I'm taking one for the team and have been in a lengthy chat with customer service about the Target Circle glitch. Still working with a specialist. I'll report what I learn hopefully soon.
The first rule of "Gift Card Club" is not to talk about "Gift Card Club". I hope they don't add regular gift cards to the prohibited list!
Target Circle Earnings rewards are not earned on the following:
adult beverage purchases;
purchases of prescriptions and over-the-counter items located behind the pharmacy counter;
purchases made at some partner businesses, including in-store clinics, and Target Optical;
purchases made on the Shipt App and tips for Shipt shoppers;
purchases made from Target through 3rd party sites such as Google Express;
purchases of Target GiftCards; and Visa, American Express and Mastercard gift cards/prepaid cards;
taxes, bottle deposits, shipping, delivery, handling and all other fees or charges;
payment of any RedCard balance, debit card cash withdrawals at checkout and payments for insufficient funds;
• prior purchases (except if you are able to submit a receipt from a prior purchase within 14 days); or
where otherwise prohibited by law.