What to Do With Gift Cards You Really Didn’t Want
Few things are more popular during the holidays than free money in the form of a gift card -- unless it’s redeemable at a store you don’t like.
Enter the secondary gift card market. Websites like that of online auctioneer EBay Inc. and Swapathing Inc.’s SwapAGift.com let recipients exchange their cards for cash, usually less than the card’s face value, or for another gift card.
In 2004, 64% of shoppers said they intended to buy gift cards, up from 60% in 2003, eclipsing apparel, according to a study by Deloitte & Touche. And as gift cards grow in popularity -- they are the most popular gift to give -- selling them has also become a trend.
EBay had a $20 Starbucks Corp. gift card up for auction Tuesday with a high bid of $17.50, and SwapAGift had a $102 gift card from luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. offered at $100.
“It’s the ultimate in re-gifting,†said Tara Weiner, Deloitte & Touche USA’s national managing partner of consumer business industries. “A gift card is just another product, and this is a way to put cash into your hand and value into the hand of another person who wants to shop at that store. The secondary market is alive and well.â€
EBay had more than 7,400 listings for gift certificates Tuesday, the majority of which had been posted since Christmas Eve. The company could not provide a comparison with the 2003 holiday season.
When swapping or selling gift cards online, it’s impossible to know if the card still has the value the seller says it does. But as with other transactions, a seller risks getting a bad review if the merchandise is not as advertised.
EBay has held discussions with retailers to limit the posting of fraudulent or stolen gift cards, spokesman Hani Durzy said.
A seller can offer only one gift card for sale per week, and gift cards sold on EBay have a limit of $500, the company said.
Some gift cards have expiration dates or fees associated with them if they are not used within a specific period of time, which would eat into the value of the gift card being sold.
The secondary market is “a phenomenon we’ve heard about. It’s a natural outgrowth of the popularity of auction sites,†said Tim Barefield, chief executive of GiftCertificates.com.
His site sells gift certificates for gift certificates by allowing consumers to give “SuperCertificates†redeemable for gift cards at hundreds of stores, spas and even travel companies.
“No one returns a SuperCertificate,†Barefield said. “You get to choose which merchant you want to go to.â€
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