ABOUT CLARK HOWARD
Find more answers to your consumer questions, plus Clark’s book “Living Large in Lean Times,” at ClarkHoward.com.
Listen to Clark Howard weeknights from 6 to 9 p.m. on AM1290/95.7FM News Talk WHIO.
Not sure what to do with gift cards you got that you don’t plan on using? There are several websites that will allow you to convert them into cash — albeit not exactly at face value.
For the first three Christmases of the Great Recession, the idea of re-gifting was extremely popular. With re-gifting, you simply took a gift you received that you didn’t like and gave it to someone else. But re-gifting has apparently fallen out of favor this year. What still remains popular, however, is giving gift cards.
The San Francisco Chronicle has identified three websites where you can go online and sell your unwanted gift cards: PlasticJungle.com, CardPool.com and GiftCardRescue.com.
Sellers can typically expect to make about 70-80 cents back on the dollar. (Need I say more about why gift cards stink?) Buyers, meanwhile, can find gift cards discounted up to 30 percent off the face value. The websites themselves make money on the buy/sell spread.
So don’t let that unloved plastic gather dust in a drawer this season. Turn it into some real money.
About the Author