How to Convert Unwanted Gift Cards Into Cash
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your Money Briefing. I'm J.R. Whelan at The Wall Street Journal in New York. Gift cards are popular every holiday season. You probably have a few old ones stashed in a drawer somewhere. And who knows if you'll ever get around to using them.
How can I sell unwanted gift cards for cash and where should I start?
But did you know that depending upon where they're from, you might be able to convert gift cards into cash?
stores that have a lot of different kinds of merchandise, like your big box stores, such as Target, Walmart, Amazon, those cards are going to be way more valuable and you'll be able to get closer to the face value of the card than if you were to try to say, get rid of something like Hallmark or a Michael's gift card or something to like a pet store, for instance.
That's Julie Ramhold from DealNews.com. She'll discuss how you can sell your unused gift cards, and she'll flag some related privacy issues you should be aware of. That's next.
If you're like a lot of people, you have a stack of old gift cards from stores and restaurants piling up, well, what if you could just sell them and collect the cash? Maybe you can.
What online resources and marketplaces convert gift cards to cash or other cards?
And DealNews.com's Julie Ramhold is on the line to tell us how. So, Julie, we're not talking about Visa cash cards or similar cards, but let's say I got a gift card for the holidays to a seafood restaurant, but I'm not really a fan of seafood. Is there a way to convert that card to cash?
You can definitely try to convert it to cash. There are several sites out there that you can try to unload those gift cards on, whether it be through an auction site or by trading it in for something else.
And what sorts of resources are there online to try to convert cards to something more usable like cash?
There are a few that we recommend. One is Gift Card Granny. It's actually just an aggregator site, but it's a good place to go and sort of see what the offers are that are out there without having to jump from site to site to site. And once you decide on one, then you can go to that site to complete your transaction. But we also recommend Raise.com, which is an auction site. And the only problem with auction sites is that you won't be paid until it sells until So if you're kind of wanting a quick turnaround in cash right now, it's going to be a bit of a wait. The other one, though, is CardPool because it will offer you different types of payment. So you might find that, for instance, the cash payment is lower than what you expected, but you might be able to get a fairly decent payout if you just trade it for, say, like an Amazon gift card.
So if someone has five or six gift cards they've gotten for the holidays or over the past year or so, are there some types of cards that are more valuable than others when it comes to converting them to something more usable like cash?
Absolutely.
How do auction sites like Raise.com affect payout timing and amounts?
Stores that have a lot of different kinds of merchandise, like your big box stores such as Target, Walmart, Amazon, those cards are going to be way more valuable and you'll be able to get closer to the face value of the card than if you were to try to, say, get rid of Something like Hallmark or a Michael's gift card or something to like a pet store, for instance.
Are there any privacy issues that come up when someone tries to sell their cards or try to convert them by making an online transaction?
Really, the only time I tend to see complaints about that is when people try to avoid the sanctioned sites and go through something like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or something like that, which we don't recommend doing because there's no fraud protection in place in that case. And you can get scammed just as easily as you can scam someone else.
And Julie, is there a better time of the year than another to go ahead and try to exchange your gift cards?
Which types of gift cards fetch the highest resale value?
Definitely. If you received a gift card during November or December, we see a lot of deals then. So a lot of people try to sell those gift cards come January and February and March. And the thing is, is that the market tends to be saturated at that point. So you might actually be better off waiting until after the first quarter of the year to try to sell them then when the market has kind of stabilized again.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:17
2
How can I sell unwanted gift cards for cash and where should I start?
0:17–1:14
3
What online resources and marketplaces convert gift cards to cash or other cards?
1:14–2:52
4
How do auction sites like Raise.com affect payout timing and amounts?
2:52–3:47
5
Which types of gift cards fetch the highest resale value?
3:47–4:20
6
What privacy and fraud risks should I watch for when selling gift cards online?
4:20–4:53
7
When is the best time of year to sell gift cards and what fees can reduce payouts?
4:53–5:09
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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