Pull out the gift cards!
 

You know you have 'em. Gift cards. Whether you received them on Christmas or got them via returning items to shops, you've got them floating around, with like $2.25 on them. You may never use them but how can you throw out money?

Here's what's in my card wallet.

Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf: $48
- Christmas gift from relatives that just started using because we had one from them the previous year that we just finished.

Sharper Image: $7.78
- Discover card benefit, will never use the rest.

Diedrich's Coffee: ???
- Workplace prize. There's one near my new job so I figure I'll use this eventually.

Borders: $2.38
- Forget where I got it. Borders' prices aren't great so I almost never go there.

Barnes and Noble: $25
- Just got this as a parting gift from my old job. I need to go shopping.

Maggie Moo's: ???
- Gift from a cousin that owns a franchise - far away from us.

If anyone wants to swap, my Maggie Moo's, Borders, and Sharper Image cards are up for grabs - but you gotta have something I want. :D

We regularly get Starbucks gift cards from students in my wife's 6th grade class. Not even just at Christmas or her birthday, but homeroom moms typically organize the students to purchase a teacher appreciation gift weekly.

Problem is neither of us like coffee or any other beverage they sell at Starbucks.

We often regift them.

We even used to pay a babysitter coffee-a-holic with them at twice the cash rate we'd pay her. Was a good deal for both of us.

We're cleaned out now, but if anyone has stuff to trade for Starbucks gift cards, we'll be awash in them at the end of August (my wife's birthday is Aug 26).

$50 Mollie Stones -- prize for winning the office chili cook-off.

Hmmm....I got a World Market card from last Christmas that has probably expired ($10), and $20 Banana Republic, a Starbucks with about $2.00 left on it and some Too Bucks from the Limited Too, worth $25 apiece when you spend $50 or more.

Gift cards don't expire in CA - the cash ones at least I think rewards cards do.

I have a $10 Walmart one that I lost somewhere

And about $100 in Target gift cards

All of which I got from my graduation open house.....

I'll spend them once I start buying things for my dorm

There's a Maggie Moo's in the mall near my parents' house, but I don't really have anything to trade for it.

I don't have any. The last two I received I immediately used. The two before that I immediately lost (including a $100 Amazon gift certificate for a "pro bono" photo shoot I did).

$15 to Mountasia (its like a place where they have mini-golf and go karts)
$25 Barnes & Noble
$50 Borders
Free game of bowling
$10 to the Bowling Pro Shop
$4.99 to Hometown Buffet
$50 to shell
Free fries at McDonalds
$25 Olive Garden
Free SFMM Admission

PM me your mailing address!

DF - who's your supplier? Seems you could live off your gift cards for a week at least.

I totally agree about using up those Gift Cards. Don't throw away money.

Everytime a Gift Card goes unused or expires, a corporate angel gets its wings.

It's good that CA has a law like that. I'm wondering if other states have similar laws...

Hummm...

Ditg, Dig, Dig....

Home Depot $50
Amex $100x2 (saving for upcoming trip)
Sharper Image < $10.00
Barns & Noble $25

Expiration dates are only permitted in very particular circumstances in WA: RCW 19.240.030. (Short version: If you paid money for it, it doesn't expire.)

Slow down there, hot shot. There's a Maggie Moo's in Lake Forest.

I just heard that quote as if some gangster in a hat, in an old 30's movie was saying it.

I could tell you that the amount of "Free Kid Meals" we have is INSANE. I wont even list them we have so many.

I have....
Starbucks < $5.00
Two more Starbucks cards, no idea whats on them
Einsteins bagels - $5.00
Olive Garden - $25.00
Dick Blick - $25.00
Target < $10.00
Sears - $25.00
Bed, Bath and Beyond - $75.00
4 free games of bowling
2 games of laser tag
2 skate rentals

I've got a $10 driving range card that's probably got about $7 worth of golf balls left on it.

Oh, looks like anything good for stuff is being listed.

I do have two free passes for Regal/UA/Edwards cinemas because of the fire alarm going off when we saw Pirates last weekend.

Hey CP you might have the germ of a good idea here....

How about this for an idea:


Donate your used gift cards with leftover amounts to charity. They are easy to mail and most people never use those last few $$ anyway.... but if you add them up, it could come to some nifty amounts for books, equipment or lot's of double-shot espressos to keep the kiddies awake...

Ya wanna register a non-profit?

That is an outstanding idea. Seriously.

In fact, it is such a good idea that if CP doesn't do it, perhaps I will.

