You love the idea of getting a tablet and unleashing all the games, apps, and portability.  If only the price were lower.

A brand new Apple iPad2 starts at $499.  Using discount Best Buy gift cards, you can get an iPad for $474.05 (plus tax).  (Learn how in my January post “Shopping Cart Spotlight: Apple-iPad”.)  Would you like to get a tablet for less than $474?

Then there’s the Kindle Fire for $199.  (Which you can get for less by selling unwanted gift cards to Plastic Jungle and exchanging them for Amazon.com gift cards.  Check out my “Kindle Fire Drill” post from last fall for details.)  How about a tablet for less than $200?

While the price tag for a tablet is not quite thousands of dollars, dropping $474 or $199 for a tablet is still an investment.  But, don’t fret.  There’s a more affordable solution.  All you need are discount Barnes & Noble and Best Buy gift cards.  For 47% less than the Amazon Kindle Fire, and 79% less than the iPad, you can get your very own new Android tablet.  For just under $105, you can convert a Barnes & Noble NOOK into an Android tablet that can manage email, the Android market, Google apps, and can not only read NOOK eBooks, but Kindle e-Reader books, too!

Supply List.  First you’ll need a Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch.  If you don’t already own a NOOK, use discount Barnes & Noble gift cards to get this $99 device for $88.11 (11% less).  That’s a great deal considering the best price yet for a NOOK (aside from getting a used version) was to get one for $79 on Black Friday last year.

Accessories.  To convert your NOOK into an Android tablet you’ll need: (1) a SD card with 128MB of memory or larger and (2) a SD card reader or adapter.  Both of these items can be found at a 5% discount at Best Buy with Best Buy discount gift cards or at Amazon.com (a great way to spend Amazon.com gift cards that are earned from selling unwanted gift cards to Plastic Jungle).

Give yourself a week for your Plastic Jungle discount gift cards to arrive, then purchase these materials for less and devote about 30 minutes to follow the 4 steps shared on LifeHacker earlier this month, and you’ll soon have an Android tablet at your fingertips for just over $100.

Stay up-to-speed with technology for less with Plastic Jungle.

Whether your prefer to buy or sell gift cards, everybody has a favorite discount gift card.  What’s yours?

Find your favorite brand below and see what your discount gift card type says about you.

Restaurant Discount Gift Cards

If your favorite discount gift card a gift card for eating out?  You enjoy trying new foods, taking a break from cooking, and spending less.  You have a knack for classy joints to gather with friends and family.  Those who love restaurant discount gift cards may sometimes be known as “foodies”, “educated eaters” and “food snobs”.

Clothing Store Discount Gift Cards

Men – Do your friends envy over your fashionable taste and know that you’ll always look sharp for the mundane and the important?  Ladies – Are you a fashion diva, accessory queen, or just a woman with good style?  You might not enjoy the actually chore of clothing shopping, itself, but you always know how to pick out the right pieces to expand your wardrobe.  Heck, you might as well be a personal fashion consultant, because your ability to coordinate from head-to-toe is a sheer talent.

Home Improvement Store Discount Gift Cards

Do you visit Lowe’s or Home Depot on almost a weekly basis?  You are a fix-it-up handy-man or handy-woman and you’ve got the heart of Tim “The Tool-Man” (or “Woman”) Taylor.  You look at your home and appliances and think that it could have more power.  You like to make your life more comfortable and simple.  And… sometimes you even lend a hand to a neighbor.

Whether your favorite discount gift card is a restaurant gift card, clothing store gift card, or home improvement store gift card, you love good deals, you live for discounts, and you are likely taking the money you’re saving with Plastic Jungle discount gift cards to pay off debt, make a big purchase, or to have a nice night out.  As someone who loves discount gift cards, you’re part of a community of shoppers who know how to get what they want for less.

Did you unwrap a gift card that was well-intentioned but you’ll never use?

Sell unwanted holiday gift cards to Plastic Jungle and get cash to use however you’d like.

I used to try my best to spend unwanted gift cards by visiting the store it was purchased from within a few months. Since the gift card would often be for $25, I would immediately walk to the clearance racks and search for a good bargain of something I would deem practical.

