Swapagift.com Announces Policy Change Regarding Merchandise Credits

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Swapagift.com, who pioneered the Secondary Gift Card market, announces that the purchase and sale of merchandise credits is to be discontinued for security reasons.

Our business is built around purchasing unwanted gift cards that are redeemed for cash at one of our Certified Independent Service Centers or sold to us online through GiftCards.com at a discount. The merchant gift cards are then resold on GiftCards.com at a discount off the face value. Customers purchasing discounted gift cards enjoy the savings and tend to spend more than the value of the gift card which benefits the merchant.

In recent years we have seen an increase in merchandise credits submitted to our Service Centers and online. Although these may be used similarly to merchant gift cards, a disturbing trend of criminal activity returning shoplifted goods back to the merchant for merchandise credits has given us pause to examine the continuation of accepting them.  This announcement on November 1, 2012, memorializes our decision to discontinue accepting merchandise credits.

We touched upon this subject when introducing our Swapagift.com Best Practices Program to our Certified Independent Service Centers, the first of its kind outlining best practices to responsibly do business in the Secondary Gift Card market. We recently enhanced our training for these initiatives to build awareness for Tellers to watch for warning signs and help identify illicit merchandise credit characteristics to avoid accepting those cards.

Annually, shoplifting losses of $30 billion affect merchants and ultimately the prices we all pay for the items we purchase. Swapagift.com promotes the battle against criminal activity and is the first in the industry to provide programs and technologies to help prevent these losses. Swapagift.com is committed to protecting its clients, the company and the general public while preserving the integrity of the Secondary Gift Card Industry.

About Swapagift.com, LLC

Swapagift.com, LLC is the leading liquidator of unused merchant gift cards. With over 1,200 Certified Independent Service Centers offering our gift card redemption service in their financial services stores, Swapagift.com provides the only liquidation service of its kind in the secondary gift card market. Founded in 2003, Swapagift.com maintains offices in Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit www.swapagift.com.

About GiftCards.com

GiftCards.com™ is the online leader in gift cards, corporate incentives, group gifts, and discount gift cards to hundreds of today's most popular retailers. GiftCards.com is the exclusive website to offer payment association branded gift cards to over 4 million local retailers, including restaurants, apparel retailers, car washes and more.

If you would like further information regarding Swapagift please feel free to contact:

Russell Hartzog Business Development Manager
www.swapagift.com
877-746-6664 x:9510
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE GiftCards.com