Time to win something, don’t you think? The weather isn’t cooperating with the usual Spring warm-up across much of the US, so it stands to reason that we all could use a win of some sort if we’re going to be forced to keep our sweaters and Uggs on. Today’s giveaways get us out of the everyday: Vegas getaways, free housecleaning for you and a friend (!),  win an Amazon.com Gift Card and more.

Good luck, and here’s to brighter skies in June!

Keen & Dick’s Sporting Goods Trip Giveaway — KEEN has partnered with Dick’s Sporting Goods to offer an exciting trip for two to Canyonlands, Utah, to a lucky winner who can’t wait to get outside and play! Fill out the entry form, and you could win a multi-sport trip through one of the most amazing areas of the United States. (Learn More About the Trip!) Contest ends at 11:59 PM ET on July 2, 2011; See giveaway’s official rules on the entry page for details.

Need Keens now? Purchase discounted Dick’s Sporting Goods Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle >>>

Mama Cheap’s $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway – This is a great little blog and now Facebook page with deals listings and freebies updated all the time. Just follow Mama Cheap’s on Facebook and you’ve got an entry. Don’t forget to invite friends! Check Mama Cheap’s Sweepstakes official rules for details; sweepstakes ends June 14, 2011 at 8:00 pm (EDT).

PopChips’ Win a Trip to See Bruno Mars Live in Las Vegas – One Grand Prize winner gets to bring a guest to Las Vegas, Nevada, to attend a Bruno Mars Concert on June 16, 2011. The prize includes roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, and two tickets to the Bruno Mars Concert at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. As well, that winner and guest get a Meet-and-Greet with Bruno Mars; a Bruno Mars autographed CD Boxed Set; and a year’s supply of POPCHIPS! In the event popchips reaches to 120,000 fans on Facebook.com during the Sweepstakes Period, Grand Prize Winner will be able to travel with one (1) additional guest – if PopChips’ Fans keep growing, so does the number of guests who can come! Two Runner-Up prizes include a Bruno Mars-autographed Fender Guitar and a special package of POPCHIPS. Sweepstakes ends at 11:59:59 PM EST on June 1, 2011; see PopChips Sweepstakes Official Rules for details.

Wanna get to Vegas now? Purchase discounted American Airlines Gift Cards on Plastic Jungle >>>

Redbook MVP Beauty Award Winners Giveaway – Wow! Well, there may be a lot of entrants for these prizes given Redbook’s popularity, but what a great way to get to know some of the best health and beauty products, chosen by editors, on the shelves today. A new set of prizes becomes available to win every day, so you can now enter to win up to 20 prizes! There will be 31 prizes by May 31, 2011. If you’re not interested in subscribing or already are a Redbook subscriber, make sure to click through to the non-subscription entry form (no purchase necessary to enter). Contest ends May 31, 2011. See Redbook MVP Beauty Award Giveaway official rules for details.

Need top Health & Beauty products now? Purchase discounted Target Gift Cards and eCODEs now >>>

Cost Plus World Market Gift Card a Day Giveaway – Cost Plus is giving away a $100 Gift Card every day. To enter the $100 Gift Card Giveaway, just “Like” Cost Plus on Facebook. There’s one winner per day until May 27, 2011. See the Cost Plus Gift Card Giveaway official rules on the entry page for details. NOTE: once you “Like” Cost Plus, you’ll have access to Cost Plus’s other giveaways!

Bon Ami Good Friends Spring Clean Sweepstakes – That’s right my friends, win FREE professional green housecleaning for you and a friend. To enter Bon Ami’s Good Friends Spring Clean Sweepstakes via Facebook, just “Like” Bon Ami and fill out the entry page. You’ll not only be entered in the sweepstakes, you’ll also receive a coupon for Bon Ami’s non-toxic cleansers that have been around for 125 years. Sweepstakes ends on June 12, 2011; see official rules for details.

Need to clean house, AND NOW?! Purchase discounted Walmart Gift Cards and eCODEs now >>>

If you have a giveaway you’d like us to post, we’d love to share it with our fans! Just post a comment and after a review (we’re very keen on sharing only legitimate giveaways) we’ll post it for you. Have a great nearly, almost, kind-of Spring weekend!

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!!

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!

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.