Convert Your Unwanted Holiday Gift Cards into Cash

By: Dannie Phan | February 27, 2020

The holidays are approaching, and that means it’s gift card season. But maybe you got one for a place you don’t ever visit. Can you sell gift cards for cash you’ll use? The answer might surprise you!

Gift cards and gift vouchers are a prepaid card or slip of paper you can redeem for goods or services. They differ from debit and credit cards in that you can't generally take cash directly from the card. Usually, you have to use them in the store, restaurant, or other retailers that issued them. 

Got a Walmart gift card when you'd rather shop at Amazon? Selling gift cards is the best way to convert them into cash. There are several ways to turn your cards into cash (like with Swagbucks for example). These include gift card resellers, exchange websites, exchange kiosks, and selling through third-party sites.


Gift Card Reseller

The most common way to sell your gift card is through a reseller. You might not be able to get the full dollar amount of the remaining balance but these sites are easy to use. Here are some of the most popular ones:

  • Cardpool
  • Card Cash
  • Card Kangaroo
  • Clip Card

Cardpool allows you to get 92% cashback, so you keep most of the money on your card. This is the best rate you’ll get for selling your gift cards for cash, so you’ll probably want to try Cardpool first.

Gift card resellers tend to give you the most money for your gift cards. However, you’ll have to wait a bit to receive your cash depending on your form of payment, which you'll receive through PayPal or a mailed check, depending on how the service handles your payout.

Other sites match sellers up with buyers without the physical gift card. However, buyers and sellers can take several weeks to get matched, depending on the type of card you’re trying to sell.


Gift Card Exchange Kiosk

Some cities have a gift card exchange kiosk. These easy to use kiosks are usually located in grocery stores and just require the basic card information like the card number and PIN (personal identification number). These electronic kiosks will either give you a cash voucher or a Visa gift card. While there might be a fee involved so you won't get your full card balance, using these machines is a great way to get your cash immediately.

Through these kiosks, you can check your balance and review what offers are available for your gift card. It will likely not be for the full amount of the gift, which is one downside of using a kiosk.

Another downside is that these kiosks aren’t available in all areas of the country. You'll often find gift card exchange kiosks in grocery or department stores, but your best bet to find one is often by doing a quick online search to find kiosk locations!


Selling Through Third Party Websites

If you don’t like the offers that are available to you through the above options, you can always take matters into your own hands and try to sell your gift cards on third party websites. These include sites like eBay and Craigslist. You'll want to be wary of people offering to pay via PayPal, Venmo, and bitcoin, because they may not be legitimate. However, there’s no guarantee that anyone will buy your cards. You may also have to lower the cost of the card before you get an offer. 

You’re likely to lose out on a bit of money when trying to sell your cards through third-party sites. People aren’t generally going to buy gift cards unless they can get a good discount on purchasing it. 


Gift Card Specifics

Depending on the type of gift card you have, it’ll determine how you convert them into cash. Here’s a rundown of how to get money from Visa and store gift cards.


Visa Gift Cards

You can convert Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and other gift cards into cash. It might take some effort, but converting gift cards into cash is incredibly rewarding!

If you’re willing to use PayPal, you can use your PayPal.me link and use the card to send however much is on it to your PayPal account. This is probably the easiest way to get money from your Visa gift card.

Once it’s in your PayPal account, you can send the money to your bank and withdraw it within a few days. At this time, it’s unlikely that you can transfer your balance from one Visa gift card to another, and remember, because Visa gift cards don’t have an associated PIN, they cannot be used to withdraw cash at an ATM.


Other Gift Cards

The best thing to do for store gift cards is to sell them through the gift card resellers mentioned above. The exact amount of cash you’ll get back depends on which reseller you use and who decides to buy your gift card.





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