Got a gift card you just don’t want to use? While your loved ones mean well, they might not know which stores are your favorites—and which ones you haven’t shopped at in years. Or perhaps you bought a gift card for someone else that you no longer want to give them. Whatever the circumstances, having a gift card you have no intention of using brings one question to mind: can you return a gift card?
Can You Return Gift Cards for a Refund?
In short, the answer at most retailers, including heavy hitters like Target and Amazon, is no. In fact, when you purchase a gift card, you’ll usually see a warning that gift cards are final sale. But there are some exceptions, as well as other ways to trade in a gift card you know you aren’t going to use.
Which Stores Let You Return Gift Cards?
Stores that let you return gift cards are a rare breed, but they do exist.
Gap
Believe it or not, Gap will accept returned physical gift cards, free of charge.
If you’re returning a gift card you purchased (maybe your nephew has gone from the nice list to the naughty list this year), you can have the full amount refunded back to your payment method.
If the gift card was a gift to you (and you have no interest in shopping at Gap’s family of brands), you can still return it — but the amount will still go back to the original payment method. So, yes, Aunt Sally will know that you didn’t like her holiday gift.
Disney
Like Gap, Disney allows customers to return gift cards for the full amount, with a credit back to the original form of purchase. Note that this policy only refers to unused gift cards; you can’t return a partially used gift card for a partial credit.
And as with Gap’s gift card return policy, the refund must go to the original form of payment. So if you received a Disney Gift Card from someone else, they’ll know you returned it.
Can You Sell Gift Cards for Cash?
If you’re stuck with a gift card you know you won’t use, sites like CardCash can be game-changers. You won’t get the full value of the gift card in cash, but if it’s just going to collect dust in your wallet, it’s better than nothing.
The balance you will get depends on the demand for the gift card. On the CardCash homepage, you can enter the value of the gift card you have and what store it’s from, and you’ll get an offer for how much cash you can get in exchange for it. (Alternatively, you can exchange it for a gift card to a retailer you do want to shop from, which can be more lucrative.)
And if you’re a frequent CVS shopper, you’ll be glad to know that CVS has its own CardCash website where you can exchange gift cards for a CVS eGift Card. As with the regular CardCash site, you can enter the details about what gift cards you have and how much they’re worth to see how much the CVS gift card trade-in value is.
Want to have more control over how much you get paid for your gift card? Raise lets sellers list the cost for their gift cards; you’ll sell directly to other customers on the platform. But if you don’t price your gift card lower than its actual value, you might not get any takers.
A quick look at Raise’s “Buy” section, for instance, features Domino’s gift cards at a discount of as much as 24.5% off. So if there’s a way you can trade that gift card in (whether through CardCash or by trading directly with someone else) for one from another retailer, you might earn something closer to its original value. Both Raise and CardCash will pay you via PayPal or direct deposit, which is another factor to keep in mind.
And if all else fails, there’s no shame in regifting a gift card; it’s not exactly a personal gift in the first place.
Can You Return Items Purchased With Gift Cards?
The answer to this one is a bit more straightforward. In most cases, you can return an item purchased with a gift card for store credit to that retailer.
At Levi’s, for instance, returns on items purchased via gift card will get you the purchase value on a new physical gift card. (The store doesn’t have a way of returning the balance to your original gift card, even if the original one still has value on it.) Likewise, at ASOS, if you return something bought with an eGift card, the amount will be credited back to your account as a store credit at the digital retailer.
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