Some people literally shop on Black Friday.  Others, shop on what some of my friends lovingly call “Black Thursday.”  Since some stores, like Toys R Us, open at 8:00 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, it’s important to sequence your Black Friday shopping so you know which sales are not to miss.

Toys R Us has some of the best Black Friday kids’ toy and electronics deals for 2012.  Pair Toys R Us Black Friday prices with Plastic Jungle discount gift cards and you’ll save even more!

If you use discount Toys R Us gift cards to buy an Apple 4th Generation iPod Touch on Black Friday, you’ll save 10% AND get back a $20 Toys R Us gift card AND a $30 iTunes gift card.  It’s like paying only $130 for the newest iPod Touch!

Buy your child his or her first car for less than $1,000.    You can get your 3 to 6 year-old child their very own Barbie or Cadillac Hybrid Escalade Fisher-Price Power Wheel for ONLY $249 (normally $419.99) when you use discount Toys R Us gift cards to buy this item on Black Friday at Toys R Us.  My nephew just loves his!

Legos, Legos, Legos.  Toys R Us is giving a 40% price reduction on ALL its Lego products on Black Friday!  SpongeBob Krusty Krab Adventure Legos are on sale for $20.99!  Lego Duplo Disney Pixar Cars 2 Big Bentley set is only $32.99!  (This set normally costs $54.99)   And the Harry Potter Hogwarts Lego set is only $41.99! Save an additional 10% Lego sets at Toys R Us by ordering your Toys R Us discount gift cards now.

Plan ahead.  Know when your favorite stores’ Black Friday sales begin so you can get your hands on all the low priced deals you want.

You’re invited to one of our biggest discount gift card parties of the year!

Party like it’s 2012 by combining After Christmas Sales with Plastic Jungle discount gift cards to your favorite stores.

Best Buy discount gift cards

Best Buy is currently selling iTunes gift cards for 15% off.  Combine Best Buy’s After Christmas sale with 5% off discount Best Buy gift cards from Plastic Jungle and your $25 iTunes gift card will only cost you $20.19.  That’s like downloading 5 songs for free!

Best Buy is also a great place to pick up “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, or Windows.  Listed for $39 (normally $59), with discount Best Buy gift cards, pick up Call of Duty for $37.05 + tax.

Target discount gift cards

Did you pass up all those Black Friday Xbox 360 deals?  Target has another great deal just in time for 2012.  Use discount Target gift cards from Plastic Jungle to pick up a brand-new Xbox 360 console with a 4GB hard drive AND a brand-new Xbox Kinect for $290.03 and take home a $75 Target gift card when buying this Xbox combo at Target.  It’s like paying $215.03 for the Xbox and the Xbox Kinect.  (The Xbox Kinect alone normally sells for $100!)

Home Depot discount gift cards

Home Depot is offering 10% off all appliances which is a perfect time to stack discount Home Depot gift cards available for 9% off.  Right now a $698 appliance can be delivered free to your doorstep for $572 (that’s $129 off!).

RSVP by ordering your Plastic Jungle discount gift cards now.

What gift cards topped your shopping list in June? Surprisingly, almost the exact same ones, in the same order as last month – but with a little twist.

Home improvement giants continued to top the list, with Home Depot and Lowe’s ranked at #1 and #2. The secret is out – builders, subcontractors and professional handymen can increase their margins by buying discounted gift cards from Plastic Jungle. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s cards are currently offered at 7% off, immediately shaving costs and adding profit to the bottom line.

And it’s not just skilled experts that enjoyed savings. With June graduations and the Father’s Day holiday, Home Depot and Lowe’s gift cards made terrific gifts for the home improvement hobbyist.

Walmart and Target again ranked #3 and #4 respectively. As one-stop shopping centers, Junglers saved on nearly everything under the sun, including house wares, toys, clothing, electronics, and even groceries. With 3% discounted gift cards stacked on top of Walmart and Target’s already uber-competitive low prices, these cards get swiped up fast, so sign up for a notification alert to get first access.

Best Buy again ranked #5. A great source for computers, video games, televisions, digital cameras, mp3 players, mobile phones & appliances, Best Buy gift cards likely made for some great Father’s Day and Graduation gifts as well.

The next three spots were filled by clothing department stores: Macys (#6), Kohl’s (#7) and JC Penney (#8). Perhaps our Junglers were freshening up their summer wardrobe with new shorts, tanks, sundresses, swimsuits and sandals. All three merchants have darling summer clothing collections on sale now, as they make room for their fall and back-to-school collections.