What’s a better solution for unwanted gift cards?

Thanks to Plastic Jungle, rather than wasting gas to travel to the store and hours of time trying to find something that costs the value of your gift card (or worse losing a valuable gift card), we can unlock money to spend any way we want when we sell unwanted gift cards to Plastic Jungle.

How does this work?

When you sell unwanted gift cards to Plastic Jungle (valued at $25 or more), you have the choice of receiving a Cashier’s Check, Amazon.com gift card via email, or a deposit into your PayPal account for up to 92% of the value of your unwanted gift card.

To keep things simple, Plastic Jungle offers free shipping to mail in unwanted gift cards [if applicable]. 

What does Plastic Jungle do with the gift cards it buys?

After Plastic Jungle buys unwanted gift cards, those gift cards are listed for sale on PlasticJungle.com so each gift card can find a new owner.  It’s such a good feeling to know a gift card someone gave you but you’ll never use will go to use by someone else who really wants the gift card.

Give yourself something you really want by selling unwanted gift cards to Plastic Jungle.

Fox Business News’s Liz Claman wondered: What do you do when you get a gift card you don’t necessarily want?

On her segment “Off the Rack/Off the Hook” Liz took a look at the “Gift Card Fix” offered by Plastic Jungle in light of the endless getting and gifting this holiday season.

Liz quoted the statistic that about 13% of gift cards go unused, leaving people wondering what to do with the card in their wallet.

“If you’re holding on to a gift card you don’t want anymore, Bruce Bower has the ultimate solution.” That would be Bruce Bower, CEO of Plastic Jungle, who had plenty to say about gift card exchange, and finding the right owner for each gift card.

“You’ve created this place, the land for misfit gift cards, haven’t you.” Bruce agreed it was a fitting analogy, in that what Plastic Jungle does is get the right card into the hands of the person who wants it most, in an easy transaction, in a secure environment, with plenty of options.

Bruce went on to explain that Plastic Jungle also offers an Amazon.com Gift Card or Facebook credits in exchange for gift card redemption, or that Plastic Jungle could even make payment into a PayPal account.

“About $30 million in gift cards goes unused each year. Plastic Jungle aims to make gift card exchange services that are quicker, more convenient, more consumer-friendly and provide more choice for a consumer who wants to exchange their card,” said Bruce.

Buying a car and learning it is a “lemon” can be frustrating and often brings a sense of hopelessness.  You fell in love with the car, thought you paid a fair price, and then all of a sudden chronic issues start happening.  First it was the wind shield wipers, then a costly repair, and then the engine.

If you received a gift card you’ll never use, don’t feel like someone gave you a lemon.  By selling your unwanted gift card to Plastic Jungle (for up to 92% of the face value) you get cash that can be can be used towards something you really want.  Plastic Jungle allows you to think of the misgifted gift card as a ticket to endless possibilities.

You have a gift card for a store not even in your area…

My cousin Aaron lives in Texas and recently received a gift card for Darden Restaurants.  (Think Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, etc.)  Guess what?  There are no restaurants that are part of the Darden chain near where he lives.  Rather than hold on to a gift card he can’t even use, Aaron can sell the gift card to Plastic Jungle and get cash to use towards dinner at a more local restaurant.

If you used part of a gift card and still have a balance…

You receive a $100 gift card to one of your favorite stores, and after an hour shopping trip later, you end up with $35 unused on the card.  You rack your brain weeks later and still can’t figure out something to buy.  You can tuck the gift card away in a place that, hopefully, you’ll remember later.  Or, you can get cash (which less likely to be misplaced or go unused) by selling your the remaining balance on your gift card to Plastic Jungle.

If you’re feeling generous…

Why not convert your unused gift card into something for someone else?  Sell the unused gift card to Plastic Jungle and use what you earn to buy a gift card for someone else.  I’ve had a couple of occasions where thoughtful friends gave me a gift card towards something they knew I wanted – like a rug for my living room.  It made for a nice birthday gift and made the cost of the rug less of an expense for me.

Gift cards that you will not use can have a brighter ending with Plastic Jungle.