How can I convert rebate gift cards into cash?

Question

I tend to buy a fair amount of things that have a mfg rebate. More often than not, that rebate comes in the form of a pre-paid card of some kind.

The problem that I have is that there is rarely a way to get the last few dollars off of the card. Much preferable to me would be if there is a way to convert these card directly to cash.

I have attempted adding my card to my PayPal account and figuring out a way to pull money off of it but haven't been able to do anything productive yet.

Has anyone else had any success converting a rebate card to cash? How have you accomplished it? I'm sure this is a situation that many other people have dealt with and there has to be some solution or trick that I don't know about. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You can buy Amazon gift cards and apply them to your account!

Answer 2

http://www.plasticjungle.com/

A buy and sell. You don't get 100% (in some cases far from it) but you can get something. I once got a Home Depot card for Christmas, which was nice but there wasn't a home depot for 100 miles. I would have sold that card for $75 cash.

Answer 3

Gas - you can ask for the exact amount you want to charge. With $3 gas, it's not tough to burn a card on two tanks. Supermarket - those near me have no issue with me giving them the exact amount left on card and using it up on a purchase. If these are cash cards, why lose a cent when you can just use them up?

Answer 4

There's always eBay!

Answer 5

I recently got $100 prepaid debit card, which I found out you can take a cash advance against and deposit directly into your checking account. This way you ensure you get the full amount. This obviously doesn't apply to all types of cards, but thought this could be useful.