The Apple Store held spot #9. Our family celebrated the end of school and good report cards with a new iPhone for my daughter, a new iTouch for my son and a new Nano for mama (I deserved a little treat for helping with all the homework and packing lunches all year long, right?!) Apple Store gift cards are quite popular, so be sure to plan ahead and sign up for an email alert when they become available.

Rounding out the Top 10 was Barnes & Noble. (Cabela’s filled this spot in May.) A popular go-to, slam-dunk teacher’s gift is always a Barnes & Noble gift card. Was your child’s teacher the lucky recipient of one of these end-of-the-school-year gifts?

Special Honorary Mention goes out to iTunes, who ranked #6 in quantity (vs. revenue), with a whopping 6,125 cards sold in June. That’s a lot of TV, video, movie, app and music downloads!

These Top 10 gift cards are just the tip of the iceberg (or should we say tip of the palm tree?) Plastic Jungle has  nearly 400 brands, with discounted gift cards offered up to 35% off. Click here to see what hot cards we’ve got up for sale now!

The PJ 10

What were we buying in March? Well, there weren’t any spectaular retail “events” that drove us to specialty stores, so as expected the top three gift card sellers were big box chains offering groceries and fishing supplies and everything in-between. Spring was a bit late late this year, so clearly we were driven to hot, caffeinated coffee, putting Starbucks into our Top 10 Gift Cards in March. And iTunes, with the diversity of media on offer these days, from music to books to TV and movies, proves it’s a great gift card to give and get.

Honorable mentions from March? JC Penney, Pottery Barn, Cabela’s, Barnes & Noble, and Nordstrom.

Salivating over the potential savings at a favorite store? If you’re ready to ditch your unused gift card and trade up to one of the favorites, you can safely and securely SELL or EXCHANGE your gift card on Plastic Jungle, with many different payout and trade options, including an Amazon.com Gift Card, Facebook credits and Paypal account funding.

Top 10 Gift Cards in March, 2011

10 SEARS

Purchase discount Sears Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 9% OFF.

9 KOHL’S

Purchase discount Kohl’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 14% OFF.

8 STARBUCKS

Purchase discount Starbucks Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they come into stock. Set an Alert Now.

7 MACY’S

Purchase discount Macy’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they come into stock. Set an Alert Now.

6 BEST BUY

Purchase discount Best Buy Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 5% OFF.

5 LOWE’S

Purchase discount Lowe’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

4 iTUNES

Purchase discount iTunes Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

3 TARGET

Purchase discount Target Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 5% OFF.

2 HOME DEPOT

Purchase discount Home Depot Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 7% OFF.

1 WALMART

Purchase discount Walmart Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle — when they become available. Set an Alert Now.

What’s your favorite gift card of the moment? Something to get ready for spring — sporting goods or travel? Let us know in the comments below.

How soon can Spring Break start? Well, if you’ve got a few weeks like I do, take a minute’s break to enter April’s giveaways and sweepstakes from around the web.

Dial for Men 30 Days of Dirt – Dial for Men has plenty of prizes to give away, including $50 Gift Cards, riding lawnmowers, and dirt bikes, when you enter their sweepstakes through April 20, 2011. Just go to their Facebook page and “Like” Dial for Men to gain access to the entry page. See the sweepstakes official rules for details. Then, use this handy $1.00 OFF coupon for Dial for Men along with a discounted Walmart Gift Card from Plastic Jungle and watch your savings pile up.

$250 Old Navy Gift Card Giveaway – My Wee View is giving away a free $250 Old Navy Gift Card. Just visit Old Navy online and make a comment back at MyWeeView.com on what you would like to get for your family. Get bonus entries by using Facebook and Google Connect. Hurry! Sweepstakes ends on April 15^th, 2011. Can’t wait to get a deal at Old Navy? Purchase discounted Old Navy Gift Cards and Old Navy eGift Cards (at time of writing up to 12% OFF) right now on Plastic Jungle.

Wilton Easter Prize Pack Giveaway – Here’s a quick one: the blog Two of a Kind Working on a Full House has regular giveaways, and this weekend take a second to check out the Wilton baking website then enter the Two of a Kind drawing to win the cute baking prize pack. While on Two of a Kind, see their many other sweepstakes, where you could win Tangled DVDs, mini-roller coasters, fishtanks, and more! The Wilton baking prize-pack contest ends on April 11, 2011.

