As much as many of us love receiving gift cards, they rarely hit the mark. Maybe you’ve won a gift card at a hardware store that’s still within your reach, or you’ve collected several gift cards for fast-food chains and you’re still looking to eat healthier. If you think some of your gift cards you’ve been saving lately might be sitting in the trash drawer, it’s worth considering turning them into cash.
Unwanted gift cards can languish on the back of a stack of credit, debit, and gift cards in a wallet for years, and they may eventually expire. There is a 2009 federal law that states that the maximum gift cards cannot expire for five years. And many states don’t allow them to expire at all. Still, allowing gift cards to sit in your wallet or closet for years probably won’t bring you benefits.
In fact, it’s not so unusual for other people not to use gift cards that there’s a monetary term that stores use in tax accounting to describe the profits they make on gift cards or other prepaid that consumers don’t use: breakage. The term refers to the gift card that is necessarily damaged by not being used.
It’s never a bad thing for a store to have someone spend cash on a gift card that’s rarely used much; Of course, this isn’t so smart for the consumer. If you don’t need the gift card to become a gift to the store, but you don’t need to use a specific gift card to buy what the company sells, there are tactics you can use. your unused gift cards in cash. Read on to find out how.
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To sell gift cards online, look for resale sites that buy them for close to face value, says Bethany Hollars, a spokesperson for BrickSeek, a website worth checking out. She advises comparing the value of offers from various sites to get the value of your card.
“Most of those sites will also allow you to redeem the gift card, in exchange for a store gift card that you’ll actually use,” he says, adding, “Don’t worry about sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace, where you can occasionally sell gift cards for a few dollars below face value.
Gift card resale markets have changed a lot over the years. Some did not emerge from the pandemic and others merged with others. There may be one or two gift card sites that seem safe but really get a bad rap when you check with the Better Business Bureau. If you decide to sell your unwanted gift cards on an online page that is not on this list, study the site first. Here are 8 internet sites and apps where you can sell unused gift cards online:
You can sell your gift cards on CardCash, but keep in mind that the amount you get from them will vary. For example, for a $25 Target card, you can expect to get a deal of around $20, maybe a little more or less. You can usually get up to 92% of the price of the card; You’ll never be 100 percent full. The website has to generate profit somehow.
You may also have the option to redeem your gift card for some other gift card, anything that has more value than money. If you have a $100 1-800 Flowers gift card, for example, you may be able to get $60 in cash or a $61. 50 Walmart gift card. Cash offers and gift cards vary.
Like other gift card selling sites, GiftCash allows you to simply enter the value of the card you need to sell and its price to get a deal. Typically, if the card is intended for a popular store like Target or Best Buy, the maximum will probably get the most out of its price: somewhere between the top 80% diversity or the bottom 90% diversity. At the time of writing, GiftCash’s highest payout is 93%.
GiftCash accepts cards with a minimum price of $25 and can transfer up to $2,000. (There are a few exceptions: for Air Canada, Apple/iTunes, and Petco gift cards, you’ll need to have a minimum price of $100. )
With Raise, you set the value of your gift card. It’s easy to register your card, and if someone buys it, it gives Raise a 15% commission. You can sell gift cards with partial sales, but any physical gift card will have to involve at least $10. An eGift card must have a balance of at least $5. All gift card balances must be less than $2000.
Raise will pay you ACH or PayPal direct deposit, neither of which has a fee.
ClipKard has a quote tool that will reveal whether your card will be cleared and how much it’s worth. If you accept the amount, you will send your gift card to ClipKard using a USPS prepaid shipping label. You can upgrade to Priority Shipping, however, the additional expenses will come from the cash you receive. And whether you sell or buy a gift card here, earn commendation points. If you buy or sell $50 gift cards, get 50 points, for example. After earning 1,000 points, you can redeem them for a $10 reduction in long-term purchases.
You’ll probably need to use it if you have a lot of gift cards to sell, enough to earn 1000 issues. If you have 50 issues on the web, you’ll find it as useful as an unnecessary gift card in a drawer. .
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On Gameflip, players can, among other things, buy and sell gift cards. You’ll find gift cards from brands like Amazon and Starbucks, as well as sites like Google Play, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live. A player use this site, but it helps. If you sell or buy a gift card here, create a Gameflip profile and then enter your gift card along with its promo price. Gameflip suggests slashing your gift card by 2% to 15% off its price, and you’ll get a reduced directory price, an 8% commission, and a 2% virtual fee, if applicable. If you sell your gift card, the cash will be transferred to your Gameflip wallet. At this point, you can withdraw it by employing virtual payment systems.
If you’ve never heard of Wise, Payoneer, Skrill, or Bitcoin (all virtual currencies), this is your chance to learn.
MI stands for Michigan, where the company is headquartered. QuickcashMI is an undeniable online page to use. You’ll purchase gift cards from a list of brands, including JCPenney, IHOP, and Amazon.
Simply enter the amount on the gift card and QuickcashMI will tell you how much you’ll pay. The amount they’ll pay regularly depends on the logo (which isn’t unusual for gift card resale websites). For example, a $100 gift card. A Zappos gift card would possibly cost less money than a $100 Amazon gift card.
GiftCardBin no longer allows you to sell gift cards through its website, but you can purchase a card on the site and enter your zip code. If one of their six hundred spouse spots is near you, all you want to do is pick up your gift card and a valid ID and get some cash in return.
After downloading the CardSell app, you will percentage the gift card number and PIN. You’ll get an offer once CardSell verifies the gift card with the retailer. If you accept the offer, cash will be deposited into your PayPal account within 48 hours, according to the website.
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Not interested in promoting your gift cards that you no longer want?Don’t give them away. This can be a wonderful way to save on birthday or holiday gifts.
“If there’s someone in your life who you think would use the gift card, save money at Christmas by returning the card to them,” Hollars says. “This saves you cash upfront by removing an access from your holiday shopping. “.
Another option is to donate your unwanted gift cards to a cause. CardCash, for example, will donate them to St. John’s Children’s Research Hospital. Jude.
You can also check out CharityChoice, which will allow you to turn your gift card into a donation. 10% of the donation is required for marketing and administration costs; It’s not unusual for a small percentage of donations to nonprofits to go to the organization’s operation.
Gift Card Bank is a non-profit organization that specializes in accepting unwanted gift cards for food and clothing and giving them to others with financial difficulties.
As with unwanted gifts, consumers are rarely able to return unwanted gift cards to the outlets where they purchased them and get their cash back. But, unsurprisingly, the answer is no.
“Retailers’ policies differ when it comes to endorsing store gift cards,” Hollars says. “Some stores wouldn’t possibly accept your return at all, while others only consider shopping credits for them, which essentially means you end up with a gift card for the time being. “
“Some stores, such as Target, accept gift card returns as long as they have not been used and you have the original purchase receipt, which can lead to an awkward verbal exchange if you won the gift card as a gift. It’s more productive to read the retailer’s return policy to see if it’s a viable option,” he says.
Geoff WilliamsDecember 12, 2022
Tags: money, finance, consumers, inflation, gifts, holidays, holiday shopping
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