Comments on: Best gift card exchange site?

Question: Best gift card exchange site?

Joleta — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:11:54 -0800

What is the best gift card exchange site?

I got some gift cards for Christmas that I won't use and would like to exchange them for a like dollar amount of a card I will use. I found a whole bunch of sites by Googling "gift card exchange" but have no idea which are reputable. And how does this work? How do I know that the gift card I'm getting has any credit on it at all? Mefites, if you've used one of these services and had a good (or bad!) experience, let me know.

By: cschneid

cschneid — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:21:53 -0800

I've seen this done via ebay (never did it myself though), typically at a 5-15% discount on face value based on the popularity of the store (best buy gets better rates than podunk restaurant).

By: 45moore45

45moore45 — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:32:15 -0800

This might be a long shot but so many stores seem to be selling all kinds of gift cards these days, is it possible for you to use the gift card at that retailer to buy a gift card for another retailer? It would save you the face value loss if your retailer happens to be one carrying a lot of other gift cards. Even my supermarket has a kiosk of about 50 different gift cards you can buy.

By: Joleta

Joleta — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 18:39:29 -0800

OP here: I have two Coldwater Creek (women's clothing) gift cards, one for $75 and the other for $25. I have been in the store and on their web site several times and haven't found anything I want to buy. I'd like to trade them at face value to someone who wants them and has cards they don't want (Chico's, Amazon.com, chain restaurants, Best Buy, etc.). Several web sites seem to facilitate this, but I don't know which to use, so I'm querying the hive mind.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:26:40 -0800

CertificateSwap.com might be of interest, but I have no personal experience with it. I do think it is reputable, however, as it has been around quite a while.

By: twistofrhyme

twistofrhyme — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 19:57:51 -0800

i bet you can find someone on craigslist who will take your $100 for $80. you'll probably need to agree to meet the person in the store so they can have the clerk verify the card balance right there.

alternately, go to the store and have a cashier check the balance. then hang out for a bit, and speak to people standing in line, offering to sell them the cards for $80 cash. the cashier who just checked the balance will overhear and nod to the customers that the cards are valid, so someone will go for it. i've done this to get rid of credit notes before.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:29:47 -0800

This MSN Money article from last week might be helpful; it mentions Cardavenue.com, PlasticJungle.com and Swapagift.com and describes how each one works.

By: micawber

micawber — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:19:28 -0800

I believe that Coldwater Creek is going out of business, so I would try to buy presents, something, before those cards are worthless.

I have a friend with a $500 gift card she won in a raffle for Design Within Reach. She has tried bartering, she has tried offering it for $400, no dice. It is not that easy to move a gift card on the open market.

The problem with eBay is that there is too much gift card fraud. People on this site should especially know this :)

By: Joleta

Joleta — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 22:46:14 -0800

micawber, where did you hear that Coldwater Creek is going out of business? I can't find anything online about that.

By: petersb

petersb — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:52:40 -0800

I've been trolling the net looking for information on these sites as I have been putting together a site with useful information related to gift cards. You can find a pretty complete list of these buy/sell/trade gift card sites at http://www.giftcardadvocate.org/resources.html. So far, with all my searching, I haven't seen anything negative about these services. They do appear quite legit, although more than half of them have very little traffic and gift card inventory.