Now that the holidays are well behind you, it’s time to take stock of your financial situation — particularly as it relates to gifts. If you’re like most people, you might have a stack of gift cards to popular stores and restaurants that you received from friends and family. If you’re lucky, the givers knew your tastes and set you up with all of your favorites.
And if you’re unlucky? Well, you may have a pile of plastic that isn’t very valuable to you.
Don’t feel guilty. It happens all the time.
In fact, economists say that cash is actually the very best gift you can give someone, because it adds the most value to their lives. Cash allows the recipient to spend it on an item that they really want, so that item ends up feeling more valuable than the total cost. Compare that to an unwanted gift — or gift card — and cash is king.
Too bad no one likes to put greenbacks under the tree.
The Problem With Gift Cards
Gift cards are definitely convenient for the giver, but they don’t always work out well for the receiver. These days they’re almost too small and convenient, so they’re easy to lose — and then the value is gone.
Gift cards also have a tendency to feel like play money, so they encourage you to spend them on something far more frivolous than you would if you were using cash — maybe even stuff you don’t need at all.
Finally, hitting a store with a gift card in hand almost certainly forces you to spend some of your own money. It’s usually pretty difficult to hit the exact dollar amount of your gift card with your purchases, so you’ll either have to forfeit the remainder or make up the difference with your own cash if you go over the limit. The clear winner is the retailer, but you may not actually be as happy as you would with cash.
How to Get Cash for Your Gift Cards
If you’d really rather not deal with your gift cards — or if you know you could put the money to much better use paying down your debt, building your savings or just getting some relief in your budget — there are lots of ways to trade them in for cash. Check out any of these outlets below to turn your stack of plastic into big bucks.
- CardCash: CardCash lets you sell your unwanted gift cards for up to 92 percent of their value — though the payout will often be less. Remember that they make their money by selling the gift card back to people who actually want them, but for a discount. You can check out their best sellers list to see which ones might be worth the most to help you decide if selling is right for you.
- Cardpool: Cardpool has a couple different ways to sell your cards. You can enter the store to see what the company will offer you on the spot, or if you’re willing to wait to name your price, you can list your card for sale on the Marketplace and get paid when someone agrees to your price. They also have physical locations and kiosks if you like the human touch, and you could choose a different gift card instead of cash if you prefer.
- GiftCardBin: GiftCardBin requires a physical gift card to be mailed to them before you get paid, but they do offer a payout guarantee for your peace of mind. You can also sell them in person at locations across the U.S. and Canada. They’ll buy up to $300 worth of gift cards from you every 30 days.
- Giftcard Zen: Giftcard Zen is run by the folks at RetailMeNot, a great online coupon code site. As with other sites, you enter the store and the balance on your card to get a quote for how much they’ll pay you for your card. It can take 10 to 14 days to receive payment via PayPal, but they do offer bulk selling services if you have a steady stream of cards to sell.
- Raise: Raise lets you name your own price for your gift cards, but you won’t get paid until someone agrees to buy it. You list your card for sale much as you would on eBay or Amazon, and you can even sell cards with partial value remaining (as long as you’re honest about it, of course). If you’re not satisfied with the quotes you get from other services, Raise might be a good place to try your luck to see if you can do better.
- eBay: eBay is the classic online marketplace where you can sell anything and everything — including gift cards. You can set a “But It Now” price, or you can operate on the auction system to let your card go to the highest bidder. Just be aware that you’ll also be on the hook for “Final Value Fees” — eBay’s commission of the final sale price.
Whether you choose to sell your gifts cards or exchange them for ones at stores where you actually shop, don’t let your gift cards go to waste! You can always get partial value for them, and some cash is definitely better than none. Then, when it’s time to shop, be sure to check out some great apps to help you get the best deals and make your money go even further.
Do you love gift cards or hate them? Got any secrets to make them go farther? Tell us in the comments!
