If during the Christmas season you were one of the “unlucky ones” who received a gift card in an exchangebecause they did not know your tastes or desires, and now you have it stored in a drawer without knowing what to spend it on, that problem has a solution.
When the gift card is from a store you frequent, chances are you’ll be happy to spend it right away. However, if the card belongs to a store you never go to or its validity is about to expire and you don’t like anything on offer, that’s when the difficulties begin.
The best way to get the full value of a gift card is to use the funds as soon as possible. There is also the option to sell or exchange it, but it is very unlikely that you can return it.
There are ways to extract value from an unwanted gift certificate, according to experts. Here are four suggested ideas:
1.- Redeem it for another gift card
The easiest way to exchange a gift card you don’t want is to do it with someone who has another gift card. from a store that you do like and have a comparable value.
There are also websites like CardCash.com that allow you to exchange gift cards with others by stores of more than 1,300 retailers.
For example, a $50 Bloomingdales gift card can be exchanged for a $40.75 Walmart gift card. Other best-selling gift cards on the site include Lowes, Foot Locker, Nike, Starbucks, Apple, and more.
2.- Buy a gift for another person
Take stock of upcoming birthdays and celebrations for which you had already planned to buy a gift. If you use a gift card you already own for these types of purchases, you will free up money in your bank account.
3.- Sell the card in exchange for cash
Visitors to sites like CardCash.com they can also sell unwanted gift cards in exchange for cash, although you’ll get less for your investment in gift cards.
Experts point out that you won’t get the face value of any gift card if you use third-party sites. For a $25 gift card to Walmart, on a good day you’ll get $22.
4.- Buy another gift card
As another option, is it possible to use a gift card for a retailer or grocery store to buy a card for a specialty retailer, like Amazon or Apple, near the checkout counter.
You may also like:
– Gift card scams: what to do if the one you received is worthless
– How you can return a gift purchased with a ‘buy now, pay later’ plan
– Online Christmas sales are record in the United States: more than $200,000 million dollars were spent