Wal-Mart wants to buy your unwanted gift cards
Starting Christmas Day online, Wal-Mart (WMT) will let customers exchange unwanted gift cards from more than 200 retailers, restaurants and other businesses for Wal-Mart cards, which can be used online or in stores. Wal-Mart has partnered with CardCash, the leading online marketplace for gift card exchanges and discounted gift cards, for the initiative. The Wal-Mart gift card exchange program is a test, but could become a permanent service if if successful, the AP reported Wednesday. Shoppers won’t get the full value of their gift cards to use at Wal-Mart, however. Some brands will be worth just 70% of the original card value. Others are closer to full value, such as Amazon.com (AMZN) cards (up to 95% of original value) and Staples (SPLS) cards (up to 90%). Research and advisory firm CEB (CEB) estimates that gift card sales will top $124 billion this year, up 5% over 2013. About…