We are closing down the Mercardi marketplace

For the last year it has been a privilege to serve you and your gift card needs. It's been an exciting journey for us and we hope we've served you well!

What does this mean for you?

For our marketplace consumers, after considering all options for the future of the Mercardi community, we want to recommend and endorse Plastic Jungle as the best way for you to buy, sell, exchange, and donate gift cards online going forward.

We'd be happy to address any questions or concerns that you might have regarding your orders. You can contact us at customerservice@mercardi.com.

For our nonprofit friends, Plastic Jungle's fundraising program is quite similar to our "Gift cards for Good" offering, and we are excited to facilitate your continued success. Please expect an email from us with more details.

Why Plastic Jungle?

Plastic Jungle shares our purpose of helping consumers unlock their gift card value and getting discounted gift cards into the hands of savvy shoppers. The PJ team is composed of experts in gift cards, payments, and marketplaces. And they have solid financial backing.

Most importantly, with Plastic Jungle, you will still receive excellent service and free shipping. All transactions on PlasticJungle.com are guaranteed, and you will get the best value for your gift cards (they pay up to 92% of your gift card's unused balance!).

It's been a pleasure...

We feel incredibly lucky to have served each of you, and your future gift card needs are a high priority for us. Please do check out Plastic Jungle when you have a moment. In the meantime, take care and thank you so much for your business!

The Mercardi Team

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, August 13, 2010

Got your rabbit's foot in your pocket? I hope so because we all know what day it is! LOL. But your luck is about to change, for below are links to some awesome gift card giveaways. You could easily be the lucky winner of some great gift cards.

Have a happy Friday, no matter what the date is!

I liked this one so much I entered it before I even shared it here with you! For the Mommas is giving away a $100 gift card to Carter's, where you will find some great kid's clothes. Carter's is also giving away a bunch of gift cards themselves. The link to their sweepstakes you will find at For the Mommas. This giveaways is also listed at Hoosier Homemaker.

Wow, Mommies really love gift cards, and they also love sharing them. Empowering Mommy is giving away a $50 Novica gift card, and this is one you won't want to miss. Novica sells only handmade products created by the artists listed on their site. There are some beautiful things, including jewelry. There are a bunch of ways to create multiple entries to this give away. Don't miss it!

Lo and behold, I have discovered the mother load! Here is a site strictly dedicated to blog giveaways! I am almost speechless!

The Mommy Files has listed a $40 gift card giveaway from 1-800-Flowers. Nice. Very nice.

I love Eighty MPH Mom. She has listed today a great gift card giveaway. Just take the Eucerin skin care pledge and you will be entered to win a $50 gift card from Sunglass Hut.

Free Grechen is a very cool blog. She has a list of gift card giveaways and other contest for women. This one is for a $100 gift card from Shop Bob. Just tell her what your favorite pair of celebrity jeans are and you are entered!

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, August 6, 2010

Hello Mercardi.com fans! Boy, what a week it's been. I have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger, how about you? Sock it to me baby, tell me all about your week and your plans for the weekend.

In the meantime, here's a wonderful list of gift card giveaways. Have fun signing up and good luck!

Life360 is giving away a $100 Amazon gift card every week. All you need to do is comment on any post on the blog and you are entered. The drawing is random, so get busy commenting.

Mommy PR is giving away a $20 iTunes gift card to one lucky person who visits Math Girl and writes a comment about it on the blog. Very interesting site for parents, both sites, that is!

Who knew Safeway had a delivery service? Thrifty NW Mom did, tried it, and reviewed the service on her blog. Now all you have to do to win a $50 Safeway gift card. Just comment on the blog, letting NW Mom know which number one product you would buy from Safeway and you have a chance to win. THIS ONE ENDS SUNDAY, AUGUST 8th, so get over there now and do your thing.

I don't know one woman who doesn't love perfume. This one is for you gals. The Find is giving away a $50 gift card to FragranceNet, a great place to get deals on your favorite summer smells. I am all over this one, so some smell good might be all over me!

Never let it be said that Mercardi.com doesn't give equal time to the guys. Coupon Dad is giving away a $100 gift card to Threadless.com, an online design community where users can score designs, offer comments and critiques, and post about whatever is on their minds. Threadless is also an ongoing open call for tee shirt design submissions.

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, July 30, 2010

Hey guys and dolls! It's Friday again and the weatherman in Texas is predicting 104 degrees for the weekend, ugh. That means you know who will be hiding away in the cool of the AC, cleaning house.

What about you? What are our plans for the weekend? I hope at least one of them is to take advantage of these great gift card giveaways, and also to buy and sell your unwanted gift cards at Mercardi.com.

Either way, have a great one, and stay cool!

One of the best things about posting these gift card giveaways every Friday is that I find sites I never knew of before. Here is a perfect example; Creative Fan. For web developers, webmasters, or just those who like keeping up with the newest trends in blogging and website design, these guys got it going on. This contest they are holding is proof! $150 gift card from CodemyConcept is up for grabs. If you are a geek, you will be having a cow right now, hurrying to get there. But for those of you like me who aren't so geeky, if you win this gift card you could get CodemyConcept to implement your next Wordpress blog.

Anonymous 8 is a very interesting blog and they prove it by being #3 at Top Mommy Blogs. They are giving away a $30 Target gift card, and there are 7 ways to win. Enter now!

Sweet and Savory Food is giving away a $40 CSN gift card. I would really like to have this one, there are so many things I need for my apartment. Enter now, there are 5 ways to win.

My SLC Mommy is giving away a $50 Staples gift card to help out with your back-to-school expenses. Hurry up and enter, can you imagine all the pens and paper you can buy for $50?

Our Friday gift card giveaway would not be complete without a Walmart gift card, so here we go! Go Green Street is giving away a $15 Walmart gift card just to tell what Febreze product you like best. Wow, that's an easy one, I love Febreze!

Mama Cheaps is giving away a $30 Amazon gift card. I love Amazon and there are several books on my to-buy list, so I am all over this one! All you need to do is become a friend on Facebook and you are entered.

This is extremely interesting! If you have a land line phone you could win gift cards and other prizes from Nielsen, a survey site that only ask your opinion on things that interest you to be entered. It's a great way to win gift cards and prizes for very little effort.

If you are Canadian or you are planning a trip to Canada in the near future, this gift card giveaway is a must to enter! It's for a $100 gift card to The Teahouse. The place looks scrumptious!

If you know of a great gift card giveaway or are holding one yourself please leave me a comment and I will cover it~!

Friday Gift Card Giveaways for July 23, 2010

It's Friday! Yay! And that means the weekend, boating, swimming, beside the pool, cooking out, or just relaxing in the cool AC. And it also means another list of great gift card giveaways.

Here you go, and have a wonderful weekend!

This one's a biggie from Woman's Day. 10 lucky winners will receive a $125 gift card from TruGreen Lawn Care Service, the nation's biggest provider of lawn care. Fill out the entry form here.

Mommy Blips is giving away a $25 Target gift card. All you need to do is follow her on Twitter.

Thanks, Mail Carrier is in the business of giveaways exclusively, so be prepared to salivate when you click on the link to enter the contest for a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway.

Talk about salivating! A $25 Joe's Crab Shack gift card is up for grabs at Shop with me Mama. All you need to do is select your favorite item from the menu and comment, extra entries for Tweeting and liking on Facebook.

