A Story About Redemption
Each year at this time people take a look back at the gift wrap that flew through the house and, hopefully, get some time to slow down in the wake of the shopping dash.
One of the most common items beneath the gift wrap is a gift card. Being in the gift card business, as we are, it’s a busy time of year. If you were at our house, my wife likes to hide them in larger boxes and add a lot of filler to the box. This always gets the nieces and nephews to act a bit more surprised. My kids are completely wise to it, however, and have already made their spending plans before the gift wrap has hit the floor.
Many people do find, though, that the gift card they received may be to a store that they’re not excited about visiting. According to a recent survey, about 1 in 3 gift card recipients state that they have a card they don’t intend to use. I call this trapped money. It’s on the card waiting to be spent but perhaps not by the person who currently holds it. Every year, about $8 Billion (yes, with a ‘B’) in gift cards meet this “trapped” fate.
On Plastic Jungle, you can get cash for the card you don’t want. You may know that already. What you may not know is that a great way to redeem a gift card is to give it to charity – or you can donate part of its ‘cash in value’ to a nonprofit.
Even more at this time of year, it’s an opportunity to redeem the card to benefit someone who didn’t have as much gift wrap left around the tree – and redeem it in a way that gives a little bit more (in the form of warm fuzzies and a tax deduction). As long as the remaining balance is greater than $25, you can choose from more than forty charities to support when you sell a card on Plastic Jungle. Simply go to our ‘Sell Your Gift Cards’ form and look for a blue and green ribbon when you are completing your transaction.
What’s your favorite cause? We’re adding more and more organizations to Plastic Jungle every month. If you have one to recommend, please post a comment below or let us know by going here.