ReadyMade and Wüstof Slice It & Dice It Sweepstakes – Do-it-yourself mag ReadyMade and the knife experts at Wustof want to put a knife in your hands. Win one of five top-quality Wustof knife sets when you enter your information for the drawing, which ends May 22, 2011. Check official rules for details.

Can’t wait to get a set of Wustof or Henkels or anything else for your kitchen? If you’ve been saving up and are that close, a discounted Williams-Sonoma Gift Card or eGift Card from Plastic Jungle might just make those perfect kitchen utensils within your budget!

Chiquita’s Make Your Way to Rio Sweepstakes – The Grand Prize in this Chiquita giveaway is a trip for four to Rio de Janeiro, and there are so many other prizes to win it’s hard to list them, including Xbox consoles, T-shirts, books, iTunes Gift Cards, Best Buy Gift Cards, and they’re even giving away bananas and avocados. Sweepstakes ends May 31, 2011; check official rules for details. Actually, Chiquita has a new snack, called Chiquita Duos and you can get a 2-for-1 Chiquita Duos coupon right here.

If you have a sweepstakes or giveaway, don’t hesitate to contact us at blog@plasticjungle.com; we’re happy to post it here.

Enjoy a lovely April weekend, and if you have stress about travel, keep an eye on the Plastic Jungle blog for tips and ideas to make your Spring Break more of a break than a working vacation!

And to Poetry Month, your response might be: Who Cares?!

It may very well be that poetry is past its prime. A professional poet is a hard thing to come by, and I’m fairly certain that most people couldn’t name a living poet when asked to. (It’s OK. See below for a quick list!)

What it comes down to is art: the art of our ever-changing language as a means of expression. It’s shocking to come across a poem written hundreds of years ago, and then hear lyrics written by a rapper last week, and have both “poems” ring true to you, though the language is vastly different. (Looking for “Spoken Word” poetry? Search it on iTunes, where you’ll also find audio recordings of works of poetry.)

Here we encourage your exploration into poetry, which, with a little insight, makes for brain-enlivening, fun, “quick-time” reading outside of a classroom. What’s great is that now you can listen to poetry on your MP3 or iPod, download it to your Kindle or Nook, or browse online or in a bookstore* for a juicy poetical payoff. No analysis required.

Poetry for Kids

You might think the hundreds of picture books published each year qualify as poetry for children, but really, they’re mostly just rhymed stories. Today’s teaching helps kids understand the succinct nature of poetry and language, and how their limited vocabularies are still quite effectual and expressive.

One source, Poetry for Children, a blog run by Sylvia Vardell, will give you all kinds of kids’ poetry ideas and authors, and surely something will suit your kid’s individual style. Check out “Poetry TagTime”, available for 99¢ as an ebook at Amazon.com.

Jack Prelutsky, children's book author

Jack Prelutsky, current US Children’s Poet Laureate, has a do-it-yourself poetry workshop available via Scholastic.com which can result with kids publishing their work on the web. If you’re not familiar already with Jack P.’s work, find his books at Barnes & Noble, or bn.com, or Amazon.com.

For older kids, especially the self-starter tween, young adult, and teens, Figment.com is an amazing site for reading “what everyone else is doing”, as well as an outlet to share works and receive feedback (or not!).

Poets Laureate

American Poets Laureate are determined by a consortium at the Library of Congress, and are meant to be writers whose work reflects the sentiments of their time or generation. The poets chosen tend to hold cache on the East Coast collegiate circuit; despite its diversity, the poets are worthwhile reading.

Current US Poet Laureate, W. S. Merwin’s poetry has garnered national awards. His poems reflect a mid-20^th Century angst, and question war, just as we do now. Check out his tome Migration: Selected Poems 1951-2001.

Past laureates include Robert Lowell, William Carlos Williams, Billy Collins and Kay Ryan, who recently used her stature to get community college students published in a project called “Poetry for the Mind’s Joy”. Read the successful Mind’s Joy poetry on the Library of Congress website.

Modern Poetry and the New Haiku

Wonder which authors are on today’s watch list for the publishing world? Industry journal Publishers Weekly put out a list of authors in an article “Poetry Profiled 2011” in their nod to National Poetry Month. Included in this list is a poetry guide by David Orr, Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry.

