Did you know you can trade gift cards online? Choosing a gift for someone for Christmas, a birthday, an anniversary or other occasion can sometimes be challenging.
Gift cards can be a good idea for a person, especially if you know the retail stores where they frequently shop.
A Home Depot gift card, for example, might be a good match for a home do-it-yourselfer.
If you’re not a do-it-yourselfer, however, you may want to trade gift cards online, so you end up with cards you’ll actually use.
Gift Cards: Great for Merchants
Gift cards cover lots of categories: apparel, beauty, electronics, entertainment, food, home and garden, sports, travel…you name it. Gift cards are great for retail merchants.
They drive foot traffic to their brick-and-mortar stores, where customers might browse and find other items to buy.
Also, card holders have a tendency to spend more money than the value of the gift card.
On the other hand, people sometimes only use part of the money on a card, then place the card away and forget it forever.
But what do you do if you are on the receiving end of a gift card for a business or service that you know you will never use?
Gift Card Buy Backs
Years ago, retailers would often buy back a gift card, but that is not commonly done today.
You can sell that card for cash though the websites and mobile apps of a “gift card reseller.”
There are also gift card exchange kiosks at some locations. Local payday loan and cash advance merchants may also offer this service.
According to LendUp.com, Target stores have a gift card trade-in program. Go to the electronics department in your nearest store.
Gift Card Resale Sites
Here are a few top sites you can use to resell gift cards online – we take a closer look at two of them below:
- Raise.com
- GiftCardBin.com
- ClipKard.com
- GameFlip.com
- CardCash.com
Resell Gift Cards Online: What to Expect
When selling your card for cash, of course you cannot expect to get the full face value of the card, which is only fair. Nevertheless, some resellers offer very high percentages of the retail price.
Expect to get about $16 or $17 for a $25 gift card. Depending on the reseller, offers can range from a low of 50% to a high of 92% of the cash card’s face value.
Some cards are in higher demand than others, and so they may be redeemed for more cash. Fast-food restaurants and department store cards are currently among the most popular.
Whatever you can get for selling a card, it’s worth it if it’s a gift card for a retailer or service that you will never use.
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A Closer Look at ClipKard.com
The website ClipKard.com offers a reward point system.
This is a valuable benefit if you have multiple gift cards to cash in, and also if you need to purchase gift cards. Each transaction with ClipKard earns you rewards points.
The number of points you receive is equal to the price of the cards you purchase or are selling.
If you buy several cards that total $80, for example, you will receive 80 reward points. This applies when you are selling cards, too.
A Closer Look at GameFlip.com
If you are a computer “gamer,” the website GameFlip.com will be of special interest to you.
Join their community of over six million gamers who use the site to safely buy and sell gift cards, as well as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), digital collectibles and “all things gaming.”
You can purchase gaming gift cards at discounts, too. Get up to 9% off on PlayStation gift cards, 5% off Nintendo, up to 7% of XBox and up to 10% off of Roblox gift cards.
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Trade Gift Cards Online: Non-Cash
While it’s recommended to sell unwanted cards for cash, some resellers will pay with other gift cards or even cryptocurrency.
Rather than selling your gift card for cash, you may get a better deal by trading the card for another card for a merchant that you know you can use.
Trade Gift Cards Online: Cash
Here are the top 4 gift card resale sites that allow you to exchange gift cards for cash:
- Raise.com (has an excellent BBB rating)
- GiftCardBin (has excellent customer service)
- CardCash.com (known for their fast payout)
- BuyBackWorld.com (makes an instant offer and it’s free to ship your card)
Beware of Scam Sites
Sadly, we live in a time when we have to be aware of consumer scams.
Please take the time to check into the reseller by reading reviews, ensuring that they have a phone number and a physical address before doing business with them.
Also, although you can sell gift cards on Ebay, Craigslist and Nextdoor, for your protection, avoid selling gift cards directly to people who you do not know.
Some gift card resellers also sell gift cards for major retailers, and often sell them at a discount price.
So, before purchasing a gift card from a store or from one of those gift card displays, check online first, as you may be able to save money.
Visit PayPal Digital Gift Cards. Sometimes Amazon.com offer promotional deals with discounts on gift cards.
Websites such as GiftCardGranny.com and GiftCardWiki.com offer top-selling gift cards that give the purchaser discounts or cash back.
Gift Card Resale for Businesses
If you own your own business, websites like BlackHawkNetwork.com can create Visa and MasterCard prepaid debit cards with your company logo and two lines of text.
Bulk cards can be used to reward your employees, motivate salespeople, or as incentives when aiming at acquiring new customers.
ConsumerReports.org states that a report by BlackHawkNetwork, a global payment provider, suggested that 45 percent of 2021 holiday spending was done on gift cards.
In Conclusion: Trade Gift Cards Online
It’s not surprising that gift cards are a very popular gift for all occasions.
Should you get one you can’t use, however, venture to online gift card resale sites and salvage what would otherwise be an unused gift.