If you are getting a lot of gift cards this holiday season and don’t like them all, here are a few websites where you can sell them for cash or trade them for other gift cards you like.
A quick foreword. Almost all the websites listed below will have some kind of a transaction fee ranging from 4% up to about 25% (or a fixed fee), so you will have to do some reading before you jump into this stuff. But even with high fees, it might sometimes make sense to trade some of those cards for the ones you have better use for. For example, In my case, if some one gives me a $100 Olive Garden gift card, I will not hesitate to trade it in for a $75 Sam’s Club or Walmart gift card (..yeah that’s me), or may be sell it for a $70 cash…and buy something I need with that cash. If you are in this category of thinking about your gift cards, then read on :).
This website offers to buy back your gift cards usually at about 70%~75% of the value of the card. I put in some hypothetical numbers ($100 each) for Dillard’s and Lowe’s gift cards and it gave me the prices for these cards as show in the image below. So, I will get $74 if I sell a $100 Dillards gift card and $72 if I sell a $100 Lowes gift card. Sadly, there is no standard rate list information available on the site, so each time you have to punch in the name of the card you want to sell to see how much it has to offer. There is no option for direct swapping of cards.
Cardavenue charges on a percentage basis. You can either sell your cards or trade them for other cards. The percentage basis option is good when you want to sell gift cards of lower values ($25 through $100); if you want to sell a gift card of high value you should look for a fixed fee options. Here is a screenshot of Cardavenue’s fee structure.
You can sell your card directly to the website (usually known as the “fast cash” option), or you can list it as “for sale” and wait for someone to buy it. If you are selling your cards directly to the website, it offers rates based on the following structure:
If you are listing your card for sale, then you will be charged as follows (usually you will get a better deal using this option):
Notice that the fee structure is not based on percentage of card value, there is just a flat fee of $3.99. This serves better when you are selling high value cards (like more than $100).
This is one of the sites I liked better than the rest. On this site too you can sell your cards directly to the website and get cash according to their “preferred merchant’s list” (see the image alongside).
The other option is to sell it to other users of swapagift.com for a flat fee of $3.99. See image below.
Offers a standard flat rate for all gift card - 68% of face value if you want cash. Instead of cash you can settle for credit which gives you 78% of face value. This is a good option sometimes if you want to buy another gift card from this site, otherwise you are better of with the cash deal.
Well…I don’t need to say much about this. Whatever you want to sell..eBay is always one of the options. If you are comfortable with eBay, you can try selling your gift cards here. Again, a nominal percentage basis fee is applicable. Here is a screenshot of some gift cards on sale.
So there you go…no more confusion about what to do with so many gift cards. 
In my opinion, selling them or trading them is always a good option when you don’t see any need-based use of your gift cards. Before I sign off, let me write this in big print: ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT
Quick tip: You can also try buying gift cards at discounted prices on one of these websites.
A related article was posted by Yan at ProBargainHunter.com around the same time. Click here to read it.
Some useful recources:
1. MSNBC: Unwanted Gift Cards Regifted Online
2. Federal Trade Commission: Buying, Giving, and Using Gift Cards
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Interesting and useful post, thanks!
-James
This is great! I have ended up with quite a few unusual gift cards in the past, I am sure that this year will be no different. Say bye bye to the gift card to Sears Hardware!
What ever happened to days of just giving cash? Cash can be used everywhere and the recipient would get the full value of the gift. I wonder if people are using credit debt to give gift cards, which is why they don’t give cash. Hmmm….
Maybe a topic for a guest writer ….
Hey, where ever do you get these ideas? Very cool article.
i kind of like the giftcardbazzar… (for buying not selling)
I want to buy an expensive pair of express pants in a couple of months… and when X-mas rolls around and they get more cards… I think i’ll buy one and then use it because my old ones are getting busted…
That is sweet! I have done my own roundup just a day before
http://probargainhunter.com/2006/12/01/sell-or-trade-your-unused-gift-cards/
Nice, I have a few gift cards will probably use one of these sites to consolidate them. Keep the good content coming.
The real deals are buying the gift cards at a discount if they are for stores where you normally shop. There is usually a glut after the holiday season and you can get some for great discounts.
ambellamy and saving advice: yeah..that’s true. you can get good discounts when buying cards in one of these online shops. But here, I was thinking more about how to get rid of the unwanted ones
Yan: I read your article from the link above. you have some good stuff there
and the articles sort of complement each other. thanks for the info.
Mr. Cheap Stuff: thanks for the encouragement.
Please send me an email at: sharonhr@bellsouth.net
I would like to chat with you about an interview for an article.
Thanks
Hi , just found a new website GIFTCARDWISH.COM , buying , selling , trading gift cards. seems to be very user friendly . did not find lot of cards so i emailed the company . they were very prompt to reply back that it is a new website starting in few days and good thing its gonna be “FREE” guys for a limited time . so good bargain ….
I sold a few gift cards on eBay after the holidays. Got 80-90% of the value in most cases, which I was happy with.
One word of warning: if you’re selling the gift cards on eBay, make sure you ship them with some sort of tracking and signature required. One of the people who bought a gift card for me tried to scam me by saying he never received the card.
I would not recommend CardAvenue because they claim to offer protection against fraud but when it actually happens they ignore the emails. http://consumerist.com/consumer/fraud/cardavenue-doesnt-respond-to-fraud-claims-or-emails-236943.php
I was reading about how many of the gift cards never get used. Stores make millions on these and never have to pay out. It’s no wonder they love them so much. I’m sure these selling services will only grow in the future.
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