The following post is from our friend Peter Camenzind at giftcardadvocate.org. We really appreciate the time Peter has taken to share his expertise with our community, and we hope you find his insights helpful!

Please note, Plastic Jungle does not buy or sell open-loop gift cards since they fall under a different set of rules and business regulations.  Stay tuned for more thoughts on this topic from our President, Bruce Bower.

Open-loop (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover) gift cards, while not tied to a particular merchant, can be very difficult to use successfully.  In this post, I’ll discuss how to best use them for online purchases.  In my next post, I’ll cover simple rules for using them at a merchant in-person.

If you have a particular retailer in mind to use a gift card at, whether for yourself or someone else, closed-loop gift cards (Target, Wal-Mart) might be a better choice as virtually none of the open-loop gift card issues (like fees and verification) exist for closed-loop cards, and they are often available at a discount.

Online purchases

These cards in most ways look electronically just like credit cards, and most people want and expect them to behave just like credit cards.

When you try to use a card for an online purchases, whether it is a credit card or an open-loop gift card, you will be asked to enter the billing address for the card, which is used for the address verification system (AVS) where the numbers associated with the address you give (house number on street and zip code) are compared with what is on file for the card.

Some gift cards simply ignore AVS, which means that the issuing bank sends the merchant an AVS code that says AVS is not being used.  Here is where the trouble starts.  Most merchants will see this as an address verification pass, but some will see it as a fail, and the transaction will be declined.

Some gift cards do not ignore AVS, which means that until you go to the website listed on the card and register it to an address, the AVS check will always come back as a fail.  There is no way to tell what cards behave in which ways, and in some cases cards issued by the same bank that look exactly the same will behave differently in this respect.

So you just tried to use your card which you had not registered, and it failed because the address verification failed.  Guess what?  Now your card has a hold on it for the amount you tried to purchase.  These holds will typically last for more than a week and up to three weeks!

If you plan to use a card online, unless you know that it is the type that does not use address verification, always register your card to the address you plan to have stuff shipped to, before you use it.  It may also help to test the card out with a small purchase (so it doesn’t put your entire card value on hold) before you make a larger purchase.

MasterCard and Discover have recently introduced new merchant requirements that will at least help by significantly reducing the length of time your funds are on hold after a failed transaction, but it will be a year or more before those fully take effect.

In my next post, I’ll discuss using open-loop cards in-person.

About the author:

Peter Camenzind is a small-business owner, tech entrepreneur, and consumer advocate.  He created the site giftcardadvocate.org to help provide consumers with information on how to get the most out of their gift cards.

The following article was originally posted on ShopperStrategy.com by a fellow savvy shopper. We love it so much we wanted to share it with all of our readers as well . Thanks Denise!

PlasticJungle.com is this really cool place where you can go to sell or exchange any unwanted gift cards that you might have, plus you can buy gift cards for your favorite stores or restaurants at less than their face value.  Check out some of the deals you can get on gift cards:

• Up to 25% off at 1-800-Flowers
• Up to 12% off at Kohl’s
• Up to 16% off at Payless
• Up to 10% off at TGI Friday’s

These are just a few of my favorites — there are tons more to choose from!  The best part about getting gift cards for cheaper from PlasticJungle.com though is that you can also stack them with other offers to save even more.  For example, JC Penney is one of my favorite department stores because they have great sales and they often put out coupons for even greater savings.  Right now I’m shopping for school uniforms for the kids (required in our county) and they have a great selection at JC Penney’s so a good savings strategy is to buy a $25 JC Penney gift card from PlasticJungle.com for only $21, then use it with one of the store’s awesome $10/$25 coupons.  That way you only pay $11 for $25 worth of uniforms!  SCORE!

If you need shoes for back to school then you can save a whopping 20% off a Foot Locker gift card for a great deal on all the hottest brands.  Buy a $50 Foot Locker gift card from PlasticJungle.com for only $40, then use it with a 15% off coupon to get a $60 pair of shoes, or two $30 pairs of shoes, for only $41 ($60 — 15% = $51 use gift card plus $1 and tax).

Check out this video to see how you can get a very nice $50 dinner for two from TGI Friday’s for only $35!  That’s a fabulous savings of 30%.  The possibilities for savings are endless and one lucky reader will win a $50 gift card of their choice from PlasticJungle.com!

