You’re aiming to be your niece or nephew’s favorite aunt or uncle and you know the thought you put into your holiday shopping is a reflection of how well you know them.

What is the perfect gift for the beloved teens and tweens in your life?

Teens and tweens of both genders enjoy things that are fun.  Buy discount Target gift cards from Plastic Jungle to go in with another family member or two to get your teen or tween an Apple iPod or Apple iTouch, an XBOX 360, or PlayStation 3 (PS3).  If your teen or tween already has a game system, consider expanding their XBOX abilities with a XBOX Kinect Bundle or adding to their PS3 enjoyment with a PlayStation3 Move Bundle which you can pick up or order online at a discount with Plastic Jungle discount Target gift cards.

When you’re in middle school and high school going to the movies with a group of friends is a common Friday night experience.  Give your teen or tween the choice of going to an extra movie or eating their favorite refreshments from the concession stand by giving them a movie theatre gift card.  Plastic Jungle carries Landmark Theatres gift cards for less than face value.

Clothing can be a great gift idea if you know which store your teen or tween likes best.  Pointer – ask your teen or tween which store(s) they like to buy clothes at.  Then, buy discount gift cards for the stores they like most.  At Plastic Jungle you can find discount gift cards for many places teens and tweens like to shop like with American Eagle Outfitters gift cards, Guess gift cards, JC Penney gift cards, Macy’s gift cards, Lucky Brand Jeans gift cards, and PacSun gift cards.  Earn extra cool points by giving the gift card to your teen or tween rather than attempting to find something you think they will like from their favorite store.

What do the teens and tweens in your life like?

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.

In case you’re wondering, Yes! We at Plastic Jungle hear your feedback and work to improve the site every day.

We’ve got some new website enhancements to help you come to a quick decision about which gift card will be the one for you.

Who will have the best discount?

Sort Your Gift Card Searches

Now, after you perform a search for a card, say you choose a category from the pull-down menu on the left, you can search for the biggest discount by clicking on the “Discount” heading. Automatically, the cards with the biggest discounts, no matter which merchant they come from, are listed at the top of the page.

Alternately, you can adjust how the results appear by toggling the “Merchant” heading to see the merchants in a-z order or z-a order, or by Gift Card “Value”, “Discount”, or purchase “Price”.

Each merchant’s page, displaying which gift cards are available for purchase, now also has that functionality, and you can sort cards by price, discount, or value.

• Price is the cost of the gift card. Remember, what you see is what you get. Plastic Jungle does not charge shipping or handling fees.
• Discount is the percentage off you’ll receive from the full value of the gift card.
• Value is the full value of the gift card.

If you’re wondering what the BEST DEAL on Plastic Jungle is at any point in time, go ahead and click the  button. Then sort by discount (arrow up) and the most discounted cards will come to the top of the list.

Finding an eCODE – a Discounted Electronic Gift Card – Is Now Much Easier

Right from the Plastic Jungle home page, you can click through to see what stores are offering eCODES at the moment.

Just look for the following link, right below the    button on the Plastic Jungle home page:

View All Electronic Gift Cards 

With eCODEs you can take advantage of online savings opportunities right away: as soon as your payment is processed, the eCODE is emailed to you.  You can pay for items in your online cart at the selected merchant AND possibly still use valid discounts or free shipping codes.

When you purchase eCODEs on Plastic Jungle, it will be sent to the email address you registered in your Plastic Jungle account. Please add customerservice@plasticjungle.com to your email address book to ensure delivery. Shop with the card on the merchant’s website, just like you would use a regular gift card.

What update would you like to see on Plastic Jungle? How can we make your experience buying gift cards, exchanging gift cards, and donating gift cards easier and more fun?  Let us know at blog@plasticjungle.com

BY THE WAY:  ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT to enter Plastic Jungle’s Spring Cleaning Sweepstakes. Sell a gift card on the site to WIN!!

Step by step, a Plastic Jungle fan shows you how to save $100s by combining discounted gift cards, coupons, and rebates.