Mireyah Wolfe is a writer of urban fantasy, but this gift card giveaway is total reality! Ms. Wolfe is giving away a $50 gift card to CSN stores. Just fill out the entry form here.

Sweeties Sweeps has a link here to the big O's, (that's Oprah for those of you who don't live on planet earth!) Summer Sweepstakes Extravaganza where 100 folks will win $100 Land's End gift cards. I like those odds!

I really like this one. Vivala Blogette is giving away a $40 gift card to her shop, where you will find some very tasty stationary and greeting cards, high dollar and quite unusual.

I hope one of our readers wins, but whether or not you do you always win when you purchase discount gift cards or sell your unwanted gift cards to Mercardi.com!

Even the Gift Card Industry has Scammers

And this handsome devil is one of them!



Here's what he did:

"A man reported to police that he purchased store gift cards for $1,000 from a man on Craigslist, but the cards had zero balances on them.
Officer Joseph Cox followed up with a local store and learned Beck bought the gift cards legally and then sold them to the victim, according to the police bureau.
After Beck sold them, he went back to the store and reported them stolen, police said, and the store immediately gave him new cards with original balances on them.
Because the cards sold to the man on Craigslist were reported as stolen, the victim couldn't use them, police said, and Beck was free to resell the new cards to others."

Read the rest of the article at Fox 12.

Just a fair warning, beware of who you do business with. In fact, rather than deal with what could be a shady character like the one above, if you want to buy discounted gift cards buy them from Mercardi.com.

Oh, and by the way, for those living in hot climates and are burning up from the heat, notice in the link above that the temperature in Portland, Oregon this morning is 54 degrees. That sounds heavenly, huh?

Congress Extends Transition Deadline for Gift Card Rules

With a resounding "Yay!" I post today about one of the smartest things Congress has done in a very long time. They passed the ECO-Gift CARD Act, which will avoid the destruction of over 100 million plastic cards, ensuring that consumers can access these cards during the busy holiday shopping season.

"The act extends the August 22nd gift card implementation deadline, as mandated by Federal Reserve regulations pursuant to the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, to Jan. 31, 2011. This would allow the industry to sell existing gift cards, gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards produced prior to April 1, 2010."

This is a reason for celebration not just for retailers but for consumers as well. So let's raise a hearty cheer of "Great!!, knowing that we can shop this coming holiday season without interruption. At a time when we are having so many second doubts about the actions of government, it is really refreshing to run across news like this.

Here is the full article from PRNewswire.com.

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, July 16, 2010

Here we are again at Friday, and as promised here are a great list of gift card giveaways for your weekend enjoyment. Remember, many of these are time sensitive, so be sure to go ahead and enter now. Most of the contests listed only require that you comment, tweet, or like on Facebook to qualify.

Have fun, and have a wonderful, hopefully in the AC weekend!

Fried Pink Tomato has a gift card giveaway listed for a $25 Anthropologie gift card. I would love to win this one, how about you?

Raffle Dog has a contest listed for a gift card for Lamp in a Box, it's a $59 value. (love this!) Here is the link to the entry form.

This one makes my brain water, if there is such a thing. Bookroom Reviews has posted about a $300 Amazon gift card giveaway sponsored by TV Guide Network. Imagine how many luscious books, DVDs and tapes you could buy for $300? Here is the link, I am all over this one.

Freebie Spot is giving away a $50 gift card to CSN. I really would like to win this one, I need some new stuff for my apartment. Here is the link.

Scholarships4moms is awarding a $10,000 scholarship! Hurry! Next 10k Scholarship Drawing Just Days Away! Click Here

The Jet Set Girls are living it up and passing the luxury along with a listing for a $500 gift card given to a spa member of Spa Week and ten $50 gift cards to us regular gals. I have never had a citrus scrub but I wouldn't be mad if I got one, that's for sure!

Simply Stacie is giving away a $25 Target gift card to a lucky reader. Stacie does product and book reviews and she has a gorgeous blog! Here is the link.

Visiting the links above is not only a great way to possibly win gift cards, but it's a lot of fun to find out about websites and blogs you didn't previously know of. Take a minute to look at least, you will be greatly rewarded, even if you don't win a gift card.

Savings.com has a great gift card giveaway for a $50 gift card from Famous Footwear. Shoe freaks, better run over there and enter now!

Mercardi on ABC News!

We at Mercardi.com were past thrilled when we discovered that we were the first company of our type shown on this ABC News video! The story covers Consumer Reports ShopSmart as they checked out seven websites where you can SELL your cards for CASH!

Lisa Freeman from Consumer Reports ShopSmart explains, "It turns out you can sell unwanted gift cards for up to 90-percent of the card's value."



Thank you to all of our great customers for helping us hit the airwaves!

Here is the full story.

Gift Cards are the Best Choice

Over the last few months, as I have researched subject matter for the post here at the Mercardi.com blog, I have run across different articles complaining about the use of gift cards. These pundits' only real gripe was that giving a gift card takes away from the personal touch an in-the-hand gift offers. Today I would like to point out the obvious; that consumers AND the receivers of gift actually PREFER getting a gift card rather than a gift.

It's like the old folks who don't want to advance into the 21st Century complaining about how cell phones have made our lives more impersonal, the same hogwash. Wake up and smell the coffee, people! We live in a very fast paced, hectic world and rather than complain about it we should embrace it. Change is inevitable, and 85% of the people can't be wrong. That's how many consumers are now buying gift cards.

No more do we have to pretend to be happy about the polka dotted tie that Aunt Millie gives us for Christmas, even Aunt Millie is savvy these days, because she's giving gift cards for cash! That way we can buy what WE like. Ask any college student whether they'd rather have a gift or a gift card at graduation. The gift card will win with a resounding percentage.

Embrace gift cards. They are here to stay, and they truly are the easiest and most sought after gift available today. Start with the Mercardi.com search engine, which lets you quickly choose the perfect gift card. And for those of you who get a gift card you don't want, you can sell that gift card for up to 90% of its value. Now THAT'S good business!

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, July 9, 2010

It has been a short work week for most of you, but that doesn't take away the joy of it being Friday! And here's some other things to be joyful about, our regular Friday list of gift card giveaways. Enjoy and enjoy a restful weekend.

Yummy, yummy! Here is a contest that you can sink your teeth into! You can enter daily. This contest is courtesy of the LifeStrong Network of blogs, and each entry you make qualifies you for the grand prize of a Nintendo Wii or an Apple iPad. Today's gift card giveaway from LifeStrong is to the Cheesecake Factory. Nuff said!

Here is a great deal where you just enter your email address and get free samples from Quality Health. I have been signed up here for several years and I love it!

Love my Two Girls is giving away a $25 gift card to either Amazon or cash from Paypal. All you have to do is follow the blog between now and July 31st and you are entered.

I am all over this! Eighty MPH Mom is giving away a $75 gift card to 1-800 Flowers. I don't think I need to say much more. We all love getting and sending flowers and gift from 1-800 Flowers, but be sure to at least check out the post even if you don't enter. I started salivating just looking at the pictures of stuff you can order.