Read the full post on Shopper Strategy and learn how to enter the $50 Plastic Jungle Giveaway!

About the author:

Denise is the mother of four year old quadruplets and a six year old son who loves the finer things in life, but hates to pay full price! Her ShopperStrategy.com blog is devoted to sharing deals and strategies that help you get more for less!

We are thrilled to announce AlwaysOn has selected Plastic Jungle as an AlwaysOn Global 250 Winner! We couldn’t be more excited and wanted to share this exciting news with our readers and community. The following article was posted today (7/26) on Marketwire.

Plastic Jungle Selected by AlwaysOn as an AlwaysOn Global 250 Winner

Recognized for creating technology innovations for the Global Silicon Valley

San Jose—Calif., July 26, 2010 – Plastic Jungle, the Web’s leading gift card exchange, today announced that it has been chosen by AlwaysOn as one of the AlwaysOn Global 250 winners. Inclusion in the AlwaysOn Global 250 signifies leadership amongst its peers and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players in the Global Silicon Valley. Plastic Jungle was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz.

Plastic Jungle and the AlwaysOn Global 250 companies will be honored at AlwaysOn’s eighth annual Summit at Stanford on July 27^th, 2010, at the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.

This two-and-a-half-day executive gathering will highlight the significant economic, political and commercial trends affecting the global technology industries. Summit at Stanford’s goal is to identify the most promising entrepreneurial opportunities and investments in the global tech industry.

“After examining the companies that are on the AO Global 250 list, it’s obvious that innovation is not only alive and well in the Global Silicon Valley, it’s accelerating in economic power and scope.” says Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. “The companies certainly represent some of the highest-growth opportunities in the private company marketplace.”

The AlwaysOn Global 250 winners were selected from among thousands of domestic and international technology companies nominated by investors, bankers, journalists, and industry insiders. The AlwaysOn editorial team conducted a rigorous three-month selection process to finalize the 2010 list.

America’s sock drawers hold an estimated $30 billion in unredeemed gift cards (which represents approximately 4% of all currency in circulation today). Plastic Jungle gets this trapped money moving again by offering a convenient, safe solution which benefits consumers as well as retailers and other ecommerce companies. As of last week, Plastic Jungle’s gift card exchange generated twice as much business as it did in all of 2009, indicating that it is a business model that is gaining traction.

Plastic Jungle’s leading gift card exchange makes it easy for consumers to get the most value out of gift cards, allowing users to sell gift cards for up to 92% of the unused balance and buy gift cards and save up to 30%. The service also directly benefits retailers, speeding idle gift card balances into immediate revenue and profit. When Plastic Jungle buys gift cards from consumers who are not using them, it places them in the hands of highly motivated, brand-driven purchasers.

Plastic Jungle is also bringing new innovations to the gift card economy. For example, with its recently announced PJ Payments and PJ TopUp products, Plastic Jungle has created the ability for consumers to use gift cards to fund their purchases of goods and services on other websites. For example, Facebook’s 400 million active users can now exchange gift cards for Facebook Credits via Plastic Jungle. With this capability, consumers can use the gift cards they aren’t planning to spend and buy something they want or need.

“Plastic Jungle is honored to be recognized by the AlwaysOn editorial team and global industry experts with this prestigious award,” said Gary Briggs, CEO, Plastic Jungle. “We are proud to be leading the charge in bringing liquidity to the massive unredeemed gift card economy for the benefit of consumers, retailers, and other ecommerce companies.

Our continual growth proves that we are filling a significant gap in the retail economy by allowing retailers to drive enormous incremental value from their already successful gift card programs.”

A full list of all the AlwaysOn Global 250 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn website at:

http://www.aonetwork.com/AOStory/Announcing-2010-AlwaysOn-Global-250

About Plastic Jungle

Plastic Jungle (www.plasticjungle.com) is the Web’s leading gift card exchange, offering the best way to sell, buy or donate gift cards in a trusted environment. Consumers can save money at their favorite stores with discounted gift cards up to 30% off, and Plastic Jungle buys unwanted gift cards for up to 92% of the unused balance. The company’s mission is to bring liquidity to the estimated $30 billion unredeemed gift card economy for the benefit of consumers, retailers, and other ecommerce companies. Based in San Jose, California, Plastic Jungle is privately held, with venture backing from Shasta Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital, Bay Partners, Harrison Metal, and Western Technology Investment.

