How to exchange a Telegram gift for Stars: is it worth it and when
Short answer: exchanging a gift for Stars is almost always unprofitable: you get less than you paid, so you lose part of your money. You can exchange both an unlimited and a limited gift for Stars, but only within 7 days of buying it and only before the upgrade (to an NFT). New limited gifts haven't been released for a long time, so those that have been on profiles for more than 7 days can't be exchanged right now, and nothing can be done with them: you can only wait for the upgrade.
Two different actions: exchange and sale
- Exchange for Stars is returning a gift to Telegram in exchange for Stars. Telegram pays you, the price is fixed, and it is lower than what you paid.
- A sale is when you put a gift up for sale and another person buys it at the price you set.
Exchanging an unlimited gift
- You can exchange an unlimited gift for Stars only within the first 7 days after receiving it. After that this option disappears.
- You will get fewer Stars than the gift cost. The app shows the exact amount before you confirm, so check it before tapping the button.
- Unlimited gifts can't be transferred to other people. If you don't need the gift, you can keep it on your profile, hide it, exchange it for Stars within 7 days or delete it.
Conclusion: the price of an unlimited gift doesn't change over time: it doesn't go up. So an exchange only returns part of what you spent, and you can't make money on such a gift.
Exchanging a limited gift
- A limited gift can also be exchanged for Stars only within 7 days of buying it, and only while Telegram hasn't released an upgrade for it (an upgrade to an NFT).
- The scheme is the same as with an unlimited gift: you get fewer Stars than the gift cost, and you definitely lose your profit.
- New limited gifts haven't been released for a long time. So gifts that have been on profiles for more than 7 days can't be exchanged for Stars right now. They can't be sold either until the upgrade comes out: in fact, nothing can be done with them now, you can only wait for the upgrade.
Selling an upgraded (collectible) gift
- For Stars on Telegram's internal market: tap the gift on your profile and choose “Sell”, then set the price in Stars. More details in the guide How to sell a Telegram gift.
- For GRAM on third-party marketplaces (Bubble, MRKT, Portals, Tonnel, GetGems). The fees and buyers there are different.
Restriction because of “dirty” Stars
A gift may have restrictions on sale for up to 21 days if the Stars for its upgrade were bought through third-party bots. If a gift can't be sold or transferred, check the restriction period in its description.
What to choose
- An unlimited gift you don't need: exchange it within 7 days. You will get part of the Stars back, with no profit.
- A limited gift bought less than 7 days ago and not yet upgraded: an exchange is possible, but you will lose part of the value.
- A limited gift older than 7 days without an upgrade: it can't be exchanged right now. You can only wait for the upgrade.
- An upgraded gift: only a sale. Compare the price on the internal market and on marketplaces.
- You need Stars: you can buy them cheaper on Fragment; see the guide How to buy Telegram Stars for details.
To learn what gifts are, read the guide Telegram gifts: what they are, how they work and what they cost. Market news is published in our channel (in Russian).