The Thrifty Couple are quite clever as you will see, they are giving away a $50 Amazon gift card to either you or me, the contest only last this weekend, but you can enter up to 4 times per day, so don't dilly dally here, get over to the site and create your entry today!

I was totally stoked when I found this blog, Etsy Giveaways. Their business is all about giving away gift cards and merchandise from different Etsy stores. The contest running until 7/11 is for a $35 gift card to Ex-Boyfriends clothing store. Love the stuff there! All you need to do is leave a comment to this post.

It's All Free Online has a great gift card giveaway for those of you with kids. It's a $50 Agoo gift card. Agoo sells active wear, but you moms probably already know that. To enter all you need to do is check out the Agoo website and come back, comment on what you'd like to have, and presto!, you're entered.

Mommy Gaga is giving away a $50 Target gift card. Just subscribe to the blog and comment, that's it, you are entered. Good luck!

Last but certainly not least, Couture Nerd, (love that name) is giving away a $100 Starbucks gift card. (I hear all you coffee addicts choking on your morning latte) All you have to do is become a friend on Google Friend Connect between now and August 20th and you have a chance to buy a lot of cappuccino!

I could sit here all day and list gift card giveaways but I don't want your head to explode. Come back next Friday and check out the next great list I have for you.

Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

Gift Cards as Incentive to Take Medication

As I was researching new gift card articles and news this morning, I was flabbergasted when I read this article from the Boston Globe. Unbelievably, researchers and healthcare providers are trying out a new idea to get patients to take their medication; offering gift card incentives.

The bounties are small — $20 gift cards to restaurants, a chance to win between $10 and $100 in a lottery — but they seem to work. Clinics and researchers report that patients who were paid to take their drugs had better compliance and stayed on top of their appointments.

I thought I'd seen it all, but this takes the cake. There are problems on many levels with this concept, and the main one I see is that we must question why there are so many people who are not taking the medications they are prescribed in the first place. Could it be that the side effects of the medication are almost as bad as the suffering from the original ailment? We've all seen the commercials for drugs that end with a laundry list of side effects. It's no wonder the patient is hesitant to take the medication that could cause him to; have a seizure, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and the list of side effects goes on and on, almost becoming comic. In fact, show like Saturday Night Live have actually performed skits involving this very problem.

Besides, most old people don't refuse to take their medication, they forget! So how is offering them a gift card going to help?

What do you think? Do you believe it's a wise decision to offer gift cards to patients as an incentive to take their medication? Or do you think, as suggested in the Boston Globe article, that a better idea might be a call to the pharmacy to make sure the patient filled their medication, or follow up calls to the patient themselves? Sounds like a lot better solution to me, but I'd like to hear from you.

Freedom to Buy and Sell Gift Cards and a History of the 4th of July

On this distinctly American holiday, those of us at Mercardi.com, where you can buy and sell unwanted gift cards at deep discounts, we thought it appropriate to post a link to this great article at the Daily Beast. The article notes how even though our country can be extremely divided on issues, for this one day, the 4th of July, we put our issues aside and celebrate America's freedom.

Enjoy, and be sure to pass this article along. It offers an in-depth history of the 4th of July, complete with reactions from citizens to their impending freedom in 1776. A wonderful, educational and enjoyable read.

Happy 4th of July Americans!

Friday Gift Card Giveaways for July 2, 2010

Hurray! It's Friday again and time for another great list of current gift card giveaways. I have always loved Friday but now I have two more reasons to love it even more. One is getting to post and enter these contest for free gift cards by simply commenting or tweeting. So easy and quick! Another reason today is that it's the Friday before the 4th of July!

This Independence Day have a great time but be sure to practice safety on the water and with fireworks.

Now, without further ado, here is a great list of current gift card giveaways. Many are time sensitive, so don't hesitate, follow through with these links today!

Engineer a Debt Free Life has a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway running right now that is ending soon, so jump on this one. They also have several other great contest running.

The Mommy Files has a $25 iTunes gift card up for grabs. All you need to do is comment.

Starting yesterday, Free Grechen, a blog that's purpose is to find contest and giveaways for women who love fashion, has a link to 31 days of Giveaways from McCauley's. This is a biggy!

A Few Shortcuts has a contest for a $60 CSN gift card. CSN sells everything from dining ware to furniture, and the prices are unbelievable!

Yoga Gal has a contest running for a $25 Pottery Barn gift card. Just follow her on Twitter or befriend her on Facebook. She also has a link to a giveaway directory where bloggers list their current offerings. That's a treasure trove, guys and gals!

It's Serious This Time is giving away a $25 Walmart gift card for simply commenting on this post and telling her which Febreze Home Collection fragrance you like best.

Fundraising Ideas for Summer

Although many people consider fundraising as something reserved for school groups during the educational season, there are many ways that your group or organization can raise funds for your cause during the summer. Even your school group. There are no set rules that require you to only raise funds during the school season.

Church groups, private clubs, and other organizations can raise a great amount of money toward your cause and make it a summertime fun event. Like the girls with the lemonade stand in the image above, all it takes it a little ingenuity. Mercardi.com can supply that in spades with our gift card fundraising program.

There is absolutely no cost to you, and we even have free marketing material to help you make your fundraising venture a big success. You can download the sales material for free before you sign up to help you make your decision. It's easy and fun to make money for your organization using the Mercardi.com fundraising program. Simply collect donations of unwanted gift cards from your donors, and we'll take care of the rest. We'll announce the program to your donors, we'll help you collect the donors' information, we'll resell the gift cards for you and then we'll send you a check. We can even email tax receipts to your donors for you! There is no cost and no risk for your organization.

Here is how to process works:

People have gift cards lying around that they will never use. Mercardi can turn those gift cards into cash, giving your organization a new source of revenue, in just 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Get the word out! Tell your organization about the upcoming gift card collection.

Step 2: Collect unused gift cards

Step 3: Submit the cards to Mercardi

Step 4: Receive your payment check

So what are you waiting for? Now is the perfect time to set up your fundraising program and have some summer fun in the process!

Boost Your Sales with Gift Cards

Even though Mercardi.com is in the business of buying and selling discounted gift cards to consumers, it would be remiss on our part not to address the other side of the coin; namely, how retailers and small businesses can boost their sales by selling gift cards for their products and/or services.

If you own a business, whether it be offline or online or both, you may think selling gift cards is reserved for the big boys. In this assumption you would be wrong. Now more than ever, it is simple and affordable to implement the sale of gift cards into your business model.

To get you started, here is a great article by freelance writer Sally Bacchetta, which appeared in Country Business magazine, with everything a small business needs to know about selling gift cards.

Take the time today to at least read the article above if you are a business owner. It will be well worth your time. You will learn how easy it is to get started selling gift cards for your products or services.

In the meantime, check out the latest offerings of discounted gift cards at Mercardi.com.

Friday Gift Card Giveaways for June 25, 2010

It's Friday again already! I don't know about you but for us this week has flown by. Mercardi.com once again, like every other Friday, has a wonderful collection of gift card giveaways for you.

Remember, many of these offers are time sensitive, so don't hesitate, click on the links and create your entry--usually just a comment or a tweet--for the free gift card booty offered by these great sites.

Please pass this post along to your friends and family, Digg it, Stumble it, Blog about it, and many thanks.

TGIF and have a wonderful weekend!

