What To Do With Unwanted Mother's Day Gift Cards

They may have had the best of intentions. They truly thought you wanted to get a Home Depot gift card to finally kick-start your long-awaited kitchen renovation. Or maybe they re-gifted you a Dollar Shaving Club gift card for lack of creativity (and money). Wouldn't it be better to have gotten a visa gift card instead? That way you could have used it to buy whatever you wanted at any retailer in the world.

We understand your frustration. But aside from using the cards as coasters, you can find other uses for your unwanted gift cards.

Donate your gift cards

Fundraising initiatives at clubs, churches, schools and all types of charities are always looking for gift cards that can be redeemed for supplies, auctioned at fundraisers or given as prizes.

Raffled as part of a gift basket or individually, your unwanted gift card could net hundreds of dollars for a worthy cause. Gift card donations to charitable organizations may also be tax-deductible depending on where you live. Check with your accountant.

Regifting gift cards

If your gift card is brand new, you never used it, and will not use it in the near future, why not make someone's day brighter by regifting it to them? Maybe there's a birthday party you've been invited to or an anniversary is coming up. Either way, make sure that the card hasn't been used so that the dollar amount in it is a round number (i.e. $100, $150…) otherwise, an odd number will tell the recipient you've used it before and that wouldn't be nice.

Buy a gift card with a gift card

Some stores will allow you to buy a gift card by paying it with another gift card for that same store. To do this, the easiest way is to head over to the retailer's website, check the balance of the card, and buy a new one. This can be a good strategy if you don't want to give the whole amount as a gift to someone. Let's say you got a $100 gift card to store that you don't normally shop at and maybe $50 would be enough to get something you want. By splitting it into two gift cards, you can keep %o for yourself and give the other $50 gift card to your friend.

Buy things for your friends

Tell your friends, post it on your social media profile, call your cousins. Let everyone know that you have a gift card, the store name and the amount. If they are planning on buying something from that store, you can give them the gift card and get the cash from them. This way you get 100% payout. Make sure you only do this with people you trust. Don't post it on public forums, for example. Only take this step if you trust the person.

Sell gift cards for cash

If it all fails, one of the fastest and easiest ways to turn gift cards into cash is by selling it to a gift card buying website. The amount you'll receive depends on how popular the card is, the inventory the site has, the amount on the card, and other factors. In general you should be able to get anywhere from 70 to 92 percent of the gift card's value.

Some sites will pay more than others, so give it a try now and see how much you can get from GiftCash and compare it with the competition. We guarantee you'll get paid and there is no liability on your part. See what our customers have told Trustpilot about their experience selling gift cards on the GiftCash website.

Use the card

If you don't use the gift card within the first few months of receiving it, you probably won't use it at all. That card might just not work for you. Instead of holding onto the card indefinitely, put it to use. Choose one of the options above and don't leave all that cash sitting in the drawer.

We hope these tips will help you find a use for your unwanted gift cards.

Game on!