It is fair to say that most households have wish lists. From house to house, these lists can be as diverse as the inhabitants. You could be pining for fresh electronics (new TV or gaming system), or home improvements or furniture, or maybe a special accessory, such as a pricey designer purse or a pair of shoes. Often, wish lists develop when you move into a new space, as our Plastic Jungle fan, Marcy B., relates.

In her letter, Marcy B. outlines how she went about saving big on renovating her window treatments in her new home. She explains that it wasn’t a matter of combing the Internet, or paging through Val-Pak coupons, but a matter of patience and a small amount of planning.

Thanks to marketing and promotions, all shoppers get the idea that we could save big, but jumping the hurdle to map out the steps can be a stumbling block.

Her letter explains her simple process, step-by-step:

You are welcome, Marcy! : )

Marcy's Living Room Before the New Blinds

Marcy's home with her new blinds. Success at a discount!

As it turns out, Marcy is also a guest contributor for a parenting site: MamaModerne.com, and she wrote up her story as an article, “Saving Big on Big Purchases”. Check it out for more details on how to save when it comes time to pull out that wishlist.

What’s on your wishlist?

Consider the following categories. When you’re dealing with a wishlist, it’s OK to be greedy. Writing out what you want might help you prioritize your wants and needs. (Well, that sounds like another blog post!)

Consumer Electronics: get gift cards from Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, Sony Style, Apple Store, Office Depot, Staples, JCPenney

Home Improvement: get gift cards from Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Target, Bloomingdale’s

Furniture: get gift cards from Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma Home, JCPenney, Macy’s, Walmart, west elm, CB2

Designer Apparel & Accessories: Zappo’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Bergdorf-Goodman, Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Coach

Pick up any of the above gift cards on Plastic Jungle’s Buy Gift Cards page.

Get thinking, and let us know if you’ve got any strategies for saving with discount gift cards.

Planning a Spring Break getaway to Disneyland or Disney World? Maybe taking it easy this year, banking that vacation savings, and heading to the mall instead?

If you’ve got a Disney Store Gift Card or DisneyStore.com Online Gift Card, you might want to know how much it’s worth no matter where you’re headed in the Disney retinue.

Want to safeguard savings for a Disney trip? One friend, Denise, says she puts the savings in to Disney Store gift cards so that she can’t use the money for anything else! Well, Denise, you can buy discounted Disney Store Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle too – representing true savings. If there are none in stock, you can set a Disney email alert to be notified when new discounted Disney Gift Cards come into stock.

A Bit about Disney Gift Cards

Disney Store Gift Cards are good for purchases online at DisneyStore.com, and in Disney Stores. (Redeemable at DisneyStore.com, Disney Store locations in the US, participating locations at Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida, Disneyland® Resort in California, Disney Cruise Line®, ClubPenguin.com, and DisneyPhotoPass.com). You can also use the Disney Store Gift Cards as a form of payment for Disneyland® Resort vacation packages by calling the Walt Disney Travel Company California at 1-866-470-5119.

DisneyStore.com Online Gift Cards are good at DisneyStore.com ONLY, and a credit card is required when placing an order using a Disney Store Online Gift Card.

Disney Store Gift Cards can be reloaded at most Disney Stores (but not DisneyStore.com), however Disney Store Online Gift Cards can’t be reloaded.

For the latest terms and conditions on Disney Store Gift Cards, go to The Disney Store Gift Card page or the Gift Card FAQ page within the Guest Services section of the website accessed at the bottom of the Gift Card page. (If it were linkable, believe me, we’d save you the trouble and have it for you!)

Save on Disney

If you’re looking to save on Disney merchandise, there’s always a deal at the Disney Store: sign up for email blasts on the home page. Online, the DisneyStore.com Sale tab is usually full of items too. Get first crack at deals when you follow The Disney Store on Twitter and Facebook.

