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What Should You Do With An Unwanted Gift Card?

Follow these easy steps to turn an unwanted gift card into cash.

It is always nice to receive a gift card, but what do you do with plastic gift cards that you cannot use? Don’t just leave them lingering in your junk drawer. First, check the store’s terms. You might be able to redeem yours for cash right in the store.

If that isn’t possible, there are many gift card resellers online that will allow you to sell your unwanted gift cards for cash or trade them for others. Examples include Gift Card Granny.com, Cardpool.com. GiftCardBin.com, SaveYa.com and CardCash.com. They all work pretty much the same way. Once you’ve logged onto the site, enter the merchant name of the gift card, enter the dollar value of the card, select “Next Step” and review whatever offer the reseller is willing to give you. If you like the offer, choose the form of payment you’d like to receive (either check in the mail or PayPal deposit) and look for instructions on how to mail in the plastic gift card or submit the gift code electronically.

Here are three things to look for in deciding which reseller you should work with:

  1. What is the cash-back or exchange value? The amount you can get for a gift card depends upon how easily the reseller can sell it to someone else. If it’s an in-demand gift card, like one from Starbucks, you’ll get a higher exchange rate. You should expect to get anywhere from 65 percent to over 90 percent of your card’s value.
  2. How will payment be made? Typically the reseller will mail you a check once they have verified the value of your gift card. It may be possible to get a slightly higher rate if you will accept payment by PayPal or in exchange for another gift card. Weigh carefully your options and you might be able to increase your rewards.
  3. Is there a guarantee? It’s so easy to get scammed. Protect yourself work with a reseller that offers a money-back guarantee and that provides customer service representatives who will answer emails and telephone calls 24 hours a day.

It can be a hard decide to sell a gift card, but if you can’t use it, don’t let it go to waste!

Learn more about plastic gift cards at PlasticResource.com.