{"id":4323,"date":"2026-10-26T15:25:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T15:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cardcash.com\/blog\/?p=4323"},"modified":"2026-10-26T15:25:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T15:25:58","slug":"target-circle-card-or-a-discounted-target-gift-card-it-depends-which-door-you-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cardcash.com\/blog\/target-circle-card-or-a-discounted-target-gift-card-it-depends-which-door-you-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Target Circle Card or a Discounted Target Gift Card? It Depends Which Door You Use."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Target’s<\/a> 5% card discount and a discounted Target <\/a>gift card don’t stack. For holiday shopping, the winner flips between the app and the store.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target’s<\/a> holiday price match starts Sunday, November 1. Buy an eligible item, and if Target’s<\/a> own price drops on or before December 24, you can ask for the difference. That removes the main reason to wait. What’s left is how you pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Target<\/a> shoppers have two easy ways to save at the register. One is the Target<\/a> Circle Card, which takes 5% off. The other is a Target<\/a> gift card bought at a discount on CardCash<\/a>. It seems like they should stack. They don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you have to pick one<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Target’s<\/a> rules say gift cards are always used first, before any credit or debit card. The 5% applies only to the amount charged to the Circle Card. So every dollar a gift card covers is a dollar that doesn’t get the 5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can’t get around it by buying a Target <\/a>gift card with the Circle Card, either. Target <\/a>excludes its own gift cards from the 5% discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it’s one discount or the other, dollar by dollar. The bigger number wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The numbers this morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

CardCash<\/a> sells two kinds of Target<\/a> cards, and they’re priced very differently:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Option<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Discount<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>Where it works<\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Target<\/a> Circle Card<\/strong><\/td>5%<\/td>In store and online<\/td><\/tr>
CardCash<\/a> Target<\/a> eGift card<\/strong><\/td>Up to 3.6%<\/td>In store and online<\/td><\/tr>
CardCash<\/a> Target In-Store Only card<\/a><\/strong><\/td>Up to 8.1%<\/td>In store only<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That splits the answer in two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping on Target.com <\/a>or in the app? Use the Circle Card. 5% beats 3.6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping in the store? The In-Store Only card wins. 8.1% beats 5% by 3.1 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a $300 in-store holiday run, before tax, the Circle Card saves $15. In-Store Only cards at the top rate of 8.1% would cost $275.70 for the same $300, a savings of $24.30. That’s $9.30 more off the same cart, just from changing how you pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Circle Card? Then the CardCash<\/a> card is your Target<\/a> discount in both places: up to 3.6% online and up to 8.1% in store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the in-store card work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The In-Store Only cards are physical cards with odd balances. Today’s listings run from about $21 to about $100. That sounds messy at checkout. Target’s<\/a> rules make it simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n