on your Microsoft account, enabling you to buy anything linked to both stores. New updates from Microsoft have made it possible to play Xbox Play Anywhere digital games on both the Xbox One and Windows 10 desktops.
Other than the gaming options, the gift card can be redeemed on Microsoft movies and TV that can carry across devices when you sync them. These can be saved for offline viewing, which means that the benefits of the gift card will carry on even beyond your gaming console and can accompany you on your trips. This is an excellent option for your gamer friends who are frequent fliers and find themselves on the road often.
6. Easy Trading Ability
The sheer popularity of Xbox and Microsoft makes it super convenient to trade their gift cards. This implies that in case the receiver of the gift card stops using their Xbox, they could still trade it in for a variety of things, like cash, other Xbox gift cards, or even movie gift cards.
Trading in these cards has become easier than ever before. Websites like Gameflip make the whole trading process super simple, smooth, and safe. All you have to do is post your gift card online for trade, receive offers on it, and then choose the most valuable offer.
Some people also choose to use the Facebook Marketplace to trade in their gift cards. This is because when you don’t go through a site for trading, you’ll save money on commission fees and you could also trade your card for a higher value. For instance, on Gameflip, you’ll not be able to list a gift card for a higher value. The price will have to be set between 2% and 15% less than the original amount. However, not going through a trading site can also be riskier.
Redeeming Your Code
People often assume that redeeming game cards and codes are strenuous and stressful tasks, but that’s far from true in this case. Microsoft has made it as easy as possible to redeem their cards, regardless of who it has been bought for.
On different consoles, the ways of utilizing the card are slightly different. But for each of them, the Xbox One, Xbox App on Windows 10 and the Windows 10 system, it’s just a matter of following the prompts. A basic redeeming process looks like this:
- Logging into your account
- Finding the use code/ redeem code option
- Entering the 25-character code that is on the back of the card
- Hitting enter/ redeem
If you don’t have the physical card but just the code, even that could be used here. This code is vital as this is what differentiates your card from any other card out there. All of the funds will be deposited into the account, then you’ll be able to use them for anything your account is connected to. You could also go to Microsoft.com/redeem and add it to your account.
It only takes a few minutes for the process to be finished and then you’re ready to go. It’s as simple as that.
Things to Remember
As versatile and flexible the Xbox gift card is, there are a few things you must keep in mind when you decide to purchase it so that you have a hassle-free experience.
Region restrictions
There are region restrictions on every purchase and use. If you have bought an Xbox gift card for someone living in Australia from the USA, the receiver will not be able to redeem it since they are in a region different from the one the card was bought in. The currency is what changes when you switch regions and makes it impossible for you to use it.
Ideally, the card should be bought and used in the same region. However, users have found a way around this hiccup.
Just switch the account to the region of purchase, make the purchase, then switch the region back to the location. All they need to do is restart the console after changing regions.
You also have the option of returning the card if you want to, but that can be bothersome, especially when there’s a straightforward way to get around these restrictions.
Taxes
Many people assume that with the purchase of a gift card, the tax will be excused on the purchases made with it. However, that’s not the case. You will still be charged tax, and there’s no way around that.
For example, if a game is on sale for $12.99 and you have $13 on your card, you may assume that you’ll be able to carry out the purchase. But, sadly, game purchases have taxes applied to them. So, the $13 in your card may not be enough to complete the purchase.
Of course, you’ll have the option of paying the excess balance, but that’s why it’s recommended to buy high-value cards so the person who receives it doesn’t face such issues.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that the Xbox gift cards or codes are a universal and flexible purchase. The versatility offered by the Xbox gift card is what makes it such a popular option among the public and gaming community. The 16,000 reviewers it has on Amazon and the 4.9 rating it has received prove this point well.
All in all, it’s a simple but smart choice to gift someone an Xbox gift card that will leave you and the receiver immensely satisfied.
