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.

Let's Talk Seriously about Your Unused Gift Cards

I discovered a bit of truly shocking news when I read this article this morning. The gist of the article is that New Jersey is considering joining the 28 US states who are already participating in what this writer, (and this may not be the opinion of Mercardi as a whole) considers government theft, by taking over funds from retailers for unused gift cards sold to consumers. The state then invest the money and uses the interest to fund state programs and pay debts.

There may be some of you who believe in this socialistic crime, and if so I apologize if I have offended your sensibilities, but I have a strong suspicion that most readers of this blog are from the camp that believes in the division of government and business.

Either way, let's do some math. In 2009, retailers sold $90 billion in gift cards to consumers. 10% of those gift cards remain unused. Mind boggling, huh?

Just imagine what organizations like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross could do with $9 billion? We have homeless people living in the streets of America. Rather than the money from unused gift cards going to the government, just think how many people that money could house!

YOU have the power to change this scary and Animal Farmish situation. Simply find those unused gift cards that you have in your dresser drawer or your wallet, and donate them to your favorite charity. Don't let the state control your money.

Ten Little-Known Facts about Gift Cards

Just for the fun of it, below you will find interesting and/or little-known facts about gift cards. If you have a fact I've left out, by all means leave a comment and I'll add it! Have a wonderful Hump Day!

1. Gift cards are the most requested gifts of all--70% of Americans say that they would prefer a gift card as a present. Gift cards are the second most given gift.

2. Men spend more money on gift cards than women.

3. On the average, everyone in the United States has 5 unused gift cards, a total of 8 billion dollars in unused gift cards. You can sell those to Mercardi.com for up to 90% of their value.

4. The average value of a gift card is $35.

5. The gift card evolved from the paper gift-certificate, which was brought to the mass market by big department stores in the mid-1930s.

6. McDonald's began its successful Christmas gift-certificate program in 1970.

7. Gift certificates were first replaced by electronic gift certificates, or gift cards, in the mid-1990s.

8. Jennifer Pate, an economist at Loyola Marymount University, credits the Mobil Oil Company with producing “the first retail gift card that recorded value on a magnetic strip” in 1995. The card, which could be used toward gas fill-ups, was built using technology borrowed from prepaid phone cards.

9. Blockbuster is credited with pioneering the modern-day gift card, and was the first to display gift cards for sale in 1995.

10. K-Mart was the first discount retailer to join the gift card bonanza. In partnership with AT & T, the card could be used as both a gift card in the store or a calling card.