Want to save at a Disney resort? Check the official Disney Special Offers page – there’s currently a 30-40% discount on offer that expires March 27, 2011. A favorite Disney deals consolidator is MouseSavers.com, where you’ll find deals for everything from travel to Disney books and Disney advice. Check the Balance on Your Disney Store Gift Card or DisneyStore.com Online Gift Card

Check the Balance on Disney Gift Cards

Not sure how much is left on your Disney Store Gift Card or Disney Store Online Gift Card?

For Disney Store Gift Cards, you can check at the register of any Disney Store retail location, or call the number on the back of the card.

For DisneyStore.com Online Gift Cards, you may check the unused balance by calling 1-888-301-9061. You will need to provide your Online Gift Card number.

Once you know your balance, you can safely sell or trade your Disney Store Gift Card on Plastic Jungle.

The Disney Store gift cards have no expiration date and no fees. Plastic Jungle never charges handling or shipping fees.

To know how much your gift card is worth in exchange on Plastic Jungle, on the main page, click “Sell Gift Cards” at the top of the page. Look up the store and enter the gift card balance you’ve just acquired. You’ll see instantly what your gift card balance is worth in cash or trade.

Check other Plastic Jungle blog posts for the same “Check Your Gift Card Balance” information for other stores, including Sears, Land’s End, Macy’s, Best Buy, Lowe’s, and more.

February saw the Superbowl, the Oscars, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day all packed into a few short weeks. Plus, a few frozen moments across the country kept shoppers inside and online, no doubt.

Many of the usual favorite gift cards showed up in February’s Top Ten, plus a very conspicuous hanger-on at #11, giving hope to all girlfriends, wives, and mothers out there for something a little more than a card.

I’m thinking the bridal business might be busy this year, because TIFFANY & CO came in at #11 on the sales chart. (Right now, there are no discounted Tiffany & Co gift cards for sale on Plastic Jungle. You can set a Tiffany & Co alert to be notified via email when gift cards become available.)

Where did lingerie retailer VICTORIA’S SECRET land during the month for love? Still in the top 50, at #28, but well behind #9, CABELA’S.

10 JCPENNEY

Purchase discount JCPenney Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 14% Off.

9 CABELA’S

Purchase discount Cabela’s Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently up to 12% off.

8 BARNES & NOBLE

Purchase discount Barnes & Noble Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 9% Off.

7 KOHL’S

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

6 MACY’S

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

5 LOWE’S

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

4 WALMART

Purchase discount Walmart Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 3% Off.

3 BEST BUY

Purchase discount Best Buy Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 6% Off.

2 TARGET

Purchase discount Target Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle, currently at up to 3% Off.

1 HOME DEPOT

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

Ready to ditch your unused gift card and trade up to one of the favorites? You can safely and securely SELL your gift card on Plastic Jungle, with many different payout options.

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.

Plastic Jungle in the News

Thanks to consumer news reporter Gregory Karp for his useful outline for how to optimize your savings from discount gift cards.

Karp’s “Spending Smart” column reaches more than 6 million readers of Tribune Co. newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun, in addition to a multitude of web outlets. Karp won the first-ever best-column award in 2006 from the Society of Business Editors and Writers.

In his recent Chicago Tribune article ”Use a Gift Card to Swipe Some Savings”, Karp says gift cards, bought at a discount right here at Plastic Jungle and other sites, are the new way to find discounts at favorite merchants.

Used to be, you’d get the Sunday paper, stacked with ads, and you might be inclined to pour through all the pages, flipping or keeping the coupons relevant to your life. Maybe they’d be a stretch — you don’t really like that brand but for $1 off, you’d switch.

Well, no one is asking you to compromise anymore.

Now, the smart shopper’s strategy is to take that coupon-finding time online into finding and purchasing relevant discount gift cards. (And, at the same time, she can check merchants’ sales nationally and locally.) Here at Plastic Jungle, you can purchase with confidence because every transaction is guaranteed.

The website Gift Card Granny, a discount gift-card aggregator, is challenging one of its fans to live entirely off of gift cards for one month.

