Many of us have been in a situation where someone gets us a gift card as a present, but we don't find anything useful on that particular store. We then end up buying something out of desperation or the card gathers dust until the expiry date arrives and eventually heads to the trash can. This doesn't always have to be the case because there are ways to exchange your gift cards for cash.
Before we go into detail and tell you how to sell your unused gift cards, there are a few things to remember.
There are some websites that allow you to sell your unused gift cards in India. The catch is that most of these are marketplaces so there's no guarantee that you will find a buyer. One site lets you sell gift cards directly, but it pays only around 35 percent of the card value, which is very low. Here are sites that let you sell gift cards online in India.
Sellebrate
Sellebrate allows you to sell your gift cards directly to the company for cash. Unlike other gift card exchange platforms that we came across, Sellebrate claims to offer money for your cards, instead of listing it on its marketplace and asking you to wait for a buyer. The flip side is that it offers really low rates for gift cards — we were offered only around 35 percent of the value of our gift card.
CanSell
CanSell is a marketplace for gift cards, with the company being involved as a mediator in case the transaction goes awry for secure transactions. There are two types of transactions on CalSell — free and secure. Free is the riskier path with little in the way of assistance from CanSell. If you opt for a secure transaction, the company essentially acts as an escrow service and helps mediate disputes, if any, and charges five percent of the selling price.
Nafa
Nafa is another marketplace for selling gift cards. Your gift cards can be listed on this site and sold to other Nafa users, with the website taking a flat five percent cut off the selling price of every gift card. There are physical and e-gift cards on this website and it claims that physical cards are posted to buyers within seven days of purchase.
Zingoy
Zingoy is also a marketplace for where you can sell unused gift cards. The site charges a small processing fee for every gift card sold and this varies from brand to brand.
Classifieds websites
You can always try to sell your gift cards via classifieds websites such as Quikr or OLX. Be sure to be on your guard and take as many precautions as possible to prevent fraud and to ensure your safety as well. Some Indian forums have trading sub-forums, where you can sell certain gift cards. For instance, IndianVideoGamer allows you to sell gaming-related physical gift cards (such as PlayStation Plus cards).
Social media websites
You can also try your luck with your favourite social media website. Some of these have communities that allow you to sell or exchange your gift cards. For example, Reddit's GiftCardExchange community lets people exchange gift cards for cash or other gift cards. Demand for Indian gift cards is low, but you can try your luck in local social media groups.
Which is your favourite platform to sell unused gift cards in India? How was your experience there? Let us know via the comments.
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