How to turn unused gift cards into cash

Don't let gift cards gather dust. Here's how to trade them for cash or other cards.

HOUSTON - Did you receive a gift card for the holidays that you don't think you'll use? It's likely to sit in a drawer for years and go unspent. But you don't have to leave that money in the drawer.

A report by Credit Summit says 60% of Americans have at least one unused gift card.

The National Retail Federation reports Americans will spend $28.6 billion on gift cards this year, with shoppers buying an average of three of them for an average of $51 each.

Restaurant gift cards make up one-third. The rest are usually for shopping.

But only 70% of gift cards get spent.

Credit Summit found many people save them for something special. But with 2.7% inflation, saving them may not be a good idea. Prices could go up, and you could get less for your card.

There's also a chance the store could go out of business, leaving you with a gift card that's worthless.

A 2010 federal law requires that gift cards cannot expire for five years. However, a gift card from Visa or Mastercard can accrue inactivity fees.

Here are ideas to get the value of a gift card you're not planning to use:

You can re-gift it to someone else.

Or you can trade or sell them, usually for 70% to 80% of the value.

Gift cards can be sold on a site called GCX, a subsiary of Raise.com. You can set the discount you'll offer. GCX takes a 15% fee.

You can also sell gift cards on CardCash. Once it verifies the value of the card, CardCash buys it for up to 92%, then sells it. The platform also lets you trade a gift card for another, which can net you 11% more of the value on average.

And GameFlip is a marketplace for gaming items, where you can also sell gaming and non-gaming gift cards.

Sullivan's Smart Sense News Houston Consumer Holidays