The five layers
Ask a crypto gift-card platform what it charges and you will get one number. Ask what you actually pay and the honest answer has five components. Only the first is disclosed as a fee; the second is the one that costs people the most.
- Layer 1 — stated fee
- 0–4% Printed at checkout. The honest one.
- Layer 2 — rate markup
- 1–8% Hidden in the crypto amount quoted.
- Layer 3 — network fee
- $0.001–$12 Paid to miners, not the platform.
- Layer 4 — payment rail
- 3.5–12% Only on fiat-funded vouchers.
- Layer 5 — FX at redemption
- 1–3% When card and account currency differ.
1. The stated platform fee
The number in the basket. Across the market, most brand gift cards sell at face value, and the platform earns from the wholesale discount the brand gave it. The consistent exceptions are worth memorising:
- Amazon — commonly up to about 2%, because Amazon's reseller margin is thin.
- Prepaid Visa and Mastercard — the heaviest in the category, with issue fees, load fees, and sometimes monthly maintenance on top. See prepaid cards funded with crypto.
- High-demand game currency — Robux, some Battle.net products — occasionally carry a small premium where supply is constrained.
A stated fee is the best kind of fee, because you can see it and compare it. Platforms that advertise "0% fees" have not removed a cost; they have usually moved it into layer two.
2. The exchange-rate markup — the expensive invisible one
When a platform asks you for 0.00098 BTC for a $100 card, that number embeds an implied exchange rate. If fair value is 0.00092 BTC, the platform has taken 6.5% — without printing a fee, without lying, and without most buyers noticing.
Two practical notes. First, spread is not the same as markup: platforms genuinely need a small buffer against price movement between your quote and your confirmation, which is part of why stablecoin payments often price better. Second, the markup frequently varies by coin on the same platform — the coin they prefer to receive is the coin they price best. It costs nothing to check two coins on the same order.
3. The network fee
Paid to the network, not the platform, and the only layer you control outright by choosing a different rail. It is roughly fixed per transaction, which is why it savages small orders and is irrelevant on large ones.
| Rail | Typical fee | On a $25 order | Confirmation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin — Lightning | Fractions of a cent | ≈0% | Instant |
| Litecoin | A few cents | ≈0.1% | ~2.5 min per block |
| Stablecoin on a low-fee chain | Cents | ≈0.1% | Seconds to a minute |
| Dogecoin | Cents | ≈0.1% | ~1 min per block |
| Bitcoin — on-chain | Cents to several dollars | Up to 20%+ in a fee spike | ~10 min per block |
| Ethereum mainnet | Often the highest of the group | Frequently double digits | Seconds to minutes |
| USDT on Ethereum mainnet | Token transfers cost more than plain ETH sends | Avoid on small orders | Seconds to minutes |
4. The payment-rail fee
This layer does not exist when you pay with crypto. It appears when you go the other way and buy a crypto voucher with fiat. Card and PayPal rails carry chargeback risk, so sellers price defensively: 3.5–5% is typical for cards, and 6–12% all-in is common for PayPal once the reseller's margin is included.
There is a second, sharper risk on cards: some issuers code a crypto-adjacent purchase as a cash advance, which means interest from day one and no grace period. Check your card's terms before funding a voucher this way. Detail in buying vouchers with a card and with PayPal.
5. Currency conversion at redemption
The layer nobody budgets for. If the card's currency differs from the account's currency, somebody converts — and it is rarely at interbank rates. On a prepaid card used abroad, expect 1–3% on every transaction. On a brand gift card, this usually cannot happen at all, because the region lock prevents a mismatched card from loading in the first place. In that sense the region lock is doing you a dubious favour: it turns a small FX loss into a total loss.
