Cyber Monday is one of my favorite days of the year. I love browsing for deals and discounts so I can get most of my holiday shopping done in one day and save a good amount of money doing it. For a dealhunter like me, nothing beats finding something I want on sale and then stacking some discount codes on top to knock down the final price. Last year though, I was able to take my Cyber Monday experience to the next level. A friend of mine introduced me to Raise, an online marketplace that offers gift cards at a discounted rate. It sounded like the perfect way for me to double-down on upcoming sales, so I knew I had to try Raise out myself.

After I created an account, I immediately started searching for my favorite Cyber Monday stores. I was happy to see that they had pretty much every retailer I could think of - HP, Dell, Best Buy, KMart, Walmart, and more. I was surprised to see just how much of a discount you could get - for some stores it was up to 20% off. The best part was that pretty much every gift card could be downloaded immediately to my Raise app and I could redeem them either online or in person at the store.

I pulled up my list with all of the Cyber Monday deals I had been looking at to see if any of those stores had gift cards available on Raise. I had been eyeing a new Vizio 50" TV from Dell for my daughter, which had a Cyber Monday special on sale for $399.99 compared to its original $679. I also found a $250 Dell gift card on Raise for only $236.79, which made this great deal even better. For my son, I was planning on getting him a new HP laptop which was on sale for $329.99 compared to its usual $654.99. I bought a $250 Raise gift card for only $219.75, and was able to save another $30.25. This process became my way to search for deals- check Raise for the gift card first then start shopping.

What makes Raise even better is that because it's a marketplace, you can also sell any gift cards you have that you don't plan on using. Every year around the holidays, someone in my family will inevitably get a gift card to a store they never go to or a restaurant they don't like. In the past these gift cards would be forgotten and would go to waste, but with Raise, I helped my family make nearly $300 dollars selling them in the marketplace.

Cyber Monday is a great way to save as much money as possible for your holiday shopping. I thought I was already doing that just by seeking out the best deals online, but I was actually leaving money on the table by not capitalizing on all of the gift cards Raise has to offer. I saved a good amount of money on holiday shopping last year thanks to Raise and can't wait to see how much more I can save this holiday season.

Don't miss out on instant savings. Follow this link to sign-up with Raise today.