Gift Card Advocate has quickly become one of my favorite resources for staying on top of the gift card landscape.
Not only do they offer a comprehensive list of helpful resources for buying and selling gift cards. They've also done research on the percentages you'll pay and revive for gift cards in the secondary market. But most of all, I enjoy the blog. From gift card scams to industry analysis, I appreciate the frequency and variety of posts.
For example, Gift Card Advocate recently offered an insightful analysis of the secondary gift card market. In his article, Peter states there is a shift in the perspective of retailers from hoarding the value of unused gift cards, towards helping customers redeem gift cards in order to increase sales and reduce the dollar amount of gift cards which are turned over to the state as unclaimed property. He also questions if the trend will continue to the extent of retailers buying back their own gift cards, effectively cutting out the a middleman.
Bottom line: if you're following the gift card industry, be sure to bookmark Gift Card Advocate. In fact, I like what Gift Card Advocate is doing so much, I've asked them if they are interested in a partnership.