Worked example: the same $100, five ways
One $100 gift card, five plausible routes. The numbers are representative of what we observed in August 2026 rather than live quotes, and the point is the shape of the difference rather than the decimals.
| Route | Stated fee | Rate markup | Network | Effective cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Face-value platform, paid over Lightning | $0 | ~1% | ~$0 | ≈$1.00 |
| Face-value platform, paid in LTC | $0 | ~1% | ~$0.03 | ≈$1.03 |
| Amazon card, paid in USDT on a cheap chain | $2.00 | ~0.5% | ~$0.05 | ≈$2.55 |
| "0% fee" platform with a 6% rate markup, on-chain BTC | $0 | ~6% | ~$1.50 | ≈$7.50 |
| Voucher route: buy crypto with PayPal, then buy the card | ~4% + flat | ~3% | ~$0.50 | ≈$11+ |
How to actually pay less
| Platform | What you pay over face value | Rewards | Coins accepted | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitrefill4.3/5 | Face value on most cards; up to ~2% on Amazon and prepaid cards | 1–10% sats back on selected products | BTC (on-chain + Lightning), ETH, USDT, USDC, LTC, DOGE and more | Visit Review |
| CoinCards4.2/5 | Fee-free in several regions; small markup elsewhere | None standing | BTC, ETH, LTC, DOGE, DASH, XMR, USDT, DAI | Visit Review |
| Coinsbee4.2/5 | Typically 0–4% depending on brand and region | Occasional brand promotions; no standing cashback | 200+ including SOL, TON, XMR, DOGE, plus Binance Pay | Visit Review |
| eGifter3.8/5 | Face value on most brands | eGifter Points programme | BTC and a handful of others | Visit Review |
- Fix your rail once. Set up a Lightning wallet, or keep a small stablecoin balance on a cheap chain. This single change removes the worst layer on every small order you will ever make.
- Do the division before you pay. Every time, for ten seconds. It is the only defence against layer two.
- Price two platforms on real orders. Not their fee pages — their payment screens. Same card, same coin, compare the crypto amounts.
- Net the rebate against the markup. A rebate on a marked-up card is a discount on a bad price. A rebate on a face-value card is free money.
- Avoid the fiat detour. If you already hold crypto, buying a voucher to then buy a card stacks two fee schedules. Go direct.
- Buy larger, less often, where the brand allows it. One $200 card costs one network fee; eight $25 cards cost eight.
Next, read hidden markup for more worked rate examples, which coin should you pay with for the rail comparison in depth, and best crypto gift card platforms for how these numbers feed our scoring.
Crypto gift card fees: FAQ
Which platforms genuinely charge nothing?
Several sell most brands at face value — Bitrefill, CoinCards in its fee-free regions, eGifter on most brands. But "no stated fee" is not "no cost". The platform still earns from the wholesale discount it negotiated, and some also earn from the exchange rate they quote you. Face value with a fair rate is genuinely free to you; face value with a 5% rate markup is not.
Why does Amazon always cost more?
Because Amazon gives resellers very little margin, so platforms cannot cover their costs from the wholesale discount alone. Expect up to about 2% on Amazon across the market. The same logic explains prepaid Visa and Mastercard products, which carry issuer fees on top.
Is the network fee paid to the platform?
No. It goes to miners or validators securing the network, and neither you nor the platform controls it. That is why it is the one fee you can reduce purely by choosing a different rail — Lightning, Litecoin, or a stablecoin on a low-fee chain.
How do I compare two platforms fairly?
Put the same card in both baskets, get to the payment screen, and compare the crypto amounts requested. That single comparison captures the stated fee and the rate markup together, which is the only number that matters. Everything else is marketing.
Do cashback programmes really offset the fees?
Sometimes completely. A 3% sats-back rebate on a card sold at par is a 3% discount. On a card sold at a 2% markup it is a net 1% gain. On a card sold at a 6% markup it is still a 3% loss. Always net the rebate against the markup — see crypto cashback and rewards.
Sources and further reading
Figures on this page were checked in August 2026. Fees, country lists and promotions change without notice — always confirm on the operator's own site before you pay.
- Bitrefill — pricing and product pages — stated fees on Amazon and prepaid products
- Coinsbee — brand and region pricing
- Azteco — fees — 2% online vs in-person commission structure
- CryptoVoucher.io — stated service fee plus network fee model