Here’s how to turn unused gift cards into cash

Are your unused present playing cards gathering mud? You could possibly change these playing cards for money.

Present playing cards are among the many hottest items throughout the winter vacation season: 44% of customers deliberate to offer one as a present in 2023, rating second solely to clothes (56%), in line with the Nationwide Retail Federation.

Many People do not use their playing cards. To that time, 47% of U.S. adults have a minimum of one unused card, in line with a 2023 Bankrate survey. Nationwide, these unused balances are value $23 billion, the report discovered.

Their common worth is $187 an individual — a 61% enhance from $116 in June 2021, Bankrate discovered.

Nonetheless, sure web sites let customers promote their unused playing cards for cash.

“Customers definitely needn’t depart these present playing cards unused in a drawer someplace,” mentioned John Breyault, vice chairman of public coverage, telecommunications and fraud on the Nationwide Customers League.

These web sites have just a few totally different monetary fashions, which pay customers lower than the face worth of their card. Some distributors pay a share of a card’s worth, with quantities various by retailer, whereas others are like an eBay for present playing cards, for instance, Breyault mentioned.

Examples embody Elevate.com, CardCash.com and GiftCash.com, mentioned Ted Jenkin, an authorized monetary planner based mostly in Atlanta and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

One “detriment” of vacation present playing cards is that recipients are usually inclined to spend greater than a card’s worth whereas procuring, Jenkin mentioned. A $100 card may flip right into a $118 complete buy, for instance, he mentioned.

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That is among the many causes retailers closely market present playing cards.

They drive further gross sales, Breyault mentioned. The worldwide present card market is anticipated to be $2.3 trillion by 2030, up from about $899 billion in 2022, in line with International Trade Analysts.

Recipients can as an alternative commerce in a present card to assist pay down family debt or construct up an emergency money reserve, Jenkin mentioned.

Some playing cards “have little or no worth and a few have much more worth,” so customers ought to do some comparability procuring on web sites to scout the perfect deal, Jenkin added.

Breyault suggested towards utilizing Fb Market or Craigslist to promote (or purchase) present playing cards. He has seen “lots of studies” of fraud through these websites whereby customers have been duped.

For different websites, some due diligence is suggested earlier than transacting, Breyault mentioned. For instance, test with the Higher Enterprise Bureau to see if customers have lodged complaints a few explicit service.

One thing so simple as doing a Google seek for the identify of the location and the phrase “rip-off” may also be helpful, he mentioned.

Customers can even search for a customer support cellphone quantity for a web site and examine whether or not it really works — a disconnected quantity or full voicemail inbox is usually a purple flag, Breyault mentioned.

There are alternatives past promoting an unused card, too, reminiscent of donating present playing cards to charity and even re-gifting them, he added.

Moreover, a few dozen states have legal guidelines that require retailers to pay money again to customers who’ve partially used their present playing cards. Card balances should fall beneath a sure monetary threshold, and a few restrictions could apply. Most states require this for card balances of about $5 or much less, whereas California, essentially the most beneficiant state, does so for playing cards of $9.99 or much less.