There are hundreds of poetry anthologies to find on Amazon, Borders, Indiebound.org, or at Barnes & Noble, often classified by subject: Love, Nature, Classics, Sonnets, Regional, etc. Try unusual search terms and see what you find: type in “Dog Poetry” and the first selection in query results is a fun collection written by writer’s dogs.

A new, digital phenomenon is Twitter Poetry. The emergence of poems written in 140 characters (or less) was noted recently in the Establishment’s paper-of-record, The New York Times. Look up T Poet on Twitter (@TwitterPoetry) or try the blog site TwiHaiku, where you can read Twitter examples filed by subject (love, nature, the universe), or upload your own works.

The thought of haiku might bring to mind Japan. Traditional haiku is a more carefully studied art form with centuries of history. To quench your 5-7-5 syllable haiku thirst, pick up a translated collection by Matsuo Basho, Kobayashi Issa, or Yosa Buson, or compare all three in a Haiku collection with an introduction to all three authors by the illustrious Robert Hass.

Want to read more?  Add some of these great poet’s works to your ipod or MP3 player by purchasing discounted gift cards from Plastic Jungle to make the downloads more affordable.  Or head over to your local bookstore and peruse the shelves for your favorite authors.

Get discounted Barnes & Noble Gift Cards >>>

Trade in or exchange a gift card with unused balance for an Amazon.com Gift Card >>>
Get Discounted Borders Gift Cards >>>
Get Discounted iTunes Gift Cards >>>

Get Discounted Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Gift Cards (you have to read somewhere!) >>>

Remember that most poems are copyrighted material, so think twice before you publicly publish any works that are not your own.

Enjoy the look inward, as you explore our language as it lives, changes, and even to explore its dead, fallen branches (to wax poetic!) to see how you may grow in your humanity.

Give us your favorite poems and poets. Leave a comment to let us know how you think of poetry in your daily life.

Well, only 15 days until the taxes are due. Better enter some giveaways and sweepstakes to lift your spirits!

Coupons and Freebies Mom $250 Target Gift Card Giveaway – Just sign up for Coupons & Freebies Mom free email updates or updates via RSS feed & then fill out the entry form on the giveaway’s main page. Gain additional entries with the directions on the contest’s main page. The giveaway will end on April 27 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time.

Get discounted Target Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle   >>

Cha Cha “What Kind of Car Are You?” Sweepstakes – Well? Take the Cha Cha quiz to find out and you’re entered to win one of two cars they’re giving away. You can enter up to once a day. Invite your friends to take the quiz, and if they take the quiz, you just got yourself another entry. The more friends you invite, the more entries you get! (See official rules here.) NOTE: If one of your invited friends wins a car, then so do you! Winners will be announced 11/11/11 at 11:11pm.

Get discounted Sonic Drive-In Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle   >>

Olive Garden’s Tour of Italy Sweepstakes 2011 (or instantly win a $20 Olive Garden Gift Card!) – Four grand prize winners will enjoy an eight-day Italy trip for two and take cooking lessons in Tuscany and also visit Rome and Florence, including a winery tour. Instant winners score a $20 Olive Garden restaurant gift card. Sweepstakes ends May 9, 2011. You can enter once per day! See official rules for details.

Get discounted Olive Garden Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle   >>

Jimmy Fallon “Band Bench” Sweepstakes – Attention music lovers! If you’ve been setting notifications for Ticketmaster and iTunes Gift Cards, then you’ll relish the chance to see one of your favorite musical performers or bands up close and personal at a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon musical guest taping in New York City. You could win two tickets to Jimmy F’s “Band Bench” (the location of which is outlined on the sweepstakes page). The prize does not include transportation to the evening of the taping, and you will have an opportunity to enter for many different bands through June 30, 2011. Today, you could enter to win tickets to see Paul Simon, Wire, The Strokes, or Duran Duran play on the Jimmy Fallon Show. See Band Bench official rules for details. For an idea of what the experience is like, check out the Alex Suskind Spinner Blog post.

Get discounted Ticketmaster Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle   >>

Get discounted iTunes Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle   >>

Congratulations to all the $50 Gift Card winners in Plastic Jungle’s Spring Cleaning Sweepstakes. Check the Plastic Jungle Facebook Sweepstakes page for a list of winners as they are confirmed! Stay tuned for more Plastic Jungle offers and sweepstakes coming your way.

Who’s got a sweepstakes they would like to share? We’d love to highlight your sweepstakes or giveaway — just email me at blog@plasticjungle.net. Have a great weekend!

