So you've got a gift card and need some help getting your value from it. Over the last several years, many sites have sprung up to help you buy, sell, exchange, or cash out your gift cards. Unfortunately, many of the sites below have very few listings. Additionally, there is always eBay or Craigslist.
| Site |
Description |
Domain registered |
Open-loop |
Closed-loop |
| abcgiftcards.com |
Very new site. When I originally looked at them (8/08) they had few listings. More recently (9/24/08) they appear to have a lot more cards. |
2/17/08 |
No |
Yes |
| Card Avenue |
Buy, sell, and trade gift cards. Exchanges done by mail. |
11/3/03 |
Yes |
Yes |
| CardJar |
This site is currently in Beta and has very few listings |
4/4/06 |
No |
Yes |
| cash4giftcards |
A very basic one page service that offers to buy your gift card. You fill out a form and presumably get an email telling you if they will buy it and for how much. |
3/1/04 |
Unsure |
Yes |
| CashFromCards.com |
Transfer some or all of your balance on Visa, Amex, MasterCard, or Discover gift cards to PayPal instantly. This is my service and the only service I am aware of that converts cards to cash instantly online. |
3/3/08 |
Yes |
No |
| CertificateSwap.com |
Buy, sell, and trade gift cards. Exchanges done by mail. This site includes some annoying advertising. |
6/8/03 |
No |
Yes |
| craigslist |
Probably the riskiest option, but there are listings for gift cards on craigslist and you can certainly list yours. Might be a good choice for gift cards to local only stores. |
9/11/97 |
Yes |
Yes |
| eBay |
A ton of listings. You can auction/sell your own card there or buy others. Probably any card you want is available there. Beware of fraud! Here is a link on the rules for selling gift cards on eBay. You are only allowed to list one gift card per week. Here is a link entitled "Safe Gift Card Buying on eBay. |
8/4/95 |
Yes |
Yes |
| EmptyCard.com |
Has a directory of places you can donate your gift card to. |
2/3/05 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Gas Card Auctions |
This one is a head scratcher. They auction VISA gift cards that say "gas card" on them. I would presume these could be used anywhere. The site seems to imply that you can purchase a gift card for pennies on the dollar. Their have a really funky lowest unique bid auction process |
7/31/06 |
Yes |
No |
GiftCard Buy Back
GiftCards Again |
Buy and sell gift cards. They will buy them directly from you (no need to auction) for about 75% of face value. They list about 75 issuers whose cards they will buy. |
6/14/04 6/14/04 |
No |
Yes |
| GiftCardCash.net |
They buy gift cards and charge 30% of face value for open-loop (Visa, etc.) and 37% of closed-loop (Target, etc.). Transactions are done by mail and on a case-by-case basis. Not a plug and play service. |
11/23/07 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Gift Card City |
This site is a little different than other gift card sites in that you trade your card for another card (from a different retailer) of the same value. All trades are done with the site and not other customers/users. This site opened for business 10/1/08 |
6/21/03 |
No |
Yes |
| GiftCardCove.com |
Kind of like a Craigslist for gift cards, with a moderate amount of listings. Doesn't currently have listings for open-loop cards. |
1/12/07 |
No |
Yes |
| GiftCardGenie |
Auction site for gift cards. THIS SITE HAS NO LISTINGS and appears dormant. |
3/17/05 |
No |
Yes |
| GiftCardRescue |
Sell cards to them for cash or exchange for different gift cards. They give 60-80% of face value. Transactions completed by mail. I am not sure why they need a date of birth to register for the site. This site has few listings. They list about 75 merchants they will buy cards from. They recently announced the addition of bankruptcy protection for gift cards purchased from their site. They are also tied to GiftCardBlogger.com, which tracks gift card related news and specials, and it is a reasonable place to go to keep track of retailer bankruptcies and such. |
2/4/07 |
No |
Yes |
| Gift Card Trading Post |
Buys and sells gift cards. Buys gift cards for 65-83% of face value; sells gift cards for a 10-20% discount (as per their website). |
12/8/08 |
No |
Yes |
| giftcardout.com |
This site will give you cash for your gift card. Each transaction is a one-off and transactions are completed by mail. Website claims they have been in business two years but domain was registered just one year ago (as of 12/13/08). |
12/26/07 |
No |
Yes |
| GiftCardSwapping.com |
Buy and sell gift cards. They will buy cards directly from you (no auction) for from 60% to 75% of face value. Transactions done by mail payment by check. |
1/3/05 |
Yes |
Yes |
| GiftCardWish.com |
Buy, sell, trade gift cards with others. THIS SITE HAS NO LISTINGS. |
2/1/06 |
Unsure |
Yes |
| LeverageCard.com |
Buy/trade gift cards. They also offer to pay interest on gift cards you register with them and offer gift card bankruptcy protection for cards registered with their site. |
5/3/05 |
No |
Yes |
| MoneyTonic |
Buy & sell gift cards. VERY FEW CARDS LISTED FOR SALE. Sell transactions done by mail. Money deposited into bank account or credit towards purchase of other gift cards. Gift cards sold must have minimum $25 value on them. |
9/20/06 |
No |
Yes |
| monstergiftcard.com |
Buy & sell gift cards. Like many of the sites, not many listings yet. |
5/14/07 |
No |
Yes |
| ok BONGO |
Buy & sell gift cards. VERY FEW CARDS LISTED FOR SALE. Selling is a little confusing and it isn't clear if they can buy your card without you having to mail it in or not. |
1/15/06 |
Unsure |
Yes |
| plastic jungle |
Buy, sell, trade, auction gift cards. Lots of listings and buyers/sellers. They will buy your card directly, or you can list it for sale or trade. They pay 55%-65% of face value. Transactions are completed by mail. Payment by check. |
3/3/05 |
No |
Yes |
| Real Cash 4 Gift Cards |
Each transaction appears to be a one-off. You email them for a quote. |
2/25/08 |
No |
Yes |
| sellgasgiftcards.com |
A very low tech site where you email them the information on your gift card and they make you an offer. |
12/28/07 |
No |
Yes |
| The Island of Misfit Gift Cards |
Like Win My Gift Cards, this site simply lists gift card auctions on eBay. Do people really think they are going to make money off a site like this? And what is with the name? |
12/27/07 |
No |
Yes |
| Star Gift Card Exchange |
Buy, sell, trade gift cards. They will buy card directly from you for 65%-75% of face value from select merchants (about 75 listed) with minimum $25 face value and unused cards only. Transactions completed by mail. Relatively few cards are currently (10/5/08) listed for sale. |
1/4/07 |
No |
Yes |
| swapagift.com |
Buy, sell, trade, auction gift cards. Lots of listings and buyers/sellers. They will buy your card (through mail, payment by check) for 60%-70% of face value. Additionally, they list partner locations where you can take your card to get cash instantly. Very nice! |
3/31/03 |
Yes |
Yes |
| Unused Gift Cards |
Gift card auctions. THIS SITE HAS NO LISTINGS. |
3/8/05 |
No |
Yes |
| Win My Gift Cards! |
This site is pretty worthless as all it does is list ebay auctions and serve up advertising. It doesn't actually sell the cards directly. |
8/8/08 |
No |
Yes |
