By Jana Hofmann
With the holidays come and gone, what to do with all those gift cards? Although cards are a great way to show gratitude to friends and family, even for little things, sometimes they don’t hit the mark in the gift-giving department.
But first, a little background. Ever wonder how gift cards came to dominate the holidays? They came about in 1994 in Ft. Lauderdale and were created by Blockbuster Entertainment as a way of eliminating counterfeiting gift certificates, which were already popular at that time. The trend caught on and now gift cards are available for almost any store, anywhere at any time.
Gift cards rank as one of the most- given gifts by consumers in the United States. Some gift can even be personalized in color and pattern. There is an option for everyone and that includes people who want to get rid of theirs without purchasing the merchandise or services.
There are so many options ─ from restaurants like Olive Garden, Chart House and Outback Steakhouse ─ to retail outlets such as Dillard’s, JC Penny, or American Eagle, or even stores like Bass Pro Shops. Each company has a different set of rule and regulations that apply to its gift cards.
“If you forget you got a gift card and try to use it a few months later, they’re usually all expired,” said Ciara Ocasio, a photography major at Daytona State College.
But an addendum to the Credit Card Act of 2009 is chancing some of those consumer-unfriendly rules and regulations. When passed, it will stop retailers from setting expiration dates before six years after the gift card was purchased and it will eliminate service fees.
Although Carly Book, a student at Daytona State College, prefers cash, her family likes to send her gift cards for Christmas or birthdays. Instead of using the gift cards and buying things she doesn’t want, or even letting the gift cards go to waste, Book can go online to a website like plasticjungle.com and sell her cards for cash.
There are several different websites that offer cash in exchange for gift cards of any variety, so they don’t go to waste. Most of these websites also offer discounted gift cards. Instead of paying $20 for a gift card at American Eagle, for example, it can be bought at a discounted price. So the consumer ends up with a gift card with a $20 dollar value, but only paid $10 or $15 for it, depending on the discount percentage.
American Express offers a different way of viewing gift cards. The money spent by the buyer is donated to United Way charities or other worthy causes, such as a children’s health fund foundation. If the recipient wants to choose his or her charity, Charity Gift Cards leaves that choice up to them. Once the recipient has the gift card they get in contact with Charity Gift Cards and choose a good cause that matches the recipient’s wishes. Not all American Express Gift Cards work this way, so do the research.
For people who have gift cards laying around with random small amounts left on them, the Mountain View Company offers the option of donating the full face value of that gift card to needy schools.
“I think that’s a neat idea,” said Book, adding it’s an easy way to help out schools that are in need of supplies.