Gift Cards at Ace Hardware: The Complete List of Brands, Fees & Where to Buy (2026)

If you are heading to Ace Hardware to grab a gift card for a homeowner, a new neighbor, or someone who just bought their first drill, a few details are worth knowing before you buy. Ace's gift card lineup is narrower than what you will find at a grocery store or big-box retailer, and the rules around reloads, limits, and rewards are specific. Here is the real rundown so you can pick the right card the first time.

Ace Hardware Gift Card Brands: What You Can Actually Buy

Ace keeps its own-brand offerings front and center. The main product is the standard Ace Hardware Gift Card, available as a physical plastic card or a digital eGift. It works at participating Ace Hardware stores in the US and on acehardware.com. One important catch: it cannot be used toward Ace Hardware Home Services, the installation and repair side of the business.

For that home services side, Ace offers a separate Ace Hardware Home Services Visa Gift Card. This is an eGift issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and it is an open-loop Visa debit product. You can use it for residential maintenance and home repair services through Ace Hardware Home Services, and anywhere Visa debit cards are accepted in the US and Washington, DC.

So in practice, there are two Ace-branded cards to choose from, and they are not interchangeable. If the person on your list is planning a kitchen faucet swap or a paint project, the standard Ace card is the fit. If they are booking a service call, the Home Services Visa is the one to pick.

Beyond Ace's own cards, many Ace stores are independently owned, and participating locations can optionally enroll in an in-store gift card mall run through InComm. This program provides a free 72-peg spinner rack, with two pegs reserved for Ace cards and an initial assortment of about 10 gift cards drawn from roughly 70 different non-Ace national merchant brands. The mix is reviewed twice a year in spring and fall, and stores earn commission on activations. Ace does not publish a full public list of which third-party brands are on those racks, and participation varies by store. If you are curious whether your local Ace carries a rack at all, it is worth a call before you drive over. For a sense of how other retailers handle brand variety, our Wegmans gift card guide shows what a broader multi-brand program looks like in practice.

Denominations, Fees, and Purchase Limits

Ace does not force you into preset amounts. The official purchase flow lets you load any custom value up to $250 on the standard Ace Hardware Gift Card, and up to $500 on the Home Services Visa eGift. That flexibility is genuinely useful if you want to hit a specific number rather than round up.

Third-party resellers and some retailers commonly list presets like $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, $150, $200, and $250. You may occasionally see higher physical amounts in some channels, but Ace's binding Card Terms (last updated January 6, 2025) cap an individual card load or reload at $250 in any single day. When in doubt, the official terms govern.

On fees, the news is good. Ace Incentives does not charge activation, inactivity, dormancy, or service fees on its cards. Cards do not expire, and the balance remains valid indefinitely, so the full amount stays available to the recipient. There is one nuance worth flagging: tangible cards issued before August 8, 2019 may carry a physical card expiration date, but remaining funds can be transferred to a new card with the card number and proof of purchase. Promotional cards may have their own expiration terms, and state escheat or abandoned property laws can still apply to unused balances.

Purchase limits are also worth a look, especially for anyone buying in volume. Unless you have a separate bulk written agreement with Ace Incentives, you cannot obtain more than $10,000 in total card value in one day, and you cannot load or reload any single card with more than $250 in one day. Online, redemption is capped at three cards per order with a total card value of no more than $750 per order. Cards also cannot be used to buy other gift cards or to pay Ace Hardware accounts.

Once you have a card in hand, the recipient will want to know where it stands. Ace's balance inquiry page is at acehardware.com/balanceinquiry, and you can also call 1-888-827-4223. The same number handles lost or stolen card replacement for the remaining balance when you have the card number and satisfactory proof of purchase. If you want a walkthrough of how balance checks work in general, our page on checking an American Express gift card balance covers the mechanics that apply to most cards of this type.

In-Store vs. Online Availability

Both the standard Ace Hardware Gift Card (physical and eGift) and the Home Services Visa eGift are sold in participating Ace stores and online at acehardware.com/gift-cards. Physical cards can ship; eGifts deliver digitally, often within minutes.