This $100 grocery gift card giveaway from Faithful Provisions ends tonight at midnight.

Sign your child up for the summer reading challenge and be entered to win a $100 Borders gift card from Freebies for Mom.

It's All Free Online has a $50 Chili's gift card up for grabs for commenting, this contest ends on June 30th.

The Life Goes Strong Network has a daily contest running for 60 days. Each day they give away a $20 Best Buy gift card. All you have to do is register and comment. You can enter daily, and each entry is added to the pot for a grand prize giveaway of a Nintendo Wii and an Apple iPad.

About.com has a great contest listed from the Home Shopping Network with a daily entry for $185K in gift cards, trips and other prizes. This is a celebration of the HSN anniversary and a biggy!

Mom it Forward has a post about a great giveaway from Daily Grommet. All you have to do is follow and tweet and you will be entered to win a $200 Apple gift card. Sweet!

Fabulous Family 4th of July for Under $20

The most important and celebrated American holiday--next to Thanksgiving and Christmas--is the 4th of July. This is as it should be, for the 4th of July is the anniversary of America's independence from Britain in 1776. Sometimes we forget, amidst all the negative political mumbo jumbo, that the USA is still just a baby compared to other countries. We are less than 300 years old. And yet, we have accomplished much more than many countries which have existed since the beginning of recorded time.

That's a lot to brag about, and certainly something worth a huge celebration. However, there are many families who cannot afford to have an expensive vacation or celebration on the 4th of July. This post is specifically for you.

You can have a great family 4th of July celebration for under $20 and I am going to show you how, in the following step-by-step guide. If you appreciate this information, please show your thanks by passing this post along to your friends and family.

Step 1--Visit Mercardi.com as soon as possible, (it takes a couple of days to get your gift card in the mail, and the 4th of July is only a week and a half away) and purchase a deeply discounted gift card for $20 from Walmart.

Step 2--Go to your favorite search engine online and research the closest lake or family park near you that has a free fireworks show on the 4th of July. Use Mapquest to find directions. Print this information out, and sometime before the 4th arrives, go scope out the area and find a spot where you can park for free, near the water, that will allow you to see the fireworks, if even from a bit of a distance. (You can make this an adventure and a fun excursion for this weekend, and it's not as hard as you might think.)

Step 3--Begin now watching the sales papers and commercials on TV for deals on hibachis or other small BBQ grills, charcoal, lighter, matches, marshmallows, weiners or hamburger meat, buns, mustard, chips, cookies, drinks, coolers, ice, relish, onions, water shoes, sunscreen, OFF, and anything else you can think of that you'll need for swimming and cooking outdoors. Another great way to find deals is to research coupons online on freebie and frugal sites.

Step 4--Tell your kids, if you have kids, to find something fun to do during the day of the 4th of July, or invent something for them to do that is free and fun, so they won't bug you all day, because this family outing doesn't begin until 5 pm.

Step 5--Plan a day ahead to do all your shopping, or at least have it all done by the 4th. Sleep late the day of the 4th, relax and be grateful, remembering how lucky we are to live in a free country. Thank God for all his blessings. When you get up have a leisurely morning as you pack up all your goodies for your 4th of July evening outing. (Make sure to pack stuff for the kids to do while they are waiting for the fireworks and not swimming, like volleyball, or coloring books, or invent treasure hunts, etc., to minimize "is it time for the fireworks yet?"

Step 6--At 5 p.m. on the 4th of July, pack the family into your vehicle--make sure you have your directions you printed out--and head to your chosen spot on the lake of your choice, the one with the free fireworks show. Let the kids swim, play games, explore, while you cook. Ya'll eat before sundown, when the fireworks usually begin. Enjoy the show while you make a campfire and roast marshmallows.

Step 7--Drive home, the kids usually worn out and asleep, smiling as you realize you had the most fun ever and didn't even spend $20!

The Future and Gift Cards

Last night I had a dream that I lived in the future, where the oddest things happened. I won't go into the details, but suffice is to say I was glad to wake up in the present, as dreams go.

However, my dream got me to thinking about the future of technology when it comes to gift cards. Low and behold, when I searched Google I found this article from Chip Chick about the new personalized three-D video gift cards from Home Depot.

Home Depot is one of the favorite retailers of Mercardi.com, where you can buy gift cards at huge discounts from over two hundred retailers, and also sell your unwanted gift cards. Home Depot has always been a leader when it comes to innovation, and once again, with this new three-D video gift card, they do not disappoint.

What do you foresee for the future of technology when it comes to gift cards? Got a bright idea, let's hear about it.

Gift Card Giveaways for Friday, June 18, 2010

With a huge TGIF and well wishes for your summer weekend, with Father's Day celebrations and ways to relieve ourselves from the heat, here is a nice list of current gift card giveaways to get your weekend off to a great start!

My Bargain Buddy has three gift card giveaways listed for you to enter. There are $50 gift cards from Zappos, Ebay, and Kohl's up for grabs. You can enter daily.

Helping Mommies Win is a treasure trove of gift card giveaways! All that is required to enter each giveaway is for you to comment. Have a blast with this one.


Networking Witches is a really cool blog and they too have a great, long list of gift card giveaways, and the gift cards are nothing to twitch your nose at!

Pretty Pink Mama has a great $50 gift card giveaway contest running for Label Daddy. Be sure to check this one out if you have kids.

Here's some real fun with the chance to win high dollar Amazon gift cards from Pirate Pete's Treasure Hunt. I'm in!

Couponers United! has a simple comment contest for a $25 Costco gift card. The drawing is Tuesday.

If you have a gift card giveaway promotion running and you want me to add it , just leave a comment with the info and I'll check it out!

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!

Cashing in on Credit/Debit Card Rewards

As I type this post I can't help but think of the hilarious commercial Staples has, where the loudmouthed guy shouts, "WOW, THAT'S A LOW PRICE!" The following ingenious way of getting free cash is THAT exciting!

If you have credit cards and use them regularly then you are probably aware of the rewards programs that many credit card companies offer. (This sort of incentive for frequent use began with the "frequent flyer miles" many airlines began offering decades ago.) What you may not realize, however, is that most rewards programs from credit card companies--and some debit cards are even getting into the act, which will very likely become a trend--allow you to redeem your reward points for gift cards.

That's where Mercardi.com comes in. Once you cash in your credit or debit card reward points and receive the gift card you selected from a major retailer/chain, then you can sell that gift card to Mercardi.com for up to 90% of its value! Simple as that. Mercardi.com buys gift cards from over 200 retailers, so you might want to take a look at our list before you select the gift card you want your credit or debit card company to send you.

What a fantastic way to get free cash for doing what you already do! Pass this along to your family and friends who you know use their credit cards/debit cards a lot, or even a little, for the reward points add up quickly.

And have a great hump day!

Detroit Schools Offer Gift Card Incentive

(DON'T FORGET THAT THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 20th, IS FATHER'S DAY! THERE IS STILL TIME TO BUY YOUR DAD A DISCOUNTED GIFT CARD FROM MERCARDI!)


It is a sad fact that our school system in the USA is in bad shape, (Did you know that one in three teens never make it to graduation?) but this story really puts just how bad it is into perspective.