About AlwaysOn

AlwaysOn is the leading business media brand networking the Global Silicon Valley. AlwaysOn helped ignite the social media revolution in early 2003 when it launched the AlwaysOn network. In 2004, it became the first media brand to socially network its online readers and event attendees. AlwaysOn’s preeminent executive event series includes the Summit at Stanford, OnMedia, OnHollywood, Venture Summit Mid-Atlantic, OnDemand, Venture Summit Silicon Valley, Venture Summit East, GoingGreen Silicon Valley, and GoingGreen East. The AlwaysOn network and live event series continue to lead the industry by empowering its readers, event participants, sponsors, and advertisers like no other media brand.

Gamers, stop getting pwned paying full price! Buy your Ultimate Game Card™ from Plastic Jungle and get more out of your favorite online games.

The Ultimate Game Card™ is better known as the online currency that is revolutionizing the gaming world. These game cards traditionally can be bought at retail stores worldwide, which is why we are excited to share with you that Plastic Jungle and PlaySpan™ have teamed to offer you the Ultimate Game Card™ at a discount.

Save up to 5% off your next purchase of digital goods or currency from top MMOs such as War Rock, CrossFire, Runescape, Runes of Magic and more with your purchase of an Ultimate Game Card™ from PlasticJungle.com.

The Ultimate Game Card™ is the simplest, hassle free way to pay for more than 1000 games and applications.

How to buy an Ultimate Game Card from PlasticJungle.com:

1. Visit the Ultimate Game Card™ page and add the desired denomination to your cart. If you would like two of the same denomination, click the ‘add to cart’ button to purchase your second gift card.

2. Follow the instructions to checkout. You will be asked to log in to your Plastic Jungle account, if you do not have an account yet you will have the opportunity to create one.

3. You will receive an email confirmation of your purchase. A separate email will follow containing your Ultimate Game Card™ Code.

How to redeem your Ultimate Game Card once you receive the code from Plastic Jungle:

1. Visit www.UltimateGameCard.com and select “Redeem Your Card”.
2. Find your desired game, click on “Go Now” and follow the “Redemption Instructions”.

Now through August 1, 2010, get in-game item and currency bonuses on dozens on games when you use the Ultimate Game Card™.  Every Ultimate Game Card™ that is redeemed during this period also enters you into the ‘School’s Out For Summer Sweepstakes!’ Prizes include an Alienware M11x Laptop w/ Nvidia Graphics, iPod Touch, Ultimate Game Card™, and more. For more information on participating games and details on the sweepstakes, visit www.UltimateGameCard.com/summer.

Costco is notorious for having the best bulk purchase value for their customers. But what if you’re not a Costco member?

Costco Gift Cards, also known as Costco Cash Cards, are a non-member’s new best friend. Costco Gift Cards can be redeemed in the warehouse or online by both members and non-members. Costco Cash Card can be used toward merchandise or a membership.

Some other features of the Costco Cash Card include:

• A convenient payment option in Costco warehouses, gas stations, and at costco.com
• No expiration date
• A means to provide students with money for food, gas, or school and dormitory necessities, while being able to limit their spending

One caveat, you can only purchase and reload Costco Cash Cards from Costco. Time to be nice to your friends with a membership and have them pick one up for you . Also, when they become available, you can buy a Costco Gift Card from Plastic Jungle. Set your notification to receive an alert whenever they appear on PlasticJungle.com.  As you might imagine, these cards move fast!

What’s the best deal you’ve gotten at Costco?

Savvy shoppers know planning ahead is a key component to achieve huge savings. To keep more money in your pocket (where it belongs) combine your gift cards savings with in-store promotions, coupons, and sales for an even more impressive discount. These cards move fast, so be sure to set up your gift card notifications to receive an alert when the gift card you want becomes available.

Most purchased gift cards in June 2010 include:

1. Walmart Gift Cards
2. Home Depot Gift Cards
3. Lowe’s Gift Cards
4. Target Gift Cards
5. Best Buy Gift Cards
6. Barnes & Noble Gift Cards
7. Starbucks Gift Cards
8. Pottery Barn Gift Cards
9. Sears Gift Cards
10. Macy’s Gift Cards

View gift cards you loved in January, February, March, April, and May.

