How Reselling Unused Gift Cards Can Stimulate The Economy

With inflation on the rise, many people are concerned about the economy. After all, no one wants to pay 10% more for something than they would have three months ago, but no one wants to see their favourite restaurant or salon go out of business either.

What if there was a way that you could help stimulate economic growth while also putting money back into your own pocket?

There is, and it’s by reselling unused gift cards and vouchers on CardPEM, which stands for Card Personal Exchange Market. In this blog post, we are going to go over how unused gift cards can hurt the economy over time, how the resale of gift cards can help, and how you can sell your unused gift cards and vouchers on CardPEM.

What Happens When Gift Cards Aren’t Used?

When a gift card is purchased, there is a (usually unspoken) agreement that takes place: the buyer of the gift card will eventually spend that gift card or give it to someone else that they think will spend it, and the seller of the gift card will remain open and have product available for someone to eventually exchange that gift card balance for.

When gift cards aren’t used, the bargain becomes a lot more complicated.

While some states and countries have laws that prevent gift cards from expiring for a certain amount of time after they are purchased, and others may have laws about this expiration date being clearly labelled, the companies issuing these cards can’t just act as if those gift cards don’t exist during the time in between purchase and use or expiration. The vouchers are still out there, waiting to be spent, so they need to account for those potential redemptions as they plan for inventory and profits. In accrual accounting, this means not counting the money used to purchase a gift card or voucher as revenue until that gift card or voucher is redeemed.

Because of this, the balance of unused gift cards and vouchers is often held in limbo until they are spent or expired. Think of it like this: if you promise a friend that you’ll take them out for a drink for their birthday, but they don’t have time the week of their birthday, that outing will be delayed. Chances are, you’ll keep the money budgeted for that drink set aside for a time, so whenever they are available, you’ll have the money to use for it. However, after a few months of rainchecks, you may get tired of waiting and use the money for something else.

Then, when your friend finally asks if you have time for those drinks, you may not have money in the budget. Oops.

It’s the same with businesses: they have to set aside money for the things they have promised people.

However, when gift cards are purchased and will be used, they can be really good for individual businesses and the economy as a whole.

How Gift Cards Can Help the Economy

Because inflation, while it varies year to year, does happen fairly consistently over time, it is safe to say that your money today is worth more to the business now than the same amount would be in 5 years. In addition, many businesses may take out loans to cover expenses during hard times, which can become expensive as interest compounds.

Those are two of the many reasons that purchasing gift cards can really help a business. It gives them a chance to get the maximum value for money spent at their business, as well as allows them to have the money now in the form of what is paid for a voucher instead of having to take out a loan.

In hard times, especially, purchasing gift cards can be a big help.

However, those gift cards need to be spent in order for the economy to get the best possible value from them. This is where your unused gift cards and vouchers come in. If you haven’t used them and know you likely will not ever use them, you can sell them. That way, they still get used, and you get a little bit of the monetary value of the gift card back in your own pocket to spend however you like.

Why Reselling Gift Cards Helps the Economy

When you resell unused gift cards and vouchers, you are taking money that has been stuck in limbo and, therefore, stagnant and allowing it to move through the economy once again.

This happens first by money moving from the new owner of the gift card or voucher to you. That way, you have money that you can actually spend, whether it’s on necessities like groceries or a guilty pleasure like a new book when your to-be-read stack is already to the ceiling – not to worry, either way, your secret is safe with us.

Then, when you spend that cash, it’s able to continue moving through the economy to pay the wages of people working where you spend it and for the goods that they sell there.

On the other side of the transaction, the person purchasing the gift card gets a great deal because they can spend the full value of the gift card, which they got at a discount. Then, when they redeem that gift card or voucher for a purchase, the business that originally sold that gift card is able to release any money they’ve been hanging on to in order to cover the eventual redemption.

For each individual and business involved in the reselling of a gift card or voucher, steps are being taken to make their lives better and to help stimulate the economy in ways that benefit everyone.

How To Resell Gift Cards and Digital Vouchers on CardPEM

CardPEM is one of the quickest and easiest ways to resell gift cards and digital gift vouchers to stimulate the economy. The platform is also trusted and secure, ensuring that all transactions are processed properly and stopping any attempts at scams in their tracks. They also pay out quickly, so you can count on having the money from any sales you make in your pocket in two weeks or less.

Once you have gathered any e-gift cards, e-vouchers, or machine-readable gift cards that can be scanned from a picture on a phone that you’d like to sell, you are ready to start the process of listing them on CardPEM. Usually, sellers will list e-gift cards at a discount, which incentivizes buyers to purchase your gift card from you instead of simply spending their money directly at the business the gift card is from. While there is no minimum discount, there are some factors you should consider when pricing your gift card. These factors include:

1. What discounts are other sellers offering on gift cards to the same place or similar businesses? For example, if you are listing a gift card to Coach and see that most people selling a similar gift card or voucher to Coach are offering a 15% discount on the gift card’s full value, with a few offering as little as a 10% discount and a few offering as much as a 20% discount, you can be fairly confident in selecting a discount in that range for your listing.
2. How quickly do you want to sell this gift card or voucher? If you need the money quickly, it may be a good idea to offer a more significant discount on the card’s full value to encourage people browsing for that type of gift card to purchase yours instead of anyone else’s. If you can afford to wait, however, and want as much value as possible, you can offer a smaller discount and see if anyone goes for it.
3. Is this gift card or voucher to a popular store or brand? If your gift card or voucher is to a popular store, it may not need as steep of a discount to sell, as many buyers will probably be looking for gift cards to that store. If it is for a niche store or brand, however, there may be fewer interested buyers, which may necessitate a higher discount.

None of these are hard-and-fast rules, but rather, good questions for you to consider as you list your card on CardPEM’s platform.

Once someone purchases your gift card, the details of that gift card will be shared with the buyer by CardPEM. After that, the buyer has 14 days to confirm the gift card balance or notify CardPEM of any issues. After the buyer confirms the balance of the voucher or 14 days have passed, CardPEM will allow you to withdraw cash to your PayPal or bank account. It really is that simple!

To start turning your unused vouchers and gift cards into cash, register for an account on CardPEM so you can start selling. All you’ll need to get started is some basic contact information. Then, once your account has been approved, you are ready to start listing items and stimulating the economy by reselling unused gift cards!