ANCHOR LEAD
CHANCES ARE YOU'VE RECEIVED ONE FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION...OR MAYBE YOU GOT ONE OVER THE HOLIDAYS. THAT ONE SIZE FITS ALL PRESENT CALLED A GIFT CARD. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THAT PRESENT TAKES YOU HIGH TECH WHEN YOU'D RATHER GO HIGH STYLE? SCOTT HANSON GIVES YOU A HEADS UP! ON WAYS YOU CAN SWAP YOUR GIFT CARD ONLINE BEFORE YOU SWIPE IT AT THE CASH REGISTER.

SOT
KEY@: :02 Kevin Kaufmann, Swapped His Gift Card
(too short to key)
"I think it's the way to get the perfect gift."

TRACK ONE Length: :08
KEVIN KAUFMANN RECEIVED A GIFT CARD TO HOME DEPOT OVER THE HOLIDAYS. BUT RIGHT NOW, HE'D RATHER MAKE AN ADDITION TO HIS PHOTO COLLECTION...NOT HIS HOME.

SOT
KEY@: :11 Kevin Kaufmann, Swapped His Gift Card
(too short to key)
"I wanted a digital camera in a bad way."

TRACK TWO Length: :04
SO, KEVIN DECIDED TO TRADE HIS CARD ON SWAPAGIFT-DOT-COM...

SOT
KEY@: :02 Kevin Kaufmann, Swapped His Gift Card
(too short to key)
"I thought it was a neat concept, you know."

TRACK THREE Length: :16
THAT'S RIGHT...ON SITES LIKE SWAP-A-GIFT AND CARDAVENUE...YOU CAN NOW SELL OR TRADE THAT GIFT CARD THAT'S SITTING IN YOUR JUNK DRAWER.
YOU REGISTER FIRST, PROVIDING SOME PERSONAL INFORMATION. THEN YOU POST YOUR CARD DESCRIPTION INCLUDING MERCHANT, REMAINING BALANCE ...AND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR IN RETURN.

SOT
KEY@: :35 Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union
"The site charges the seller or the offerer of the card a small fee to list the card...generally buyers don't pay a fee."

TRACK FOUR Length: :07
GAIL HILLEBRAND OF CONSUMERS UNION SAYS THE TREND IS EXPLODING IN POPULARITY, BUT SHE WARNS THESE SITES CARRY THE SAME RISKS AS AUCTION SITES.

SOT
KEY@: :51 Gail Hillebrand, Consumers Union
"The seller misrepresented the object or what the seller sent me was not what was described or I paid and the seller didn't send me anything at all."

TRACK FIVE Length: :08
BOTH SWAPAGIFT AND CARDEVENUE SAY THEY HAVE MEASURES IN PLACE TO PROTECT CUSTOMERS... AND IF YOU DO RUN INTO A PROBLEM ... THEY HAVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION DEPARTMENTS.

SOT
KEY@: 1:06 Kevin Kaufmann, Swapped His Gift Card
"I've only used it once and I hit right away!"

TRACK SIX Length: :07
KEVIN'S TRANSACTION WENT OFF WITHOUT A HITCH. HE REGISTERED, POSTED HIS HOME DEPOT CARD AND QUICKLY RECEIVED THE OFFER HE WAS LOOKING FOR.

SOT
KEY@: 1:16 Kevin Kaufmann, Swapped His Gift Card
"I had somebody who had a Best Buy card there who wanted my Home Depot card. Same value, so we swapped..."

TAG
BUT BE AWARE...THE LAWS CONCERNING GIFT CARDS VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. SOME GIFT CARDS HAVE EXPIRATION DATES OR FEES IF THEY ARE NOT USED WITHIN A SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD. FOR HEADS UP, IM SCOTT HANSON.

ANCHOR TAG
AUCTION GIANT E-BAY ALSO ALLOWS SELLERS TO LIST GIFT CARDS FOR SALE, BUT DOES NOT ALLOW SWAPS.
IF YOU'VE GOT A CARD TO SELL OR TRADE, YOU CAN CHECK THE REMAINING BALANCE BY CALLING THE TOLL FREE NUMBER ON THE BACK...AND THE SAME GOES FOR WHEN YOU RECEIVE A CARD.... CHECK THE DOLLAR AMOUNT RIGHT AWAY TO MAKE SURE YOU GOT WHAT YOU PAID FOR.

SOURCES

Gail Hillebrand
Senior Attorney
Consumers Union
1535 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-431-6747 (phone)
415-431-0906 (fax)
hillga@consumer.org

Informational Interview
MJ Kelly
Swapathing, Inc.
13 Summit Square Center #106
Langhorne, PA 19047-1078
1-800-543-SWAP