We’ve come a long way, baby.

The modern-day gift card actually started as a paper gift certificate. But with the invention of color copiers and printers, gift certificates were easily counterfeited.

Enter Blockbuster Entertainment.

In 1994, they became the creators of the first plastic gift card. Neiman Marcus, Mobil Oil and Kmart soon followed. By 2012, the gift card industry is expected to hit the $100 billion mark!

Why are gift cards so popular?

Easy to buy: hundreds of merchants to choose from

Easy to ship: no clunky packages with extra postage

All occasions: birthdays, holidays, teacher’s gifts – you name it!

Sure thing: recipient can choose anything they want from their fave store

Check out these fun gift card facts:

• The gift card is the #1 most-requested gift (clothing is #2)
• Gift cards are the 2^nd most given gift in the U.S.
• Men spend more on gift cards than women
• 98% of teens have bought or received a gift card
• Average gift card value is $35
• Average amount spent on a card is $53
• 54.9% of adults say they like to receive a gift card as a gift
• The most popular gift cards are to stores, followed by restaurants

And did you know?

• There’s approximately $30 billion in unused gift cards
• The average household sits on $300 in unused gift cards

So what do you do with all your unused gift cards? Sell them to Plastic Jungle, of course!

Cash in your unwanted gift cards for up to 92% of the verified balance. You can also exchange your unredeemed or partially used gift cards for purchasing power at stores like Amazon.com, or donate them for the benefit of your favorite nonprofit organization. We pay for shipping, and all transactions are guaranteed!

You can also BUY gift cards from Plastic Jungle – at up to a 35% discount! And we offer free shipping and guaranteed transactions on those, too!

But don’t just take our word for it – check out our stellar review on Top Ten Reviews, where Plastic Jungle took the #1 spot for the best online gift card exchange!

References: Deloitte & Touche, TowerGroup, Big Research, findfreegiftcards.com, nextwave.org.

Plastic Jungle is King of the Jungle when it comes to the best online gift card exchange!

We are so excited that we have been named the best online gift card exchange by Tech Media Network’s 2011 Top Ten Reviews:

“We’ve researched several online sites that provide similar gift card exchange services and Plastic Jungle is by far the best.”

Ranked #1 out of 9 gift card exchange sites, Plastic Jungle earned the top spot based on the following four criteria:

• Inventory Selection
• Website Features
• Ease of Use
• Help and Support

Rank
Excellent Very Good Good Fair Poor

Per Top Ten Reviews rating system, Plastic Jungle received the highest score (4 out of 4) in all categories.

Plastic Jungle Overall Rating

Other gift card companies up for consideration (ranked in order #2 through #9) included: GiftCardRescue, Cardpool, Monster Gift Card, Swapagift.com, ABC Gift Cards, GiftCardSwapping, GiftCardBin and TheGiftCardTrader.

You can read the whole article and see side-by-side comparisons here.

Thank you Top Ten Reviews – we appreciate the recognition and will strive to be your top banana!

And thank you to our fabulous customers! We are thrilled to provide a gift card exchange service that’s palm fronds and vines above the rest!