What to Do with Those Gift Cards that You Will Not Use

With the holiday season upon us, many of us will be exchanging gifts with those that we love and admire. One gift that people often give is a gift card to a particular store or restaurant. What do you do when someone gives you a gift card to an establishment where you do not shop or eat? Do you just leave the gift card sitting on a shelf or toss it into the trash can, or do you try to find a more productive reuse for this valuable piece of plastic? Here are five ideas for what to do with these types of gift cards:

Give the gift card to someone whom you know that frequents the gift card's establishment.

Even if you are not a patron of a certain restaurant or store, your family members or friends might be. You are bound to find someone who would love to have that gift card that you are not going to use.

Give the gift card to someone who is in need.

Even before considering checking with your family members or friends, you may wish to give the gift card to someone whom you know is experiencing a difficult time. With the economy still not being up to par, many individuals and families are still out of work and in need of some assistance. They can use the gift card to purchase some necessities or to enjoy a nice dinner that they might not otherwise be able to have.

Donate the gift card to your place of worship or an organization to which you belong.

Churches and other organizations can use those unwanted gift cards to help others within the community who are in need. If the gift card is for a grocery store or an apparel shop, they can use the gift card to purchase food for their food pantry which will be given out to those who need it or to buy clothing for community families who experience the loss of their homes due to fire or a natural disaster.

Host a gift card swap party at your home.

You can invite your friends, neighbors and family members to come and swap their unwanted gift cards for those that they can use. Everyone can bring a snack or a dish and can eat and visit in addition to switching gift cards. By doing this, everyone in attendance will benefit from receiving a needed gift card and will enjoy the time spent together in visitation.

Sell the gift card to one of the online gift card resale companies.

If you are in need of cash, you can sell the gift card to such online gift card resale companies as Gift Card Rescue or Plastic Jungle . In exchange for your gift card, they will give you up to 90% of the card value back in either cash or an Amazon.com credit. To get an exact quote of how much that you can expect to receive for your unwanted gift card, you can fill out an online form with the name of the gift card's establishment, the value of the card, and the expiration date. Too, if you are looking to buy gift cards at a discounted rate, these websites also provide that option as well.

If you receive that gift card to Bob's Sardine Palace or Jelly Jungle and know that you will not use it, keep these five options for a new destination for your gift card in mind. Have a happy holiday season!

Sources:

http://www.giftcardrescue.com

http://www.giftcardrescue.com/sell/new

http://www.plasticjungle.com/pjweb/