Gift Card Exchange Day: The newest holiday season shopping day

If you received a gift card to a hardware store for Christmas and you don't even know how to use a hammer there is hope. You can trade that card in for cash.

You've heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday; well know there's Gift Card Exchange Day.

This is how it works. You log on to giftcardexchange.com, choose the store you have a gift card to and the amount. Then you'll get a quote for several companies offering to buy that card from you.

However you will not get face value for the card as companies take a slice. For example a $100 gift card to AMC will get you $75 in cash. For a $100 Home Depot card bids start at $88, while on the other hand a $100 gift card from JC Penny is getting a $67 bid, so it's not always a good deal.

So why is there a Gift Card Exchange Day anyway? It's estimated the average household has $300 in unredeemed gift cards. Between 2005 and 2011 $41 Billion in gift cards went unused.

If you want to do this in person Safeway has teamed up with Western Union to help make that happen. All you need is a valid ID and the card must have at least $20 on it to get cash.