Detroit, Michigan schools are offering parents a total of $25,000 in Target gift cards if they will simply update their students' contact information. The Detroit school district's efforts include leaving a door hanger on the doors of current students, offering gift cards from $25 up to $1000 if the parents will update contact info for students, in a effort to retain the current students they have enrolled.

The nearly 100 comments to the story are just about as interesting as the story itself.

What do you think about this?

Helping Those in Need with Gift Cards

As we move along at breakneck speed, hurrying to our jobs, attending to our children, managing our lives, it is often easy to forget about people who are not so fortunate as us.

Today, take a minute to read the inspiring stories in this link of organizations who make it their business to help those in need. And consider the fact that Mercardi.com has a fundraising program that YOUR ORGANIZATION, family or other group could initiate to help people in need, by collecting unwanted gift cards, as simple as that. There is no cost to get this program started, and we even send you the marketing material that will help make your efforts successful, all at no cost to you.

I have always loved what Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." On that note, below are some other great quotations about how we can help each other to ponder over the weekend. Have a great one!

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. ~Mother Teresa


How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank


Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James


Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. ~Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy


The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. ~Leo Rosten


Live simply that others might simply live. ~Elizabeth Seaton


We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa


Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. ~Dr. Seuss


It seems to me that any full grown, mature adult would have a desire to be responsible, to help where he can in a world that needs so very much, that threatens us so very much. ~Norman Lear


Being good is commendable, but only when it is combined with doing good is it useful. ~Author Unknown


I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world. ~Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojarhiu)


I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale


It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little - do what you can. ~Sydney Smith


Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little. ~Edmund Burke


If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. ~Mother Teresa


Wherever a man turns he can find someone who needs him. ~Albert Schweitzer


He who gives when he is asked has waited too long. ~Sunshine Magazine


This is the true joy in life - being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. ~George Bernard Shaw


Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown


The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ~Nelson Henderson


While earning your daily bread, be sure you share a slice with those less fortunate. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.


The difference between a helping hand and an outstretched palm is a twist of the wrist. ~Laurence Leamer, King of the Night


No man stands so straight as when he stoops to help a boy. ~Knights of Pythagoras (Thanks, Jim)


Charity sees the need, not the cause. ~German Proverb


In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy. ~Karl Reiland


How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
~William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, much later adapted to "So shines a good deed in a weary world" by David Seltzer for the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory


If we could all hear one another's prayers, God might be relieved of some of his burdens. ~Ashleigh Brilliant


Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice


I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~William Penn


Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee, and do not try to make the universe a blind alley. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. ~Benjamin Disraeli



We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill


Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. ~Mohammed Ali


The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" ~Martin Luther King, Jr.


Sometime in your life, hope that you might see one starved man, the look on his face when the bread finally arrives. Hope that you might have baked it or bought or even kneaded it yourself. For that look on his face, for your meeting his eyes across a piece of bread, you might be willing to lose a lot, or suffer a lot, or die a little, even. ~Daniel Berrigan


The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. He also accepteth from a grouch. ~Catherine Hall


What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal. ~Albert Pike (Thanks, Carl)


It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. ~Tom Brokaw


God has not called us to see through each other, but to see each other through. ~Author Unknown


Do not commit the error, common among the young, of assuming that if you cannot save the whole of mankind you have failed. ~Jan de Hartog, The Lamb's War


One must be poor to know the luxury of giving! ~George Eliot


He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help. ~Abraham Lincoln


If you have no will to change it, you have no right to criticize it. ~Author Unknown


Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity. ~Horace Mann


When you dig another out of their troubles, you find a place to bury your own. ~Author Unknown


The only gift is a portion of thyself. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others...
And your very flesh shall be a great poem.
~Walt Whitman


Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. ~John Wooden, They Call Me Coach


Trees outstrip most people in the extent and depth of their work for the public good. ~Sara Ebenreck, American Forests


Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. ~Buddha


Things of the spirit differ from things material in that the more you give the more you have. ~Christopher Morley


Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something. ~Henry David Thoreau


True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity. ~Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1970


Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them... he cried, "Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?" God said, "I did do something. I made you." ~Author Unknown


Find a need and fill it. ~Ruth Stafford Peale


In giving you are throwing a bridge across the chasm of your solitude. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by Stuart Gilbert


Sometimes a man imagines that he will lose himself if he gives himself, and keep himself if he hides himself. But the contrary takes place with terrible exactitude. ~Ernest Hello


You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran


Love never reasons but profusely gives; gives, like a thoughtless prodigal, its all, and trembles lest it has done too little. ~Hannah More


If you have much, give of your wealth; if you have little, give of your heart. ~Arabian Proverb


Bread for myself is a material question. Bread for my neighbor is a spiritual one. ~Nicholas Berdyaev


A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. ~Jack London


If I thought I was going to die tomorrow, I should nevertheless plant a tree today. ~Stephan Girard


I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives. ~Tracy Chapman


The vicious count their years; virtuous, their acts. ~Samuel Johnson


Look around the habitable world: how few
Know their own good, or knowing it, pursue.
~Juvenal, Satires


The deed is everything, the glory naught. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


The great use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. ~William James


I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. ~Maya Angelou


The race advances only by the extra achievements of the individual. You are the individual. ~Charles Towne


Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do. ~Kahlil Gibran

Great Gift Card Deals for Wednesday, June 9, 2010

After scanning Google (thank you for following Bing's example and offering up to date search results!) for the latest in gift card deals, here are what we consider the best for today, June 9, 2010. Some of these are time sensitive, so be sure and get there to take advantage of each gift card deal asap. Enjoy!

I really like this site, Totally Target. It list the latest gift card deals exclusively from Target, some great stuff there!

This site, Gift Card Discount, makes it their business to list the latest gift card deals online. Very good info and savings regularly.

Engineer a Debt Free Life has some awesome gift card giveaways in the month of June. For example, they have a $100 Target gift card and a $50 Walmart gift card up for grabs right now! Check out the giveaway list here.

Deal Seeking Mom has a great Win it Wednesday going on every week, and today is WEDNESDAY! The gift card up for grabs right now is a $100 Borders gift card, which I am definitely after! Here is the link, be sure to pass it along!

Dealighted has great deals on gift cards all the time. Today there is a $15 gift card from Auto Zone for every $100 spent online.

Yahoo Deals posted this deal today for a Norelco razor from Walmart for $35 with a $5 free egift card.

What Will You Get Dear Old Dad?

Father's Day is just around the corner. It is Sunday, June 20th this year, so right now is the perfect time to choose a deeply-discounted gift card from the over 200 retailers serviced by Mercardi.com.

Does dear old Dad need some new golf balls? Mercardi.com has that covered, with discounted gift cards from retailers such as Big 5 or Dick's Sporting Goods.

Or how about giving your father a night on the town by getting him gift cards, beginning with dinner at Chili's and topping the night off with tickets to the movies? You will find discounted gift cards at Mercardi.com to make both things happen while saving yourself a boatload of money.

The possibilities for gift ideas are huge, but the time is NOW! Get over to Mercardi.com and pick out the perfect gift card for your dear old dad.

(Just for fun, here is a link to famous quotes about Dad, the history of Father's Day, and links to interesting facts and sites pertaining to fathers. Enjoy!)

Theft or Just Poor Judgement?