Have you taken advantage of us and purchased your Fandango Gift Cards discounted up to 30% off on Plastic Jungle yet? Talk about lucky this month!

Not to mention, when you SELL A GIFT CARD or eGIFT CARD on Plastic Jungle now until March 31, 2011, you’re entered into our DAILY $50 Gift Card Spring Cleaning Giveaway. Go to Plastic Jungle’s Facebook fan page for details on our favorite giveaway for the month.

Time to see what else you can win with just the smallest of efforts:

Viking River Cruises “Win a Cruise” Sweepstakes Just “Like” Viking River Cruises on Facebook (one entry per person) to be eligible to win one of three 2011 Cities of Light cruisetours for two people, with hotel and accommodations, on Viking Fontane (up to $9,206 value, per couple). The contest will run until the Viking River Cruises Facebook page reaches 50,000 fans, then winners are drawn at random. They are currently at 43,125 fans so enter soon! See official rules after you click the “Like” button, but the contest is open to all individuals 18 years or older, and all participants must be United States Citizens.

iTunes $50 Gift Card Giveaway Hosted by The Fresh Biz blog, a blog about entrepreneurship, you could win a $50 iTunes Gift Card when you support their site with a “Like” on Facebook, Tweet their message and more. Contest ends March 22, 2011; see the link for contest rules.

Weleda – Win a Trip for Two to Turkey Weleda, an international beauty and skincare company, wants you to find out which of their products fit your skin type. Take their very brief quiz and be eligible to Win a Trip to Turkey to the fair trade rose gardens in Isparta, Turkey during the Rose Festival. You could also win the line of skincare products that fits you best. Giveaway ends on April 30, 2011; see official rules when you submit your contact information.

Staples $100 eGift Card Giveaway Hosted by Women’s Day online, enter to be one of 10 winners of a $100 digital Staples eGift Card (found on Plastic Jungle as an eCODE) before the end date of March 24, 2011. See Women’s Day Staples $100 eGift Card Giveaway official rules for details.

Chili’s $20 Gift Card Giveaway Hosted by SheScribes.com, you can enter to win a $20 Chili’s gift card. $20 Chili’s Gift Card contest expires March 20, 2011. You can get details on how to enter and rules on SheScribes.com, but you’ll also find a hot link to…

Shout Out to Eat Out – Wild or Mild Contest by Chili’s Enter to win one of two Grand Prizes: the “Wild” winner will win a trip to Las Vegas, and the “Mild” winner will win a trip to Disney. To enter, participants upload a head shot of themselves and create a wild or mild avatar on shoutouttoeatout.com. Shout Out prizes include DAILY $20 Chili’s Gift Card winners, plus the “Wild” avatar or “Mild” avatars who win the most votes get the grand prize. Contest ends April 30, 2011; see Chili’s Wild or Mild Contest rules for details.

Whew! I hope you’ll give selling a gift card on Plastic Jungle a try. If you haven’t done it before, leave us a comment on your experience selling a gift card on Plastic Jungle. We’re always looking for feedback. Have a great weekend!

The Academy Awards are this weekend! The Official Red Carpet coverage starts on ABC channels at 7 pm on the East Coast/4 pm on the West Coast, then the Academy Awards show starts at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST. For more information go to Oscar.com.

Here’s info to tune into the myriad pre-shows that dish on designers, celebrities, and movie stars:

• E! Online has red carpet coverage beginning at 6 pm EST/3 pm PST.
• The MTV Movies blog will have live online streaming from 6 pm to 8 pm EST.
• CNN’s Showbiz Tonight will have “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Camille Grammer as a fashion and celebrity commentator; their live coverage is at 7 pm EST, then wrap-up coverage is at 11 pm EST on HLN.
• For the real down-low and what they were wearing, E!’s Fashion Police, with Red Carpet veteran quick-wit Joan Rivers will likely air on Monday… can’t find a specific airdate, but look for it on E!

Here’s a quick link to the complete list of Academy Awards Nominees for your Oscar Pool. If you could cast your vote for the Oscars – how would you go? I pick The Social Network for the Best Picture win. Why? Because it’s the only Oscar-nominated movie to pass my litmus test: my brother saw it!

