Turn Your Gift Cards Into Cash

Now that Christmas has passed, you might find yourself with some extra gift cards like me. While I have been a big fan for a long time of buying discounted gift cards to save on purchases, I have just recently started to sell some unused ones. If you rather turn your gift cards into cash or an Amazon gift certificate (which we never have a hard time spending), here are two companies to help.

Cardpool has both been around for several years and allows you to easily buy or sell your unused or unwanted gift cards. They both feature easy to use websites, and can quickly give you estimates on how much your gift cards are worth.

Here’s how the process works. Head over to Cardpool’s website and click on the “Sell Gift Cards” link and input the merchant and the amount on the gift card. Cardpool has a $25 minimum value to sell. You’ll then be presented with a quote for how much they will pay. For example on a $100 Best Buy gift card I sold, Card Pool offered $86 cash, or $90.30 in an Amazon gift card. If you choose to accept the offer, you can print out a pre-paid shipping label to mail your gift cards, and about a week later you should receive either the Amazon gift card by email, or they will mail you a check or deposit the funds by PayPal if that is the option you chose.

Both companies also recently launched the ability to instantly pay you for the value of your gift cards. Cardpool is currently supporting more merchants, but and offer lower payouts compared to mailing them your gift cards. Both sites also offer convenient ways to purchase gift cards with a savings of up to 30%. If you have any purchases planned, why not save some additional money by purchasing discounted gift cards too.

My recommendation for selling gift cards is that when you are mailing your them, take a photo, make a photocopy or at least write down the gift card number and pin, so for some reason if they are lost in transit, you’ll still have the information.

For more information, head over to Cardpool.