When I read this morning that The University System of Maryland is investigating where $40,700 in gift cards intended for needy families were distributed by University of Maryland-Baltimore's School of Social Work staff and students, my first reaction was that this was just an error in judgement. I like to think that people are basically good, so I would like to believe that this was simply a matter of poor judgement and a lack of record keeping.

Here are a few of the details of what happened and the official take on what was and would be done:

"A state audit found university officials "could not document who received the gift cards or what was purchased with the gift cards," which were paid for by a federally funded program. The Office of Legislative Audits' February report said records were not maintained about how the gift cards were dispensed."

"We said they should go back with their auditors and determine if the cards were used properly and kind of account for the $40,000," legislative auditor Bruce Myers said. "They just didn't have any documentation to show it was distributed the way it was supposed to be."

As far as what will be done about this gigantic deal, Myers said if they can't document how the gift cards were used, they could be asked to repay the money. The gift card purchases were made by a University of Maryland-Baltimore employee with a corporate purchasing card between July 2006 and June 2008.

"The employee who purchased the gift cards advised us that these gift cards were distributed to various staff and students of UMB's School of Social Work to purchase items for needy families," the February audit said. "We contacted several staff and students of the School and were advised that the aforementioned employee had provided them with a number of gift cards."

University system officials agreed to conduct an internal audit in their response to the report and say they'll take corrective action.

Mike Lurie, the media relations manager for the University System of Maryland, said the internal audit is a routine response to concerns raised by the state's review.

"The University System of Maryland internal audit staff is following up on the findings in the Office of Legislative Affairs audit," Lurie said. "It is University System of Maryland policy not to comment further in matters like this one."

It does seem pretty stupid that these people did not foresee having to account for where the gift cards went, at least! All they would have had to do is write down who they gave them to, the name of the families, etc. It does make you wonder if there was fraud involved, but as I said, I would like to think that somebody just had their head in the clouds.

What do you think?

New Gift Card Law Needs Tweeking

The CARD Act went into effect in February and was designed to protect consumers from egregious practices by gift card issuers, such as early expiration dates and "dormancy" fees.

The new rules takes effect in August, 2010 and are great for consumers, requiring more disclosure about fees and expiration dates, but there remain plenty of loopholes for card-issuers.

For instance, the new rules don’t adopt several provisions requested by a coalition of consumer groups, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. Among them are a caps on fees, a strict prohibition on card-expiration dates shorter than five years, and a requirement that issuers provide one free replacement of a lost or stolen card.

Although it's great to have new laws that protect consumers using gift cards, there are tweeks that need to be set into place. For instance, currently restrictions on fees and expiration dates don’t apply to cards issued as part of loyalty, award, or promotional programs, or to “reloadable” cards not labeled or marketed as a “gift card” or “gift certificate.”

Another drawback is that these new rules don’t protect consumers if an issuer files for bankruptcy protection or goes out of business.

In conclusion, although we in the gift card industry are happy about these new rules, we hope that before they go into place there will be several major adjustments.

10 Hot Vacation Gift Card Deals

It's June 1st, the true beginning of the summer vacation season, so in that vein, below are ten totally sizzling vacation gift card deals to start your summer off with a bang! Each of these hot vacation gift card deals or offers have been created by the listed sites within the last few days, sometimes even the last few hours. That means this is the perfect time to secure your vacation deal while they last, (pass the word along.)

We'd love to hear about your summer vacation plans or experiences. Why not take a minute and leave a comment, telling us about your plans and/or experiences, or turn our readers on to fantastic vacation gift card deals that we might have missed?

It's summertime, and the living truly is easy!

1. $100 shopping gift card w/stay on Catalina Island

2. $750 Disney Gift Card with 5 night stay

3. Give the gift of a bed and breakfast get away.

4. Get a $50 Best Western gift card when you stay two nights at Best Western, Stuttgart, Germany.

5. Book a weekend at the Marriott and get a $20 Target gift card from Orbitz.

6. SIZZLE ALERT!--$99 vacation package to Williamsburg, Virginia includes two nights, 3 day stay in hotel and $50 Visa gift card to spend at shops, or two tickets to Busch Gardens! (this site also has deals just like this one to other destinations.)

7. Receive a $2500 Visa gift card when you book select Cruise West Europe World cruises and pay in full.

8. A great list of Scottsdale, Arizona gift cards, coupons and credits for staying at the Marriott.

9. A totally frugal cruise using gift cards, coupons, and deals.

10. Last but certainly not least is mercardi.com, where you will find deeply discounted gift cards for American Airlines, Best Western, and Choice Hotels, along with over 200 other restaurants, shops, and specialties for your vacation savings!

Wacky Gift Cards and Gift Ideas

It's Memorial Day Weekend so let's have some fun! Put away all your troubles, work, worries, and concerns and spend the next few minutes reading some of the wackiest, funniest, and oddest stuff gift card and gift ideas.

Now go out there this weekend and proceed to relax!

"For years, Missouri districts actually made money offering summer school because of the way the state funded it. Some districts offered incentives — like gift cards — so students would attend in greater numbers." (REALLY?)


South Carolina ministers offer Walmart gift cards for guns to rid streets of violence. (NRA members will pull their hair out but I think it's a good idea!))

Drug dealer accepts gift cards for crack. (capitalism at it's finest!:( )

Here's a sure fire way to end up in the dog house; give your wife a gift card good for plastic surgery.

Don't know what to buy for Father's Day for the guy who has everything? How about some bacon dental floss? Yep, you read that right! Or how about bacon bandages?

Here is a great Squidoo lens with some really wacky gift ideas, (not necessarily gift cards, but I couldn't resist) You'll find a beer belly, reservations for heaven, and moon real estate, to name a few!

**Here are the sources for the above, in order:

Gift cards for summer school

Gift cards for guns

Gift cards for drugs

Gift cards for health care, (facelift)

Bacon dental floss

Bacon bandages

Vote for Mercardi at Discovering Startups!

Here at Mercardi.com we have worked very hard to provide our customers with the best in products and service. Hopefully this hard work will pay off, and it looks to be, evidenced by the story we would like to share today.

We ask for your vote. Discovering Startups is a site that reviews new business startups on a daily basis and lets readers vote for the best monthly startup. This post about Mercardi.com, detailing what we are all about with the option to comment, AND VOTE, is where it's all happening.

So please, as a customer and or reader/fan, take a minute today to cast your vote for Mercardi.com, THE Gift Card People!

10 Great Gift Card Giveaways for Monday, May 24, 2010

Good morning, Mercardi Blog Readers! Today I have a treat for you to ease your way into the work week. Here are 10 great deals and/or contests gift cards from across the internet today!

Good luck and have fun!

1. Like Freebie Finder on Facebook and be entered to win an Amazon gift card.

2. Comment to win a $20 Fashion Playtes gift card, ends Thursday.

3. Win a $100 Hanes gift card. Easy, easy entry, just tweet, leave your email or become a Facebook fan, not all three, only one required.

4. Open a Key Bank checking account and get one of these gifts; an ipod touch, a $25 itunes gift card, or a $225 cash bonus.