Bulk and corporate buyers have a separate path through Ace's corporate account portal, with options for digital, physical, or a mix of both. That is the route to take if you are buying for a team, a client list, or a large event.

What Ace does not run is a broad consumer-facing gift card marketplace. Unlike some grocery chains that sell dozens of third-party brands online, Ace's website focuses on its own card and the Home Services Visa. The optional in-store rack described above is the only place you will find non-Ace brands, and only at participating locations.

You will also see Ace gift cards for sale through third parties, including warehouse clubs and grocery chains. Costco and Sam's Club periodically offer multi-packs, and Kroger and various online resellers carry Ace cards as well. Those are not Ace-operated sales, so returns and issue resolution follow the retailer's policy rather than Ace's. If you want to compare how a warehouse club handles its own gift card offerings, our Sam's Club gift card guide is a solid reference point.

Reloading is possible, but only in specific cases. Only tangible gift cards without a fixed face value that were purchased from participating Ace Hardware locations can be reloaded, and only at participating Ace locations, subject to the $250 per day per card cap. eGift cards, tangible cards bought online or from third-party retailers, fixed-face-value cards, merchandise return cards, and promotional cards cannot be reloaded.

Ace Rewards and Gift Cards: What Earns Points

Ace Rewards is free to join, with a Premier tier available after $750 in qualifying spend in a rolling 12-month period. Members earn 10 points per $1 on most qualifying purchases, and 2,500 points converts to a $5 Reward.

Here is the part most people miss: buying a gift card does not earn points. Gift cards are explicitly excluded from qualifying purchases, along with taxes, shipping, services fees, and certain other items. Gift card purchases are also ineligible for promotions or other coupon offers. And Ace Rewards certificates cannot be redeemed for Ace gift cards or certain other excluded categories like lumber and building materials, rentals, services, liquor, tobacco, firearms, fuel, and account payments.

The good news comes on the back end. When the recipient redeems the gift card to buy eligible merchandise, that underlying purchase can earn Ace Rewards points normally, as long as they present their membership and the purchase falls within standard rules. Points do not expire, though Rewards generally expire at the end of the fourth month after issuance. If you are pairing a card with a small physical add-on, our housewarming gift ideas under $50 is a natural place to find something that rounds out the gesture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I return an Ace Hardware gift card if I change my mind?

No. Ace's return policy states gift cards cannot be returned for any reason, and the Card Terms confirm that, except as required by law, cards are non-refundable and cannot be returned, exchanged, or redeemed for cash. If you bought from a third-party retailer like a grocery store or warehouse club, that retailer's return policy applies instead, though most exclude gift cards as well.

Can I use my Ace Hardware Gift Card for Ace Hardware Home Services?

No. The standard Ace Hardware Gift Card cannot be redeemed for Ace Hardware Home Services. If you specifically want to gift home services work like maintenance or repairs, you need the separate Ace Hardware Home Services Visa Gift Card, which is an eGift issued by Sutton Bank and loadable up to $500.

How much can I load onto a single Ace gift card?

Online, the standard Ace card allows any value up to $250, and the Home Services Visa eGift goes up to $500. Ace's Card Terms cap any individual card load or reload at $250 in a single day, and total card value obtained per day is capped at $10,000 unless you have a separate bulk written agreement through Ace Incentives.

Does Ace charge a fee to buy or keep a gift card active?

No. Ace Incentives does not charge activation, inactivity, dormancy, or service fees, and according to official pages and terms the cards do not expire, so the full balance stays available. Promotional cards may have different expiration terms, and state escheat or abandoned property laws can still apply to unused balances.

Does buying an Ace gift card earn me Ace Rewards points?

No. Gift card purchases are explicitly excluded from qualifying purchases for Ace Rewards, and they do not qualify for promotions or coupon offers. However, when the recipient redeems the card on eligible merchandise and presents their own Ace Rewards membership, that purchase can earn points under the standard rules.