What gift cards topped your shopping list last month?

After being cooped up for a long winter, shoppers were ready to get some fresh air and visit their favorite big-box retail stores. Nearly all of the gift cards in the Top 10 were to superstore chains. And with Cinco de May, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, there were plenty of holidays to celebrate.

Home Depot and Lowe’s topped the list (#1 and #2 respectively). Perhaps many of you were tackling home improvement projects or shopping ahead for Father’s Day.  Nearly 10,000 Home Depot gift cards were purchased – that’s Jungle-riffic!  Did you paint a nursery?  Re-tile a bathroom?  Build new shelving?  Not only are our Plastic Jungle friends savvy shoppers you are also quite handy!  We’d love to hear your home improvement stories and see pictures of your new-and-improved abodes.

Here’s your Top 10 Most-Wanted list for May:

#1 Home Depot – buy today for 7% off!

#2 Lowe’s – buy today for 7% off!

#3 Walmart – no gift cards currently available but check back soon or get set up on a notification alert. New gift cards are added all the time!

#4 Target – buy today for 3% off!

#5 Best Buy – buy today for 5% off!

#6 Macy’s – no gift cards currently available but check back soon or get set up on a notification alert. New gift cards are added all the time!

#7 Kohl’s – buy today for 15% off!

#8 JC Penney – buy today for 14% off!

#9 Apple Store - no gift cards currently available but check back soon or get set up on a notification alert. New gift cards are added all the time!

#10 Cabela’s – buy today for 10% off!

And check this out – the top six also made an appearance in the May 2010 Top 10 list. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Macy’s have been solid merchants year-to-year.

What are YOUR favorite gift cards this month? Can you predict who will top the charts in June?

Every dad deserves his day so let Plastic Jungle help make this Father’s Day even better with an extra $50 to spend.

It’s easy to enter!  Just go to our Facebook page, ‘Like’ Plastic Jungle and fill out the simple entry form.

Winners will be announced daily on our Facebook page so be sure to check back to see if you’ve won !

Hurry because our Father’s Day sweepstakes is on now and runs through June 19.

Just let Plastic Jungle know what kind of dad you are and you will immediately be entered into our daily $50 gift card give-away.  Whether you’re a Sporty dad, a DIYer, a Mechanic, a Gadget Geek, a Coffee Lover or a Grill Master, we have the perfect gift for you (see prizes below)!

Don’t forget to share with your friends because if they WIN you WIN too!  If a friend that you refer wins, you’ll get a $25 gift card!!

The Sporty Dad will receive a $50 Target Gift Card or a $50 Big 5 Sporting Goods Gift Card

The Mechanic Dad will receive a $50 76 Shell Gas Gift Card or a $50 Sears Gift Card

The Gadget Geek Dad will receive a $50 Apple Store Gift Card or a $50 Best Buy Gift Card

The Coffee Lover Dad will receive a $50 Starbucks Gift Card or a $50 Peet’s Coffee Gift Card

The DIY Dad will receive a $50 Home Depot or $50 Lowe’s Gift Card

The Grill Master Dad will receive a $50 Omaha Steaks Gift Card or a $50 Outback Steakhouse Gift Card

For more information see official rules here.

Value-minded golfers rejoice! It just got even easier to get top-brand golf clubs and gear at outstanding values (like up to 80% off) thanks to a new partnership between leading internet golf retailer, 3balls.com and the web’s largest secured gift card exchange, Plastic Jungle.

If you haven’t already heard of 3balls.com, you should know it’s not your standard golf website. It’s more like a golf bargain-hunter’s dream for top-brand clubs, both used and new.

Any given day on 3balls website you’ll find thousands of unique, used clubs trade-ins from pro-shops around the country up for sale alongside manufacturer overstock, closeouts and “open box returns”, all selling at a fraction of their retail cost. (Of course, 3balls also has full selection of the latest “inline” products that just hit the streets, at very competitive prices.)

And now, you can get the clubs you want even more affordably by converting gift cards from dozens of different establishments into PayPal dollars instantly redeemable on 3balls.com. Integrated PayPal Express checkout makes the whole process easy and seamless.

If you’re looking to drive the ticket price down even further, 3balls can help there too, with their online club trade-in program.

All good news for golfers! Take a look at what you could exchange your gift cards for today at 3balls.com:

Top 10 Brands
TaylorMade
Ping
Callaway
Cobra
Titleist
Cleveland
Mizuno
Adams
Nike
Odyssey

Top 10 Product Types
Iron Sets
Drivers
Golf Apparel
Golf Shoes
Golf Bags
Golf Balls
Fairway Woods
Putters
Wedges
Hybrids

Perhaps this will provide you a little early inspiration for Mom (Mother’s Day is coming up May 8th) or Dad (Father’s Day is June 19th)… or maybe this is just the excuse you were looking for to get rid of your old clubs (it’s nearly time for Spring Cleaning after all) and buy some shiny new clubs to up your game.  Tell us what you think!

This year, according to the National Retail Federation, the average person will spend $94.32 on Daddy dearest, up $3.43 from last year. Father’s Day spending is expected to reach a total of $9.8 billion. Wow! That is a lot of love for Dad!!

As one may have guessed, signature gifts Dad can expect include: new gadgets, special lunch/dinner outing, gift cards and clothing.

Quick breakdown of spending on gifts for dear ole Dad:

• 39.9% of those celebrating dad this year will treat him to a special outing such as dinner or brunch, spending $1.9 billion
• 36.7% plan on spending a total of $1.3 billion on clothes, so dad can expect a few more work shirts and ties to add to his collection as well.
• Others will shell out $1.2 billion on electronics… how many of you wish the new iPhone were coming out about a week earlier than Apple announced this morning?
• $749 million will be spent on greeting cards
• $578 million will go toward tools or appliances
• Home improvement or gardening tools will account for $550 million in gifting
• Dads who love their cars will receive about $400 million in automotive accessories
• Three out of 10 (31.2%) will give dad a gift card, spending an estimated $1.2 billion on those purchases.

Dads out there… What’s topping your list?

Here is another fun stat for you:

• Most people will buy for their father or stepfather this holiday (49.3%) but others will treat their husband (27.1%), son (7.4%), grandfather (4.4%), brother (5.1%) and friend (4.9%) to something nice.

Share below how you will celebrate all the beloved Dads in your life…