“With discounted gift cards, I can continue to live the way we already enjoy and get an average of 10 percent off everything,” said Ashley Grimaldo, 31, a mother of two in Bryan, Texas. Grimaldo pledged to live off only discounted gift cards for a month. She figures she’ll save $150 to $200, compared with spending cash. “It’s a pretty good return for not much work,” she said.

Karp also quotes Luke Knowles, founder of GiftCardGranny.com, who estimates that a consumer regularly using discounted gift cards could save $2,000 a year.

Karp goes on to outline the best ways to optimize discount gift cards – so if you’re looking for gift card ideas, check out the article, then come back to Plastic Jungle and see how you can make the most of it. You could save up to 35% off the retail value of a merchant’s gift card: save on movies, flowers, donuts, clothing, housewares, restaurants and more.

Hot Discounted Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle Right Now (hurry! supplies limited):

Get Kohl’s Gift Cards at up to 11% off            >>>

Get 1800Flowers Gift Cards at up to 35% off   >>>

Get Dunkin Donuts Gift Cards at up to 10% off >>>

Get Fandango Gift Cards at up to 30% off        >>>

Get Cabela’s Gift Cards at up to 10% off          >>>

Get Walmart Gift Cards at up to 3% off         >>>

See All Discounted Gift Cards and eCODES Available Right Now on Plastic Jungle   >>>

What are your ideas when it comes to discounted gift cards? Do you have any shopping shortcuts to share? Let us know with your comments!

You might have heard of Covet.com or Gilt Groupe, promising exclusive savings and deals on the hottest apparel, accessories, and even décor and travel. If you’re to believe their hype, you’d think you could pick up a magazine, pick out a few outfits and a weekend getaway, and go online to find it all at 20-80% off. Is this possible?

Well, yes, it could be. Are you ready to shop at a moment’s notice? Do you have disposable income ready to snap up that hot bargain pair of jeans or that all-inclusive resort? Are you obsessive about never paying retail? OK then, let’s talk!

These sites offer good deals, and with a little check-in at Plastic Jungle, you can save even more. Here are some tips:

Get Thee to Covet.com

Covet’s hook is that you take a preference test, they call it the “Stylyzer”, based on the looks you like. They use familiar celebrities with trademarked looks: think Reese Witherspoon’s “Classic Preppy” JCrew looks, or Kate Hudson’s Hippie “Boho” Free People outfits, or Pink’s Urban melodrama via Diesel or Moschino.

After you finish your Stylyzer quiz, you get sale alerts for apparel and accessories that fit your profile. “Shop without Sin” is their tagline. In their sale alerts, you can buy sale or clearance merchandise from all over the web – Nordstrom to Ann Taylor to Zappos and plenty of other merchants whose DISCOUNTED GIFT CARDS you can purchase here on Plastic Jungle.

So: You get an alert for a sale, you jump onto PlasticJungle.com, purchase a discounted eCODE for the merchant with the sale, and wham-O! By the end of the day you’re saving an extra percentage off an item you’re very psyched about that is already on sale. Coordinating merchants include Nordstrom, Zappos, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Banana Republic, and many more.

Try also: Shop It To Me

As “Your Personal Online Shopper”, the Shop It To Me web bot crawls through department store and boutique sites looking for sales on the brands and designers you love. At your request for frequency, they’ll send you a “SaleMail”, an email loaded with items from your faves the minute they go on sale.

Other sale sites, such as Rue La La, Gilt Groupe and HauteLook (more designer clothing and haute travel), or Zulily (moms and kids gear), or One King’s Lane (amazing home décor), have awesome sales “boutiques” that sell items direct from the designers. You need to sign up, and there are no personal profiles to select specific brands, but the savings are substantial and come right to your email inbox. (Super Shopper Hint: these sites are amazing for introducing you to new brands.)

Remember, if you have a favorite brand, such as Armani Exchange, Coach, Victoria’s Secret, Ann Taylor, even Burberry (or a hundred more merchants), you can always check Plastic Jungle for discount gift cards. If none are in stock, set an alert so that when one does come into stock, Plastic Jungle will automatically email you so that you can snap it up to get up to 35% off.

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.