Researched and last reviewed September 2026 · Written by the GiftMeCrypto research desk
The broadest category and the one where comparison pays. Markups run from 0% to about 5% depending entirely on the brand, so the answer to “which platform is cheapest” genuinely changes per retailer. Groceries are the underrated star here.
- Typical cost
- Face value to +5%, brand-dependent
- ID required
- No
- Most useful
- Supermarket and grocery cards
- Most marked up
- Amazon
Why the markup varies so much
This is the category where "which platform is cheapest" has no single answer, and it is worth understanding why. Marketplaces buy codes from distributors at a discount to face value. That discount is set by the retailer, and it reflects how badly the retailer wants third-party channel sales.
- Retailers with guaranteed demand — Amazon above all — grant a thin discount, so the marketplace adds a margin to make the product viable.
- Retailers competing for footfall grant a wider discount, which shows up as face-value pricing or a high rebate rate.
- Promoted brands are the ones where the retailer is subsidising the channel. Those are where the 5%–10% rebate rates sit.
- The rebate list rotates, so the cheapest way to buy $100 of retail credit changes month to month.
Retail brands commonly stocked
| Group | Brands | Note |
|---|---|---|
| General marketplace | Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Target, AliExpress, Flipkart | Amazon carries a markup |
| US grocery | Kroger, Safeway, Albertsons, Whole Foods, Sam's Club, Giant Eagle, Vons | Underrated; often face value |
| UK grocery | Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose, Asda, Iceland, Farmfoods | GBP only |
| Canadian retail | Sobeys, Freshco, Foodland, Hudson's Bay, Home Hardware | Best via CoinCards |
| Electronics and DIY | Best Buy, Currys, Home Depot, Lowe's, B&Q, Halfords, Argos | Large denominations available |
| Fashion | ASOS, H&M, Zalando, Shein, Boohoo, Nike, Adidas, Levi's, Zara-adjacent brands | Country-specific entities |
| Department stores | Macy's, Nordstrom, Kohl's, JC Penney, John Lewis, Debenhams, Harvey Nichols | Some online-only codes |
| Home and furniture | IKEA, Wayfair, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Pottery Barn, Habitat | Delivery may need a card |
| Beauty and health | Sephora, Ulta, The Body Shop, Boots-adjacent brands, CVS | Small denominations |
| Sport and outdoor | Decathlon, REI, Bass Pro, Dick's, Foot Locker, Sports Direct, JD Sports | Region-specific |
| Books and media | Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Kobo, WHSmith, Indigo | Digital and physical variants |
| Pets and kids | Petco, PetSmart, Build-A-Bear, The Children's Place, Carter's | US-weighted |
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Groceries: the most useful thing in this category
Supermarket gift cards get almost no attention in crypto content, which is strange, because they are the closest thing to spending cryptocurrency on ordinary life. A weekly shop is the largest recurring discretionary expense most households have, and it can be funded entirely by gift card.
- Pick the chain the household already uses Not the cheapest card — the one that will actually be spent. A card for a shop nobody visits is worth nothing.
- Check whether the rebate rate is higher than usual Grocery brands appear on promoted lists fairly often, and at 5% the annual saving on a household food budget is substantial.
- Buy larger denominations over Lightning One $200 card beats four $50 cards on fee drag, and the balance is used within weeks anyway.
- Check in-store versus online scope Some grocery codes are online-delivery only. If the shopping is done in person, confirm before buying.
One caveat worth stating: in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, buying gift cards with crypto is a disposal of the crypto for tax purposes. Funding a weekly shop this way means a stream of small taxable disposals, each requiring a cost-basis calculation. That is manageable with a decent exchange export and tax software, but it is not nothing — see our tax hub.
Where to buy retail credit with crypto
| Platform | Catalogue | Price vs face value | Identity checks | Cashback | Coverage | Our review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitrefill | 5,000+ brands / 190+ countries | Face value on most cards; up to ~2% on Amazon and prepaid debit | Not required for standard gift-card purchases | 1%–10% sats-back, credited instantly to your Bitrefill balance | Global, strongest in US / EU / UK | Review |
| Coinsbee | 5,000+ brands / 185 countries | Typically 0%–5% depending on brand and region | Email only for most orders; verification on larger volumes | No standing cashback programme | 185 countries — the widest coverage in the category | Review |
| CoinCards | 200+ brands, Canada & US focused | Roughly 1%–3% over face value | No KYC for standard orders | Occasional promotional discounts | Canada, USA | Review |
| BitPay | 100+ major US brands in the app | Face value; frequent brand discounts of 1%–20% | Account required; identity checks scale with volume | Rotating brand discounts instead of flat cashback | Primarily USA | Review |
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Retail is where I stopped thinking of crypto as an investment and started thinking of it as a payment method, and the specific moment was buying a supermarket card for the first time. There is nothing exotic about it — you get a code, you scan it at the till.
The habit that made it worthwhile was abandoning brand loyalty. I used to buy Amazon because Amazon is the default, paying the one markup that exists. Now I check the promoted list first and buy whichever useful brand is being subsidised that week. Over a year that difference has been worth considerably more than any sign-up bonus I have ever collected.