Are you meeting your summer budget goals? Share your best savings tip to stay in the green the rest of the summer.

We recently had a chance to catch up with Marcy B, a Plastic Jungle enthusiast.

In the interview below, Marcy shares how she and her family stretch their budget even further. We love hearing how savvy shoppers choose to check PlasticJungle.com first and how they get more from gift cards.  And we’re honored to be able to share Marcy’s story with you.

Please tell us a little about yourself:

Well, lets see.  I live just outside of St. Louis, Missouri near my family and I’ve been here since the fall of 2007.  I used to live down in Nashville, Tennessee.  I’m married and have two sweet small black dogs – Mayme and Shadey.  Professionally, I work for a nonprofit organization which empowers homeless women to move from living on the streets to living on their own through a 2 year program.

Like others who live in the United States, I’ve learned a lot about myself through financial pressures.  The first year my husband and I were married (2008), he wasn’t able to find a full-time job.  We had committed to living on a budget, and we were constantly amazed at how our needs were met.  Then, just last fall, after he found a full-time teaching position, one of my sisters introduced me to coupon blogs.  To say my lifestyle has changed is an under-statement.  We’ve found our dollars stretch a lot further than we ever knew they could!  Sometimes I wonder how much money we could have saved had we started sooner.

I first heard about Plastic Jungle (when? where? how?):

My first encounter with Plastic Jungle was on Facebook earlier this spring.  I saw an ad that mentioned something about discounted gift cards, so I clicked the ad and was thrilled about what I found.  I immediately bookmarked the page.  I remember telling my husband and one of his good friends about what I found, but I hadn’t quite figured out the best way for our family to use my newly discovered resource.

My favorite ‘Sock Drawer Savings’ story, when I used a gift card I purchased on PlasticJungle.com, is:

(We haven’t *fingers crossed* needed to make a big purchase since finding Plastic Jungle.  So, what I’d rather tell you here is how Plastic Jungle is for everyone and how it’s changing our lives.  From my perspective, Plastic Jungle is something we plan to use for the rest of our lives.)

This past weekend my teenage niece came over, and we got into talking about budgeting.  She’s been baby-sitting a lot this summer and wanted to review the budgeting strategies I taught her earlier this year.  She starting high school this fall and has already discovered her favorite shops to get clothes from, one of which is Aeropostale.  I showed her how much she can save by getting Aeropostale gift cards from Plastic Jungle, and she was really excited.  She’s going to help her mom see how they can save money on regular purchases too.

For our young, married friends who are trying to pay off school debt and save for major purchases, Plastic Jungle has been a great find!  Our friends are now going to Plastic Jungle for Target, Walmart, and Walgreens gift cards before venturing to the store!

Before I shop, I check PlasticJungle.com first because:

My favorite discoveries on Plastic Jungle are gas gift cards and the notification feature.  We know how much we spend each month on gas, and now because of Plastic Jungle we spend even less on gas because we’ve found gift cards that give us the same dollar amount of gas for less out of pocket.

For a one-time 10 minute investment, the notification feature has been a time saver.  I just marked the gift cards we’re interested in purchasing and check my email as usual.  When one of the gift cards we’re interested in becomes available for purchase, Plastic Jungle emails me with a link to the cards I want.  Huge time and money saver!

My favorite ‘Get What You Want, Use What You Got’ story, when I had a great experience selling a gift card to Plastic Jungle, is:

(I haven’t sold a gift card on Plastic Jungle yet.)

I love Plastic Jungle because:

Besides having a very catchy name, I love Plastic Jungle because Plastic Jungle allows our family to stretch our dollars further while keeping more money in our pocket.  Plastic Jungle helps eliminate impulse shopping, because we know the way to get the best deal on our purchases is to plan ahead, get a Plastic Jungle gift card, pair it with a coupon, and then pay the rest in cash.

A big thank you to Marcy for sharing the Jungle Love!

Do you love the Jungle and have a savings story? We want to hear more about your experience, and if you’re willing, share it with our blog readers and Facebook Fans. Please email customerservice@plasticjungle.com with the subject line Attn: Marketing Team, and we will be in touch!

Whether you are planning a vacation or stay-cation, Plastic Jungle wants to help you stretch your dollar further for the fun filled summer days ahead.

