The holiday rush is winding down, and there’s a good chance that you have a new gift card or two. While store-specific cash may seem like a safe gift-giving bet, your aunt may not have realized that J.C. Penney just isn’t your style.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be stuck with a useless gift card this year. Target is offering shoppers an easy way to exchange it, reported the Star Tribune.
The retail chain started a new trade-in program last month that allows customers to exchange various store gift cards for a Target gift card, usually at a de-valued rate. For example, if a customer wanted to trade a $100 Walmart gift card, he or she could get a $85 Target card in exchange. The deal is available at hundreds of Target locations, and each non-Target gift card commands a different exchange rate.
The process works much like existing gift card exchange websites, including CardPool.com and CardCash.com. In fact, a shopper could get an even better deal for that $100 Walmart gift card on CardPool.com, which is a partner with Target. Based on what Fortune found on December 28, the store credit would amount to $93, delivered via check from CardPool.
However, Target’s program is all about convenience. The trade is instantaneous, and a customer can walk away immediately with their Target card in-hand. Target (TGT) hasn’t confirmed how much it nets from the exchange but said it will run the program year round at about 1,500 of its 1,800 stores.
Other retailers have tried similar programs, including Walmart (WMT), which partnered with CardCash.com to exchange gift cards online last year. The program ran for a few weeks, and the retailer hasn’t said if it would do it again this year.