Whenever you’re in doubt about what to give to someone this holiday season, it’s good to remember you can’t go wrong with gift cards. It’s an option more, and more people opt for today. No more wandering the stores looking for a perfect gift, just buy a couple of gift cards and pretty envelopes and your holiday shopping is done.
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The result of more and more people choosing this option is that everyone is left with a pile of plastic or an email inbox full of digital codes at the end of holiday season. And then they’re facing a ridiculous problem – they can’t possibly use them all. However, many are overlooking the fact that all those gift cards can be exchanged for money. So, you get a gift card for free, and you exchange it for money. Now the question is how to do it?
Card pool
Card pool will exchange physical and electronic gift cards from hundreds of stores for checks. They will also exchange store credit for checks. All you have to do is enter the card name, balance, card number or digital code and choose your favorite offer. You can choose between a check and a different gift card. It’s possible for you to get 35% off the face value of certain gift cards.
Popular cards will get you more money. That means that the most versatile cards have the greatest value.
Gift Card Granny
Budget Boost is another place for the gift card exchange. Their survey shows that there’s been an increase of 50 percent in the number of resellers in the last ten years.
The rarer the card is, and the more people are looking for it, the card is going to be more expensive. It’s understandable that gift cards for everyday necessities are the most used ones. When you get a card for a grocery store or gas, you’re probably going to use it. On the other hand, if a gift card is for a specific clothing store, the chances that you might not going to need it increases.
Gift Granny also gives regular updates of changes in gift card industry and will offer you shopping tips and latest trends concerning gift cards.
CardCash
CardCash offers up to 92% of the initial value of the card, and they add a discount to the price on trade-ins. You can go to “Sell gift card” page and immediately after you enter the name of the store and the balance, you’ll get an offer. You can also opt for a physical card or go for a digital version.
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Gift Card Spread
They give you the option to start a bidding process in order to settle on the price you want. It sounds like an amazing way to get the money for a card you don’t want! Of course, you can choose to simply sell it for whatever the price in which case the process is faster.
Craigslist and eBay
Even though the Craigslist might not be your first choice, the truth is that many people are selling and buying gift cards there. The benefit of selling the cards there is that you do not include the middleman and you can set whatever the price you want on your card.
However, it’s much more difficult to avoid scammers. It’s probably not the best solution, but it’s doable.
eBay, on the other hand, has strict guidelines for selling gift cards. There are many restrictions, and in case you don’t follow the rules, you might get yourself suspended. eBay charges certain fees, so it’s good to check if it’s possible for you to get a better deal on some of the websites specialized for gift card exchanges.
Gift Card Kiosk
img source: leahingram.comYou might have seen those yellow boxes in grocery stores and at retailers. Those are the kiosks where you can exchange your cards with minimum effort. It’s the fastest and easiest way to exchange the gift cards. You will receive a voucher for the card in case you like the offer, and if not, you get your card back.