5. Leave a comment to win a $10 coffee gift card.

6. Leave a comment to win a $10 CVS gift card, ends May 31st.

7. Hip Mama's Place has a great list of contests and giveaways!

8. Comment, subscribe or tweet and be entered to win a Home Depot Gift Card.

9. Another great list of gift card giveaways at Review Retreat.

10. Comment to win a $25 TJMaxx gift card.

For those of you who are bloggers and are trying to build readership and back links, entering the above giveaways by commenting is definitely killing two birds with one stone, so get busy!

Have a great Monday! :)

Paper or Plastic? Technology Fuels Gift Card Popularity and Access as an Alternative to Cash Incentives and Gifts

Paper or Plastic? Technology Fuels Gift Card Popularity and Access as an Alternative to Cash Incentives and Gifts

Mother's Day Unusual Story Contest Winner!

After much deliberation--for there were some really wonderful stories entered into our Mother's Day Unusual Story Contest, and we thank each and every one of you--we have chosen a winner. Two things set this story apart from the rest; 1. It actually involves a gift card, and 2. It is a story that we feel many single mothers can relate to.

So congratulations Carrie Schafer of Chicago, Illinois! Carrie will be receiving the $25 gift card from the retailer of her choice within the next few days. We hope you treat yourself to something nearly as nice as your gift card in the story allowed.

Now, without further ado, here is Carrie's story, "Mother's Day from Mom."


Mother's Day from Mom


Just when I was thinking that things couldn't get any worse, Murphy's Law--which states something along the lines of anything that can go wrong will go wrong--kicked in. Both of my kids were sick with colds and I was feeling sort of puny myself. Jason, my ex, had gotten laid off, so he was behind on his child support, and my mother was coming for a visit over Mother's Day weekend.

You are probably thinking that having my mother come visit would be a treat, but you don't know my mother. She is a drama queen. She's been married five times and I think is working on number six. She's an old hippie. So needless to say, she's no June Cleaver. In her defense, however, she is great with the boys and they adore her. My sons are five and three and I think my Mom's maturity level is about the same. The three of them play house under the dining room table, they run through the halls, pretending to be cowboys and Indians, she feeds them anything they want--which I hate--and buys them everything they ask for. That's another reason I am not looking forward to her visit. It will take me three weeks to undo the damage she's done after she leaves. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother dearly, I am just trying to raise my sons to be respectful, healthy, responsible adults.

When Mom arrived on Saturday morning, it was the usual pandamonium; the boys climbing all over her, but this time with snotty noses. Mom didn't care. She loves her grandsons with all her heart, snotty noses or not.

She saw instantly that I was in a mood and asked me what was wrong. Of course, even though I hardly ever cry, I began to blubber like a baby. I told her about Jason's job ending, and about the hard time I was having finding writing jobs online lately, (I am a work-at-home mom,) and how exhausted I was. "You look terrible!" She said, which made me feel even worse. Mom peeled the boys off of her and took me in her arms. "It's going to be ok. I have a marvelous idea!"

She turned to the boys and said, "Anyone up for ice cream and a movie?" Of course, Terry and Jason Jr. began to jump up and down, hollering, "ice cream, ice cream..movie, movie, movie!!"

"We'll be back this evening, sweetie." She said to me. "Take a bubble bath, or a nap, or read a book, something to make you relax. Everything is going to be ok!" And she piled the boys up in her car and off they went to the ice cream parlor.

I plopped down on the couch, looking around at the mess that was my living room. Toys were strewn everywhere. There was a film of what looked like grape jelly on the coffee table. One of the boy's underwear lay on the floor by the bathroom with some questionable brown marks on them.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I hadn't had a break from the boys in several weeks, since Jason's job had taken him across the country and he hadn't been able to keep them on his weekends lately.

What was I going to do with myself? It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I wasn't going to waste it sitting inside. So I jumped up, hopped in the shower, threw on some shorts and a tank top, grabbed my purse, making sure to avoid the dishes piled in the sink, and headed out the door. I was feeling my better. My mood had improved tremendously already!

I decided I needed to shop for something for my mom for Mother's Day, but first I would stop at our neighborhood Starbucks and treat myself to a cappuccino. I was sitting there, sipping my drink, reading the lifestyle section of the Chicago paper, totally absorbed and content, when a shadow fell across the table.

I couldn't believe it when I looked up. It was Hank Taylor, a guy I went to high school with who'd always been a hunk--and still was--and I didn't even know he knew I existed. He called me by name and asked if he could sit down. "Sure," I said, closing my newspaper, the butterflies in my stomach doing a precision nosedive. I felt exactly like I did when I saw Hank in the halls in 11th grade, frozen, shy, and in awe. Then I told myself how stupid I was being. The guy was just being friendly. Besides, I had vowed to myself that I would not date for at least a year after my divorce was final. I had three months to go.

To my total shock, Hank told me that he'd always wanted to go out with me in high school, but he thought I wasn't interested. He said he'd heard that Jason and I had gotten a divorce, and that he was sorry to hear it, but not really. He said this was his chance, and asked me out for the following weekend. We talked a little more, catching up, and he got my phone number. I told him I had to go. I wanted to be the one to make the first exit, but as I walked away and got into my car, I felt my heart sing. I had a date! A real bona fide, grown up date! And with Hank Taylor, the hunk of Wesley High School, no less!

I called my best friend Sara and told her what happened as I drove home. We were squealing over our cell phones like a couple of lunatics. When I got home, I ran myself a bubble bath, as my mother had suggested. But as I stepped into the warm, luxurious water, it hit me that I hadn't gotten my mother anything for Mother's Day tomorrow. Then I remembered the gift card that Jason had given me from the boy's for my Mother's Day gift a few days ago. It was a gift card for $50 to Macy's. I would just give that to my mother. After all, it didn't have my name on it, so anyone could use it. And didn't she deserve it, for if it hadn't been for her today I would never have run into the hunky Hank Taylor!

Talk About Strength in Numbers!

Mercardi is having a fantastic promotion going on over at Facebook right now that I simply must tell you about! It's called THE MERCARDI TWENTY20 REFER A FRIEND PROGRAM.

Here is the skinny:


THE MERCARDI TWENTY20 REFER A FRIEND PROGRAM

Mercardi is pleased to announce it's Twenty20 Refer a Friend program where you can now benefit from being a fan and liking the Mercardi Fan page.


It's simple, refer the Mercardi Fan page to your friends and for every 20 new fans that "like" the page, everyone receives a $0.20 discount. For example, if on Monday next week we have 500 additional users liking our page, all of you receive $5 towards your next gift card sale or purchase on www.mercardi.com.

Today 450 people like the Mercardi Facebook page and we look forward to grow this number quickly while rewarding all of you!

So as you can see, this is all about group effort. Now get busy inviting all of your friends to join Mercardi, the Gift Card People's Facebook fan page today and become a part of the huge, shared savings from THE MERCARDI TWENTY20 REFER A FRIEND PROGRAM!

Contest Winner to Be Announced on Friday, May 21st

This is just a head's up about the Mother's Day Unusual Story Contest. We've had so many great entries that we need a few more days to read them all, so we will be announcing the winner this Friday, May 21st.

Thanks to all of you who entered and may the best story win!

What Does YOUR Graduate Want?

Oh what a wonderful time of year! The flowers are in full-bloom, the birds are singing, love is in the air, and young adults are GRADUATING! As most old foggies do, when I think of graduation I want to give advice. I want to warn these young people about the perils of life, or put some humor in it and have them listen to The Sunscreen Song, or get really deep and serious and offer up the wise words of Desiderata.




