Did someone give you a gift card for your birthday or Christmas that you could use, but you’d really rather have the cash instead? Well, these days you’re in luck because there are lots of places to sell gift cards for cash instantly.
At first glance, it seems wrong to exchange your unwanted gift card for cash, but sometimes the most well-intentioned gift giver gets is wrong. If you don’t need clothing, but are always short on gas money, then gift card buy-back websites could be a nice solution for you.
Sometimes you just don’t need that H&M gift card or Walmart one and you’d rather have the cash! I get it! Continue reading to find out how to trade in your unused Christmas or birthday gift cards for extra spending money.
Websites That Buy Back Unused Gift Cards – Trade in Cards for Cash
I found 5 websites that will purchase your unwanted Christmas gift cards for a nice price. Most of these sites will give you over 90% of the face value on your card. Not a bad deal! This is especially great if you need cash more than you need an item from a store.
How to Sell Gift Cards (Christmas, Birthday, or Graduation Gifts)
Although each card buying website is a little bit different, the general gift card selling process is the same across the board.
First, you will choose a merchant from their drop down list, then you will specify the gift card amount. Finally, you will choose your preferred method of payment (typically check or PayPal). Then the card will need to be verified by mailing it in OR entering the gift card code.
You can sell most plastic gift cards this way, but not usually paper gift certificates. Also, if the gift card requires you to use it in person, you may not be able to sell it this way. The gift card website should be able to tell you this on a case-by-case basis.
What Kinds of Gift Cards Can You Sell Online at Gift Card Exchange Websites?
You can resell almost any retailer’s gift card to a trade-in website as long as it has the full value remaining on the card (i.e. it’s unused).
Here are some example merchants I found accepted on the websites above:
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- Aeropostale
- Amazon.com
- American Eagle
- Applebees
- Barnes & Noble
- Bath & Body Works
- Best Buy
- Gap
- Chick-Fil-A
- Footlocker
- Forever 21
- H&M
- Home Depot
- JCPenney
- McDonald’s
- Payless
- Sears
- Target
- Toys R Us
- Walmart
Another Cool Way to Sell Gift Cards – In Person
I just found out that Coinstar has special yellow kiosks called Coinstar Exchange where you can sell gift cards instantly and get your money fast.
Whichever method you use to get cash for your gift cards, good luck!
Walmart’s New Gift Card Exchange Program
UPDATE: NBC just ran a story about a brand new pilot program at Walmart. For a limited time (and potentially going forward if the program takes off), Walmart is offering a gift card exchange service. You can bring in over 200 different kinds of gift cards and get a Walmart gift card in exchange.
They will give you anywhere from 70-95% of the value in Walmart money. Not the best exchange rate, but it beats sitting on a gift card you don’t plan on using anyway.
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