“I didn’t ask for this…”
If you’re anything like me, you probably ended your holidays with a gift card or two. You should be delighted! We’re talking about free money here, my friend. So while you may not yet understand the value of the Applebee’s card you received from the cousins you seldom see, I’m here to tell you you’re richer than you know.
Let’s get one thing cleared up: If you received anything for Christmas, be happy about it. At least pretend to be anyway. There’s children starving in China or something and they will not similarly be able to spend any gift cards at Victoria’s Secret this year – but you are! So don’t be a Christmas Grinch and let the implausibility of finding anything totaling $15 you’d actually enjoy from Walmart cloud your appreciation of the gift itself.
With that out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks. For the next week or so, you can live recklessly and splurge in all the places you may not necessarily be dying to. Count yourself fortunate if you received a pre-paid credit card – the world is now your oyster. While you have virtually unlimited options open to you, consider the alternatives. As someone who’s been in the gift card game a long time, I can promise you piggy backing your valuable cards with your harder to use cards can really turn the tables.
Let’s say you have a Visa card good for $25. You’re jazzed about it. You think about buying all sorts of things well beyond the expense of $25 because, hey, you kind of get a discount. Guess what? Pair that $25 with your $20 to Applebee’s and suddenly you’re the richest person there. Yes, you’ll have an appetizer and of course you’ll take a cold draft beer from a limited selection to wash it all down. You still have money in the bank.
Perhaps you don’t have the luxury of grouping your gift cards; no problem. Those harder to use gift cards are perfect for purchasing things you never wanted to begin with if only for their financial burden. Does the person who gave you the card have a birthday or anniversary coming up? Boomerang your unwanted gift card. Buy them that TV show they love but you don’t really like on DVD and call it a day. You can use the money you saved to get something else you wanted while still maintaining the appearance of being a good friend. Or, you can be a gift card reseller. Put those gifts in good use and convert it into cash.
If all else fails, you can bribe people to do things to acquire the gift cards. Whether people from school or people from work, some of those around you will do anything for the chance to use their coupons from Chameleonjohn for Target. So, “Can you take notes for me in class tomorrow?”, and, “Can you cover for me on Monday?”, are all the more viable when you’re hawking the aforementioned card.
Find your own discoveries with gift cards, I’m certain you’ll be amazed at their intrinsic value too. Play your cards right – generally, just be yourself in my own experience – and people will ordain you difficult to shop for as well, the key to Gift Card City.