But I am wise enough to know that this is not what our future leaders, teachers, and parents would like for graduation. What they want are GIFTS! They are up to their ears in advice; from teachers, guidance counselors, friends and family. So let's leave all that serious stuff to those who know best and get right to the heart of the matter; what to get the graduate in your life.

With deeply discounted gift cards available from over 200 retailers, Mercardi.com is the smart choice for graduate gifts. How about a gift card from Chili's, allowing that hard working student to take themselves and their friends out for a night of great food? And hey!, instead of buying them an awful shirt that they'll never wear, you could get them a gift card from Target and let them shop for what THEY want. You could even give them a gift card to Whole Foods so they can stock up on healthy goodies of their choice.

The possibilities are virtually endless, as is the future of these bright, shining stars on their way to the future.

Congratulations, Grads!

Helpful Sites for Gift Card Users

I was really excited this morning when, via the comment section of a New York Times article I was reading about how consumers should not hold on to gift cards, but spend them, or--as we here at Mercardi.com like to suggest, sell them--when I discovered a new gift card watchdog site called Scrip Smart.

Here is the latest blog post from Scrip Smart, advising consumers about the new laws that will go into affect in August, 2010, protecting them from losing the value of their unspent gift cards. This site is all about keeping up with the laws involving gift cards and also letting you know about businesses that may be closing their doors that you may very well be holding a gift card for and need to redeem, and they even have a free program that let's you list the gift cards you have and will send you an alert when that card is about to expire.

As I was checking out Scrip Smart I also ran across another gift card watchdog site called Gift Card Advocate.Org. This site makes it their job to keep up with impending bankruptcies of businesses that you may hold a gift card for, legal info, tips for gift card buyers and sellers, gift card scams, and more.

Sites like this are worth their weight in gold for the gift card industry and the consumers like you who buy and sell gift cards, so check them out and bookmark them. Tell them Denise from MERCARDI.COM sent you!

5 Great Ideas for Sprucing up Your Gift Cards

Although there is no argument--$90 billion was spent on gift cards last year--that giving gift cards for special occasions is THE preferable thing to do, there are those of us who miss the old-fashioned tradition of wrapping gifts, or at least presenting our gifts in a way that says I took the extra time to show I truly care.

If you see yourself in the above statement, then you will really enjoy the following list. I have rounded up, from across the internet, what I feel are the coolest, most beautiful and/or unique ideas for dressing up a gift card. (If you have an idea that isn't mentioned here, by all means leave a comment and I will add it!)

I really love some of these simple but elegant gift card holders and wrap from The Essential Packaging Store Blog




This article from E-how offers some very cool and unique ideas for disguising your gift cards. One really great example is to buy a cheap paperback for your book lover friend or family member and place the gift card somewhere between the pages.

Here is a great post from Giver's Log, 5 Ways to Wrap a Gift Card. A few of the items used are a milk carton and a pillow box.


Of course Martha Stewart would have the best idea for putting your gift cards on your Christmas tree. What would wrapping ideas be without something from Martha?




Last but certainly not least is the old 'box inside a box inside a box' idea. All you need are empty boxes that will fit inside each other and the gift card be inside the last one. Wrap the last one with ribbons and bows, but make sure and put some paper or other material inside to make the box have a sound when shaken and not be so light. Of course, you can always just buy gift bags and place the gift cards inside.

Odd or Unusual Mother's Day Story Contest

As someone who has lived a life outside the norm, (long story, but my life has definitely not out of Normal Rockwell), I have decided this morning to give a voice to mothers whose lives, and whose experience on Mother's Day, are beyond the pale.

In our current society more and more families are created from a hodgepodge of friends, coworkers and neighbors, as families grow farther apart and time moves at warp speed. So what once would have been considered an odd family situation is gaining popularity as acceptable and even preferable to the Ward and June Cleaver prototype, (think HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS with Robert Downey Jr and Holly Hunter).

In that vein, I am holding a contest. Here are the rules:

1. Email your odd, funny, or unusual Mother's Day experience to denise@mercardi.com. It must be a true story and one never published before. Keep it under 500 words. (You DO NOT have to be a writer to record your experience!).

2. The staff at Mercardi.com will vote and chose the story that we feel is the most odd, funny or unusual.

3. Deadline for stories is Friday, May 14th at midnight, CST.

4. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 17th, by noon, CST. The winner will receive a $25 Mercardi gift card of their choice from the 200+ retailers Mercardi handles.

5. The winning story will be published on this blog.

That's it! So get busy sending me your odd, unusual or funny Mother's Day story and be sure to pass the link to this post along. It's gonna be a blast!

Thank You, WAHMs!

Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday, so I thought it would be a nice gesture to link to some of my favorite sites from work-at-home moms, or WAHMs, as they are known across the internet.

These hardworking, self-sacrificing stay-at-home mothers deserve big kudos for putting aside their personal needs and goals to make sure their kids are raised the way they believe they should be. (I wish I had been able to stay at home when my kids were little).

Most of the WAHMs I know not only are raising their kids at home, they also work online to supplement their husband's paychecks. Heck, there are even full-time WAHMs who are single and raising kids alone! (and yes, Dads too!)

**This post is not meant to lessen the appreciation of mothers who do not stay at home with their kids. I was one of those moms when my boys were growing up, a career woman, so I can hardly point any fingers. Circumstances for each family is different. There are many variables that affect a moms decision to either stay at home or enter the workforce when her children are small, so be careful not to judge. (If you are a mom who works outside the home and you have a blog or website, please leave me a comment with the link. If I collect enough sites I will make a separate post just for ya'll!)

With that said, below are a few of my favorite WAHM blogs and/or websites. Take the time this weekend to visit and let these moms know what a great job they are doing raising tomorrow's citizens!

Work at Home Mom Revolution--daily job listings and mom news

A Frog in my Soup--adventures, thoughts, and advice from the mom of 6 boys

Mom Gadget--this stay-at-home mom is a force all her own! This site also has a forum for moms.

Sparkplugging--This site from Kelly McCausey, who is also another huge internet force in the WAHM world, has a contest that ran a few months ago where WAHMs voted for their favorite WAHM blogs. I just discovered this, and it has links to 60 something blogs, so I think it's better at this point to let the experts take over!

Happy Mother's Day!

Bartering is Back!

Before the invention of money, people traded goods and services through a system known as bartering. (Here is a very interesting history of bartering and money for your educational enjoyment). Bartering dates back as far as the caveman. "I need a blackberries and you need fish, I have fish and you have blackberries, let's trade!"

After the creation of the monetary system, bartering took a backseat as a way to get the things we needed. But bartering is making a comeback these days, as history shows it has done every time money became more scarce.

If you enjoy the idea of bartering as much as I do, I'd like to pass along to you a couple of sites where you can put the bartering system to work for you. One of the best ones I found is Swaptree, where you can trade your books, CDs, movies and games. A site similar to Swaptree is Book Mooch. Oh heck, here's the whole list I found of bartering sites!

Here is also a site I really like where you can sell or trade your unwanted items, very similar to what Mercardi.com does on their site with gift cards.

Bartering is fun, so get busy trading your blackberries for my fish!