Capitalism at Work on Unwanted Gift Certificates

Capitalism at Work on Unwanted Gift Certificates - New York Times


gift-card specific Web sites, like cardavenue.com and SwapAGift.com, tend to have only several hundred cards at a time but often facilitate a faster turnaround and a more focused search. Some buy and sell directly with consumers. Others serve as forums for auctions or as virtual trading posts, leading to all kinds of deals.

At cardavenue, for example, a $100 Abercrombie & Fitch gift card was being offered in exchange for a similarly valued Wal-Mart gift certificate.

Shelly Cheng, 35, recently bought a $20 T.G.I. Friday's gift card for her neighbors and a $25 Barnes & Noble card for her father on GiftCardsAgain.com. Each was just $2 off, but arrived in the mail within days. Of course, not all gift cards are traded equally, said Peter Milosheff, owner of CertificateSwap.com.

Jeff Kister, a retail consultant who founded the GiftCardBuy Back.com and GiftcardsAgain.com sites this year