Get Discounts on Movie Tickets, Concessions, and DVD & Blu-Ray Discs

Getting to see the Oscar-nominated movies might get expensive. Discounted gift cards to theaters, media retailers, and restaurants take the sting out of what could be a pricey proposition. Here are some gift card ideas from Plastic Jungle based on what’s on sale right now (at time of writing) on the site.

|   | |

• Straight-up, purchase discounted gift cards to theaters or movie chains. Right now, cinema gift cards and theater gift cards on sale include:
• AMC Theatres Gift Cards |  Cinema De Lux Gift Cards |  Landmark Theatres Gift Cards |  Loew’s Theaters Gift Cards |  Regal Cinema Gift Cards (also good at United Artists Theatres and Edwards Cinemas )
• Choose Fandango Gift Cards for flexibility as to which theater or movie chain you can use them at, and Fandango Gift Cards are sold as eCODEs too so you can potentially use them the same day you buy them. Recipients must have Internet access to redeem Fandango Bucks; to see if you can use them locally, enter your zip code on the Fandango home page.
• 
• For movies that have left the theaters (or those foreign ones that may have never played near you but critics tell you not to miss), go for a media store gift card. Right now, Plastic Jungle has FYE Gift Cards (and eCODES) |  Hollywood Video Gift Cards |  Barnes & Noble Gift Cards |  Best Buy Gift Cards | Border’s Gift Cards (at a 14% discount, but use it fast!) | iTunes Gift Cards. Consider even Walmart Gift Cards and Target Gift Cards, where you can buy an inexpensive DVD player and watch movies on your lunch breaks!
• Get an Amazon.com Gift Card when you trade in one of your unused gift cards in exchange, here on Plastic Jungle!
• 
• Post-Movie Discussion: In “The King’s Speech”, didn’t Geoffery Rush just break your heart when the King berated him for having no credentials? How bizarre, on a scale of 1-10, did Natalie Portman seem to you in “The Black Swan”? Was Jesse Eisenberg’s character in “The Social Network” a mean guy, or just another motivated capitalist winning at any cost? The cup of coffee after the movie might be just as important as the movie itself. Get discounts on Starbuck’s Gift Cards | Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Gift Cards | Applebee’s Gift Cards | Cold Stone Creamery Gift Cards | The Cheesecake Factory Gift Cards.
  

  Mark Zuckerberg meets Jesse Eisenberg on Saturday Night Live

View the Video: Samberg, Zuckerberg and Eisenberg on SNL 2/19/11

Enjoy the movie fun this weekend! Let us know how your Oscar Picks came out, and who you thought didn’t win, but deserved it.

Saving money is not always easy. Many of us have to weigh a cost of time : benefit ratio. It’s got to be simple, foolproof, and secure. We do our best to make the gift card-swap process as easy as it can be. Plus, Plastic Jungle offers a few ways to redeem your gift card. You can exchange your unused gift card for an Amazon.com Gift Card; for cold, hard cash; to fund a PayPal account; and you can even exchange your gift card for Facebook Credits.

More stores are taking PayPal as a method of payment on their websites. For example, the Abercrombie & Fitch network of clothing stores that also includes Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. While you can’t use the same gift card to pay at all three sites, you can use a PayPal account as payment at checkout at each of these stores. It becomes really efficient to exchange a gift card for instant PayPal account funding on Plastic Jungle and check out at Hollister in the same day you make the gift card swap.

Other online merchants who accept PayPal as payment include: Sears, Walmart, Best Buy, eBay, newegg.com, Delta Airlines, 1800Flowers.com, Zappos and many more. The PayPal Store Directory will give you a complete list of retailers who accept PayPal for payment.

Check the Plastic Jungle “Sell Gift Cards” page to see what the exchange value will be for your unused gift card.

Plastic Jungle’s Top 10 Gift Cards for January 2011 (in reverse order)

10. iTunes (down from #4 in December)

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted iTunes Gift Cards >>

9. Nordstrom

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Nordstrom Gift Cards >>

8. Kohl’s

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Kohl’s Gift Cards >>

7. Apple Store

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Apple Store Gift Cards >>

6. Macy’s (down from #2 in December)

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Macy’s Gift Cards >>

5. Best Buy (up from #9 in December)

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Best Buy Gift Cards Now

4. Lowe’s (up from #10 in December)

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Lowe’s Gift Cards >>

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Target Gift Cards >>

2. Home Depot (up from #5 in December)

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Home Depot Gift Cards >>

Check Plastic Jungle for Discounted Walmart Gift Cards >>

View gift cards you loved in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, Fall 2010, and December 2010.