I'm actually pretty good at using mine but I've got-

Westfield with about $2.50 on it
Nordstroms with about $3.00
Borders with about $4.00
TJMaxx/Marshalls/Homegoods - $30.00

Let's see...

www.cardsforkids.com and .org is taken

www.cards4kids.com and .org also taken.

How about CardsToKids.com ?

How about regiftcards.org?

No reason to limit this, we'll make it national....

Of course CA with it's "no experation law" makes for an obvious choice as a home base. We could even set up swaps, AZ sends CA $2,000 in expired cards that are good in CA, and CA sends back $2,000 in non-expired cards...

etc..

Here's a specific place looking for such donations:

http://www.volunteersolutions.org/uw.../20702718.html and another http://www.volunteersolutions.org/uw.../15462324.html

I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade but I'm pretty sure I've heard of an organization doing this but I can't find it with a simple search. No reason multiple people can't do it, but you might want to see if anybody else is and how they do it.

I'm thinking only that someone would actually have to organize it.

Of course, it would be overwhelming to manage. If only one out of every ten thousand US citizens sent one in annually(.01%), that would mean 30000 cards to deal with, or 82/day. And I think that's an exceptionally low figure if it got rolling.

Lots of legal and logistical issues as well. For example,if a gift card was purchased in AZ for $20 5 years ago, and in AZ has a 2.50 maintenance fee for non use annually, if I send it to CA is it worth 20 or 7.50? Does it matter where it is purchased and/or used?

Los of practicality issues, too.

Let's say there are 5000 Borders cards sent in with an average of 1.17 on each. I suppose negotiations would have to take place with Borders so that one gift card could be used with 5850 on it rather than 5000 individual cards. And there is the process of combining them as well in terms of transferring balances from 4999 cards to 1, assuming borders would allow it.

Hmmm.....

A point of clarification...the California law does not allow an expiration date, but it does allow for maintenance fees starting 1 year after the purchase date of the card. No idea how that transfers across state lines with differing laws, but I'm betting that practically, it sticks with whatever is the law in the state of purchase (I doubt the databases bother to track and adjust the ammount based on where the purchase is being made).

Using Borders as an example, couldn't you make a deal with Borders to collect the cards? If you were checking out the clerk could mention that you could donate the $1.71 left on your giftcard, transfering it to the charity's fund. Kind of how the supermarkets do the donations for the various fundraisers they do.

It would certianly require working with various vendors, but hey it's for charity what are they gonna do? Power of the press my friend power of the press...

However your point is of course valid, I did not present this as a well researched and thoughtfully designed plan. Rather it is an off the cuff comment that could be worth pursuing the details of and there would be a lot of details.

Alex: Yes, there are sure to be others. The two sites you cited seem to be looking for new cards as opposed to used ones. However it does show there is some validity to the concept.

Starbucks, $3, not purchased in CA, so probably expires in October. This was a "gift bag" gift (along with a bag of Starbucks coffee) that has no use to me--I no longer drink coffee, and if I did, it wouldn't be Starbucks.

I'm willing to trade for card of similar value for a place I'll actually go.

So you think that if your Aunt Gertie in Boise sends you in beautiful SoCal a gift card, then it expires on Boise time and you can't use it at your local Floyd's Hair Salon and haberdashery past that date?

I think that most of the gift cards I have now use the "maintenance fee" idea to get around that pesky law anyway..

That would be my guess, yes.

I found a FAQ but a definite answer would require digging into the actual law. However I'd hedge my bet and say you are correct..

This thread has inspired me to use Ralphie's iTunes gift cards that he has just sitting around. He doesn't download music much, but I do.
If he complains, I'll just blame it on CP. :D

I kid, of course.

Every time you use a gift card you're depriving a poor child of happiness.

What a great slogan for the npo!

I just don't want a Starbucks corporate-America type to get its wings.

Hummm, it might be a tad heavy handed...

Guilt sells.

Yes, CP is going to be quite impressed with the organization she built. ;)

I should clarify. The iTunes Gift Cards have been redeemed, but the credited amount is just sitting in my account staring at me. It's been staring at me for the last two months or so. He keeps saying he'll download something soon. But... the total has been getting a little smaller... and smaller thanks to me.
;)

I think donating Gift Cards is a good idea.

So all we need is a nearly naked model to deliver that message and we'll have a twofer advertising wise..

I was "hero of the week" of Santa Clarita so a bunch of local businesses gave me free stuff.

The bookstore ones are from my Grandma. I think she had me reading books before I could talk :D