We need to spend this gift certificate - or sell it

We bought the microwave you see in the picture below sometime in 1994. There's a funny story that goes with that; it was the first microwave we had ever owned and my mother, who lived with us and was 84 at the time, chastised us for purchasing it.

"Oh, you kids. Whenever there is anything new, you just have to run out and buy it!", she exclaimed when we showed it to her.

I don't know exactly when microwaves became common household items, but it was long before 1994, and we definitely didn't just run out and buy this. In fact, we were very hesitant about it. My wife wasn't sure we needed it; she did just fine with our toaster oven, didn't she? I was a bit more in favor of it because I could see that it would be perfect for leftovers, but it took many a testimonial from friends and significant price drops before my wife agreed.

Well, it's 2010 and we still have that microwave. I don't remember what it cost, but we've certainly gotten our money's worth out of it.

More than a few years back the 2 and the 7 keys stopped working. The only time that really bothers us is when there has been a power failure and we need to reset the clock. We have to wait until there are no 2's or 7's in the current time. For everything else, well, 19 seconds is usually as good as 20 and if it isn't, 10 seconds twice surely is. We saw no reason to replace it just because of that.

The gift certificate

However, I won a $100.00 Best Buy gift certificate in a sales contest a little over a year ago and the certificate bounced around here because, well, because there was nothing we needed or even wanted at Best Buy. Really, nothing. We looked, but we found nothing.

About six months back, I suggested replacing the microwave. I wasn't enthusiastic about that idea and neither was my wife. We just don't like throwing out perfectly good stuff. Well, ok, it's not perfectly good, but it's mostly good, right? We just hate being wasteful. Yeah, we're Yankees.

But then we started worrying. What if we lose the certificate? What if Best Buy goes out of business? That could happen, and as we both lose our keys and glasses all the time and I even lost my wallet the other day and found it in the trash, we could easily misplace that certificate. We agreed that we should buy a new microwave. Maybe we could donate the old microwave - probably not, but we'd like to think so.

So today we picked up a Frigidaire 900W for $55.00 We brought it home, unpacked it, and within two minutes had it back in its box. It seems like a cheap piece of junk. I found good reviews of it online, but we can't imagine what they were comparing it to. The numbers and controls are small and hard to see and the carousel seems flimsy.

Does anybody make a good quality .9 cubic foot unit? If anyone does, Best Buy doesn't seem to sell it. I have the sinking feeling this gift certificate is never going to get used.

Selling it?

I just found out about Plastic Jungle. Apparently I can sell that useless (to me) $100 Best Buy card for $86.00 cash.

That seems like a good deal to me. You can also buy gift cards there (though they don't have any Best Buy cards right now so we can't determine the margin). The price a place like Plastic jungle is willing to pay depends upon the store where it can be redeemed - if it is some regional chain that has very few stores, you'll get a lower price for that than you would for a chain that has stores in every town.

The buying site may also have minimum amounts it will be willing to accept. Not too many folks would want a card with just $9.00 left on it.

Obviously if there are signs that a particular store is in economic trouble and might be heading for bankruptcy, neither the buying site nor anyone else will want your card. You should hustle on down and try to find something you can buy.

If you decide that you don't want to sell but are concerned that the store might be heading for trouble, check out http://www.scripsmart.com. They'll let you set up a notification email if that store ever shows danger of disappearing or your card will expire soon. By the way, they also have a page where you can check what laws your State has in place about those gift cards. For example, in my State, the merchant is required to give you back cash once you have spent 90% of the gift card.

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