We’ve searched for sizzling summer deals that you can combine with discounted gift cards to have a fun time, all the while saving money. See our favorite picks below:

Pier 1 Imports

12-Bottle Wooden Wine Rack, need I say more? Stock this with your favorite wines and enjoy all that summer has to offer you with friends and family. This is currently on sale for $33.68, and it’s even better when you use your Pier 1 Imports Gift Card from PJ at 13% off and walk out the door with the Eco friendly rack for only $29.30.

Coleman

Rain or shine, this store has you covered! Take your family on an adventure-filled camping trip and enjoy all that nature has to offer. Stop by Coleman and pick up the Instant Tent 8 which has more than enough room for the family (and there’s probably enough extra space to bring Fido along). But first, grab a Coleman Gift Card at 10% off from PJ and enjoy this great family experience for only $179.99!

Northern Tool + Equipment

Be the coolest parents on the block. Plan to spend the cool summer nights with the kids in the garage putting together the Stingray Complete Go-Kart Chassis. Shop with a Northern Tool Gift Card from PJ and save 13%, and pay only $348.00 for your new toy!

Southwest Airlines

With so many deals on Southwest it would be a shame not to travel over the weekends. Surprise your friends or family in Los Angeles and fly to LA for only $39! This deal is a PJ employee favorite, enjoy summer travel at a discount, purchase a Southwest Gift Card from Plastic Jungle for 6% off and you could fly for only $37.60!

It doesn’t stop here… Check out all the great gift card deals on PlasticJungle.com.

What have you saved on this summer by shopping with discounted gift cards? Share your savings below!

Can’t get enough of online coupons, promotions and sales? Share with us your favorite deals, and we will show you how to combine that with a discounted gift card to increase your savings!

]]> http://www.plasticjungle.com/blog/2010/06/25/let-us-help-you-stretch-your-dollar-this-summer/feed/ 0 http://www.plasticjungle.com/blog/2010/06/22/plastic-jungle-named-as-a-hot-startup-company/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=plastic-jungle-named-as-a-hot-startup-company http://www.plasticjungle.com/blog/2010/06/22/plastic-jungle-named-as-a-hot-startup-company/#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:32:27 +0000 Brielle http://www.plasticjungle.com/blog/?p=1187

We are excited to share that Plastic Jungle was selected as a Hot Startup Company by StartupBUSINESS.com.

StartupBUSINESS.com defines a hot startup as one that has “unique insight.  It fills a need that is not being offered by any other company in the space.  It is not a one trick pony. Its products or services are really useful — even critical — to its customers.  The industries that these companies compete in are depending upon them to bring a new era of prosperity… A hot startup is poised for growth.  It has a solid business model, and the business is scalable, with the goal of reaching a global market and generating significant profits.  But perhaps most importantly, a hot startup company is never resting on its initial success.  It is constantly innovating, improving its products and developing related products to expand its customer base.”

Other companies that demonstrate innovative thinking on the list include: Blank Label, Chegg.com, Hubspot, and TwitVid to name a few.  StartupBUSINESS.com sought out hundreds of companies that are creating new technologies that are flourishing in all sectors, and we are honored to have made the list.

If you like what you see, be sure to vote for us (click 1 to 5 stars) and leave a comment.  We always appreciate your feedback!

World Cup 2010 has kicked off and is in full swing.  The excitement of this once in every four year tradition will unite the world for the next month.

Chances are you will miss a couple of the games during the next couple weeks.  The demanding game schedule makes it difficult to catch every game on the TV.  Which is why we want to hear how you plan to stay on top of schedules, scores, and watch your team compete for one of the most coveted trophies in sports.

If you are on constantly on the go there are a plethora of iPhone and Blackberry applications that fans rely on to not miss a beat.  What World Cup application have you tried?

Popular World Cup 2010 iPhone applications:

ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup

ESPN ScoreCenter

SportsTap

Fifa World Cup

Popular Blackberry applications:

World Cup Edition – Premierscores Free trial

AP 2010 World Cup Coverage

Goal Mobile

South Africa on BlackBerry

Be sure to leave a comment below about your favorite application.

And, love it or hate it… the plastic horns, which fans constantly blast throughout the World Cup matches are not only here to stay but have inspired a Vuvuzela 2010 iPhone Application.