Here’s what you should do with those unwanted gift cards

Perhaps you received a gift card during the holiday season. It’s very likely, with a national survey finding that shoppers planned to buy an average three cards in the just completed shopping spree, with an average value of $46 per card, then give them to someone.

Nationwide, that would have added up to about $27.5 billion in gift card spending during the 2016 holiday season, up from $26 billion the year before, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That money was spent on cards good for restaurants, department stores, coffee shops, entertainment and cash cards such as Visa/MasterCard/American Express.

The bottom line, however, is that quite a few of those cards will go unspent, perhaps relegated to the top of a shelf or the back of a drawer or simply misplaced physically or mentally. Offers.com is here to say don’t let that happen to you. Turn those unused cards into something worthwhile.

That said, here are tips from Offers.com for doing something with those cards:

▪ Sell unwanted gift cards — Today, there are a number of sites eager to get their hands on your gift cards, including CardCash, Raise, and Cardpool. These companies will purchase your unwanted gift card for anywhere from 60 percent to 92 percent of its value to sell at a discount to customers. You can sell most physical and eGift cards, even if they have been partially used.

▪ Swap unwanted gift cards — Some gift card sites, CardCash included, give you the option of trading your gift card for another. If you swap your gift card for one of CardCash’s partner gift cards, you can often swing a higher payout rate. Target offers a similar trade-in program, providing Target gift cards in exchange for those of competitors.

▪ Visit a Coinstar Exchange kiosk — Visit a yellow Coinstar Exchange kiosk in your local supermarket to trade your card in for cash. Once you scan or swipe your card, Coinstar will make you an immediate offer and print out a voucher you can redeem in the store.

▪ Donate unwanted gift cards — Goodwill, CharityChoice, and other philanthropic organizations accept retail and restaurant gift cards as donations, as do many local schools and churches. You may even qualify for a tax deduction for your gift card contribution — be sure to hold onto a receipt or letter confirming the donation.

▪ Re-gift unwanted gift cards — One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and the gift card you have no use for might be a welcome surprise for someone else. If you know someone who would appreciate it, better to re-gift a gift card than let it go to waste — as long as the card has never been used.

▪ Use a gift card to buy a gift — Your unwanted gift cards might come in handy as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day approach. Consider holding on to your gift card to make a future purchase as a gift for someone else.

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Here’s what you should do with those unwanted gift cards."