CardCash Blog
At ten big stores, Rakuten won’t pay on gift-card dollars. One comparison tells you which to use.
Rakuten is paying 8% back on Ninja appliances at Best Buy right now. Pay with a discounted Best Buy gift card, and you get none of it.
Best Buy is one of ten stores Rakuten names as refusing cashback on the part of an order you cover with a gift card. The others are Athleta, CVS, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fanatics, H&M, Lowe’s, Marriott, Old Navy and Petco. Rakuten says the list includes these stores, so it may not be complete.
At the ten that make you choose, one comparison decides it.
The rule
Compare the gift card discount with the cashback rate. Use whichever is bigger.
The gift card discount comes off before you pay. Cashback comes back later. At these stores you can’t have both on the same dollar, so take the bigger number.
Usually, the gift card wins
Rakuten pays 2% at Old Navy today. CardCash lists Old Navy gift cards at up to 14.8% off.
On a $100 order:
- Credit card through Rakuten: you pay $100 and get $2 back. Cost: $98.
- CardCash gift card: you pay $85.20 for $100 of Old Navy. Cost: $85.20.
Skipping the cashback costs you $2. Skipping the gift card costs you $14.80. Use the gift card.
Most stores look like this. At the big retailers we checked on Rakuten today, base cashback was 1% or 2%. CardCash discounts on clothing and restaurant brands often run well past that.
Sometimes, the cashback wins
Back to Best Buy. CardCash’s best Best Buy discount today is 4.6%. Rakuten’s 8% on Ninja appliances is bigger.
On a $200 Ninja appliance:
- CardCash Best Buy card: $190.80.
- Credit card through Rakuten: $184.00.
Pay with your credit card. Splitting the payment doesn’t help, because every dollar on the credit card earns more than every dollar on the gift card saves.
When you might get both
A store that isn’t on the list may pay on gift-card dollars too, but Rakuten doesn’t promise it. Macy’s is an example. Its Rakuten terms list “gift cards” as an exclusion but don’t say whether that means buying them or paying with them. CardCash lists Macy’s online-only cards at up to 7.3% off, and Rakuten pays 2% at Macy’s.
On a $100 order, you pay $92.70 for the gift card. If the $2 cashback posts, your cost is $90.70, before any Macy’s sale. Count the $2 only once it shows up.
Buy the card first. Then click through Rakuten to Macy’s and pay with the gift card. Use only coupon codes Rakuten lists, because Rakuten warns that outside codes can void your cashback.
How to check any store
- Look up the store’s discount on CardCash.
- Open the store’s terms on your cashback site and search the page for “gift card.”
- If the terms exclude the “portion paid with gift cards,” you have to choose. Use the bigger number.
- If they don’t, use the gift card anyway. Treat any cashback as a bonus until it posts.
One more check if you don’t use Rakuten. Rakuten skips only the gift-card part of the order. Some sites, like BeFrugal, tell members to assume a gift card cancels cashback on the whole order. There, a small gift card balance can cost you more than it saves.
The question isn’t cashback or gift card. It’s which number is bigger at the store you’re about to pay.
Rates checked October 13, 2026. CardCash discounts are the best available on cards in stock and vary by card.
