It happens all the time: You get a gift card to a place that you know you'll never shop. But you don't have to feel bad because there are ways to turn that gift card into cash and get what you really want.
Cardpool.com lets you sell your gift cards electronically or you can mail the physical card using their free shipping.
Just enter the card's balance and you'll get an instant payout offer. They will mail you a check or you can get an instant credit.
For this site, you only deal with Cardpool so you don't have to wait for anyone to buy it.
Raise.com also allows you to list your cards and once it sells you'll get paid by check, direct deposit or Paypal.
They do take a cut of your profit but you usually will get about 95 percent of what your card is worth.
If you're really hurting for immediate cash and you need it ASAP, you can try one of the Coinstar Exchange machines.
They're at stores all over the Valley and allow you to sell your gift cards for instant cash.
But remember they take a pretty big cut: We tried to sell a $25 AMC gift card and only got back $12.75.
