The most lucrative hour you’ll spend this year
I know you’ve got them. I do, too. Unused gift cards — the Ghosts of Christmases Past 👻 — leering at you from the back of your desk drawer. In fact, there are $45 BILLION in unused gift cards floating around out there, and the number goes up by $1B each year. If we imagine that all unused gift cards in the US were equally distributed, every man, woman, and child would have $146 in gift cards.*
There are so many discount gift card sites these days that will pay you in cash or even in other gift cards. Considering how quickly you are going to turn worthless [to you] gift cards into money in about an hour, this just might be the highest paying job you’ll do this year. And selling your gift cards isn’t rocket science. You can even do it at your local Target!
(If you just want to skip the why’s get to the how-to’s, scroll down a couple sections.)
Why now?
The holidays are closing in. This is prime time to get paid and let’s face it, we all could use some cash for gifts and travel. Other perks of selling now:
Get on gifts early: I refuse to make my traditional “Run out for Walmart gifts on Christmas morning” routine. In fact, it would be great to get my gifts sorted before December 15.
Sell fast: People are getting ready to buy a GLUT of gift cards for their loved ones. If you choose the “sell the gift card directly” route, your card is going to sell fast. Most gift cards sell within 24 hours on sites like Raise.com, but others take longer and benefit from the holiday rush.
Why sell gift cards? Is this even a good idea?
You will never get 100% value on your gift card. The site takes a small fee for handling the sale, plus more commonly available gift cards sell for less. The only way to get 100% value is to re-gift the card or to swap 1 for 1 with a friend.
I have a Legal Sea Food gift card sitting around that’s worth $25. I can go to that restaurant and use it for $25. Or I can get $17 for it.
Since I can’t go to Legal Sea Food (there aren’t any in my area.), this gift card currently has a $0 value to me. Getting that $17 means I actually get value from the gift card.
I got the gift card as a gift, 4? Christmases ago, so I’m not actually losing money at all. Instead of the card being a gift I’d never use, the gift is $17 in cash! Even better.
Of course, if you know someone you can swap your card with 1:1 with, great! Otherwise, take the cash and run.
How Much Will I Get?
It depends on the gift card. Some are much more in demand than others. If it’s an in-demand gift card, you’ll get 75–80% of the value.
Don’t take my word for it — it only takes 30 seconds to find out your payout. Go to one of the websites (listed below). Type in the gift card brand and amount. It will spit out an immediate amount of how much they’ll pay you for it.
Check out this WalletHub list to see the most popular gift cards’ resale prices.
How to Sell Your Gift Cards
Get all those gift cards into a pile, we’re gonna do ‘em all at once! 💰
Note: If you don’t need the cash, please consider donating your cards to a charity in exchange for a tax write-off — you can drop it off locally or use Gift Cards For Change online. Make sure you get a receipt from the charity — you can list the full value of the gift card as a tax write-off, so if you give $100 in gift cards, you’ll get ~$35 back on your tax return.
There are two basic options to selling: let a company sell the cards for you, or sell them yourself.
My preference is the painless route of letting someone else (the discount card company) sell them for me. This way, they tell me up front how much I’ll get paid. I get paid as soon as they receive the cards in the mail.
The other option is to list the cards yourself. You can get more money this way, but it’s slightly less convenient because you need to be ready to mail the card within 24 hours of someone buying it. Being on vacation or too busy is not an option.
Painless route — let the company sell them for you:
In person
If you prefer to sell your gift cards in person and have a store mail them in, great! Tons of stores will do this for you. Type your zip code at these location finders:
- This WalletHub study shows that the best place to sell your gift cards in person is at a local Coinstar.
- Cardpool accepts gift cards at a bunch of stores I normally go to including Target. (Note: Target pays out in Target gift cards, not cash.) See all locations here
- Gift Card Granny accepts gift cards at a bunch of “cash” stores, see these locations
Online
The great thing here is that you can compare different sites’ prices and get the best one. BUT if you have a bunch of gift cards, you might just want to go to one site and enter them all.
If you are willing to accept OTHER gift cards in payment instead of cash, you will get more. Amazon gift cards, for example, will give me about 6% more than I could get in a cash payout. You can choose from a bunch of other gift cards and get more than 6%: movie discount cards, travel like airBnB.
Sites to check:
First check Card Cash, WalletHub’s pick as the best site for sellers.
Other sites that will buy from you include:
If you’re selling an e-gift card, you just enter the number into the site and presto! You’ll get paid within the next business day.
If you sell a physical gift card, the site will give you a mailing label to print with postage already paid. Throw ’em in an envelope and mail. You’ll get paid as soon as it arrives.
Sell them yourself (less convenience, better payouts):
You can also sell the gift card yourself on the site. You’ll typically get more cash for this, BUT you have to be ready to mail the card whenever it sells.
You can use the traditional discount gift card sites for this (see above). You can also use the site of your choice — ebay, craigslist, etc. It’s less advantageous, though, because you’ll have to adjust the price down until someone bites. People who buy through eBay also tend to pay less than they do on discount card sites (where they will see the going rate of the card).
FAQ
What if I don’t know the value of the gift card?
It’s easy to find out. The back of the card will list website where you can check the balance. Most discount gift cards sites also have a link to check the balance:
Can I sell partially used gift cards?
Absolutely!
Can I sell store credit cards, like the ones I get from returns?
Yes!!
What if the person doesn’t pay me?
The advantage of using gift card sites is that you will definitely get paid, because they collect the cash for you.
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- Numbers based on 2010 US Census population of 308 million.