Don’t banish gift cards to junk drawer

Americans spend as much as $130 billion on gift cards each year, and about $1 billion of that goes unused. Is there a gift card languishing in your drawer that contributed to this statistic? It doesn’t have to be that way.

“Just as consumers wouldn’t leave a check uncashed, they don’t have to leave a gift card in the drawer unused,” said George Bousis, chief executive of Raise, a gift card website. Here are several ways to get value out of an unwanted gift card.

Sell it

Several businesses will help you sell your unwanted gift cards. Cardpool (cardpool.com) will buy your gift card outright. It’s a textbook case of supply and demand, with gift cards to popular stores generating higher payouts such as 90 percent and obscure ones fetching less, maybe 75 percent. Cardpool pays you via check or Amazon eGift Card. If you need cash fast, you can visit a Cardpool-affiliated location (often a grocery store) and sell your gift card in person. Another technique is to sell your gift card to another consumer, which you can do on the website Raise (raise.com). Raise verifies your card’s balance by having you enter the serial number and PIN, then you set your own price. Listing the card is free. Raise takes a 12 percent commission when the card sells.

Exchange it

Target wants you to spend your gift card money at its stores instead of elsewhere. So the retail giant will let you trade in another store’s gift card for one of its own at most of its stores. You can check its website to see which brands it accepts. Then just present your gift card at the mobile phone counter or special kiosk at the Target store.

Swap it

On a more grass-roots level, you can swap gift cards with trusted friends and colleagues. Some people have organized highly successful swaps in their neighborhoods or at their offices.

Donate it

Many charities accept gift cards as donations, even those that hold a partial balance. Even Goodwill takes gift cards. If your charity of choice does not, there are other options. CharityGiftCertificates.org gives you more than a thousand charities to choose from. You exchange your gift card for a charity donation and receive a receipt for your taxes. CardFunder (cardfunder.org) helps you create a gift card drive to gather and convert unwanted gift cards. The proceeds are then used for malaria prevention or clean water initiatives. Plywood People (plywoodpeople.com) takes a more direct approach. You mail in your unused gift card, and the organization gives it to people or groups that can use it. Or you can buy and donate items a charity needs with your unwanted gift card.