Tip Tuesday – Unwanted Gift Cards?

After the holidays, I often find masses of unwanted or forgotten gift cards tucked away in junk drawers, baskets, and desks. Clients literally have hundreds or even thousands of dollars unspent on these cards! This might surprise you if you’re like me and love to use and enjoy a gift card right away. But what to do if I get a gift card for a place I don’t shop at, like REI or Orvis?

I could use one of many legitimate websites like GiftCardGranny, or CardCASH. Through these sites, you can mail your gift cards in, and exchange them for ones you like. But an even EASIER solution is to go to my local grocery store and use the CardPool option. There are 2 kiosks and 16 cashier options within 4 miles of my home in North Arlington and they are at places I’m at all the time anyway, like Target and Safeway. You simply take your unwanted gift cards and a valid ID and you will walk away with cold, hard cash!

Yes, Cardpool will take up to 20% commission but I would rather have 80% of something I can USE than plastic cards that I won’t use lying around my home. So I challenge you: gather up your unwanted gift cards and plan to USE them or CASH them in before the end of this month! Let me know how much you make in the comments!