>> we are back at 8:39. this morning on "today's money" buying and selling gift cards . they're a very popular holiday present and each year billions worth go unused. today jean chatzky is here to talk about that. $100 billion in gift card sales every year, $6 billion unused. 6%.
>> that's right. they are the most popular gift five years running, giflt cards, so a lot of people have them sitting around.
>> if we're not using them, what's happening to those cards?
>> in some cases they're just sitting in your sock drawer, which is not where they should be. but more often people have discovered they're actually tradeable. you can get cash for them or you can sell them.
>> if you do nothing with them, that's a huge windfall for the stores where they have been purchased because they're giving away nothing and taking your money.
>> absolutely.
>> so where do you -- for example, i have $100 macy's gift card from last year. i want to sell it. how do i go about doing it?
>> you hit the internet. go to card hub and gift cards and gift card granny. there's a bunch of them. plastic jungle. and you type in the identifying details on the back of the gift card . they'll tell you how much they're willing to pay for that particular card and the numbers vary.
>> that's an important point. if you have a $100 gift card , don't think you're going to get $100 in cash for it.
>> no. they're going to buy it from you at a discount. the discount depends on how popular that particular card is. so we looked at some cards, abercrombie and fitch , you'll get about $82. but if you've got a very, very popular card and the most popular are the gas cards and the whole foods cards interestingly, you might get close to $90 for that 100.
>> so you can get cash for your card. you can also get store credit at other stores, right?
>> you could trade your gift card for a different gift card . you could get an amazon gift card which is more useable because they carry so much stuff or you can sometimes get an electronic credit right in your pay pal account.
>> let's switch over to buying a gift card . you're in the market for one of these. you could get a $100 gift card . what would be the average you would pay?
>> again, it varies on the popularity of the card. anywhere from 70% up to 90, 92%. and again, it varies based on how popular that particular card is.
>> supply and demand .
>> it really is supply and demand . it also depends on where you're buying because the discounts vary by the site.
>> it would seem immediately one of the ways to get more for your money here is to cut out the middleman or these websites you just mentioned. can i sell my gift card or buy a gift card directly?
>> you can, but be careful. gift card marketplaces have sprung up on sites like ebay, sites like craigslist. if you're going to do a transaction with one of these big gift card companies, you've got protection. ebay will back you up, so is plastic jungle and the other sites. you do it on craigslist, you've got to do it in person. if you're selling, you want cash and if you're buying, you want to call the 800 number on the back of that card to verify the balance.
>> are the rules the same when you're dealing with a gift card or gift certificate from a small local store as they are to big chain stores ?
>> they're harder to sell because there's not as much of a marketplace but card hub has made itself available to trade in these local cards, so look there.
>> and expiration dates on a lot of these cards?
>> they are not -- the law has changed in 2010 so you don't have to worry about them as much anymore. but if you have an older card, you've got to be careful.
>> jean chatzky, thanks very much.
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