Re-Gifting Your Gift Cards

Full disclosure: You are about to read about a company that I work with outside of my role as blogger, but I wouldn't feature them if I didn't think they had a compelling proposition!

The only thing worse than getting a present you don’t want is getting a gift card you can’t use. 

According to the National Retail Federation, gift cards are the most popular present but research from Consumer Affairs indicates that $5-$10 billion in gift cards go unused each year. The average household has $300 in unused gift cards collecting dust. 

Gift card exchange site Cardpool.com connects millions of gift card holders creating a marketplace where they can buy, sell or trade gift cards safely and securely. With Cardpool, gift card holders can send in their unused and unwanted cards for cash or other gift cards that they want. Cardpool accepts gift cards to more than 200 major retailers, from clothing to airlines to restaurants. As long as the gift cards don't have any fees or expiration dates, users can get up to 90% cash back for their returns.

And for those lazy, last-minute shoppers, Cardpool offers a wide variety of gift cards from top retailers like Banana Republic, Best Buy and Macy's for discounts of up to 30%.All orders and transactions include free shipping.

Shopping Rewards

Next time you're strolling the aisle of your local grocery store or scoping out items at the pharmacy, you could be earning rewards.

CheckPoints is a new, free retail rewards app that users to accrue points instantly redeemable for real-world prizes, by checking-in to over a million retail locations across the U.S. and scanning barcodes on advertised products. 

Shoppers earn rewards just for checking in. No purchase necessary. (Think Foursquare for the grocery store.)

Here's how it works:

• Users scan featured product barcodes in stores to accrue reward points. CheckPoints product partners to date include Belkin, Energizer, Seventh Generation, and Tyson Foods.

• After scanning, users will see a “post check-in” screen that could include a coupon, mini-game or link to the brand’s mobile website, social page, app, etc.  (i.e. if someone scans Tyson Any’tizers, they will receive a post check-in mini game that lets them “flick” a chicken nugget through goal posts.  They position Any’tizers as a “snack for football get-togethers”) 
  
• Users then cash in their rewards for real prizes – i.e. gift cards, airline miles or gadgets like the iPad

CheckPoints is giving out enough bonus points to allow new users to get a $1 gift card through Oct. 18, making it the first app to cost “negative one dollar.”

The Best Mobile Apps for Labor Day Weekend

Here at FF we're not always up on our mobile apps. Maybe it's because we're still rockin' a Crazer and a two-year-old Blackberry Curve. 

That's why we leave it to the experts to clue us in on the hottest apps.

Gripd.com, a company that develops Web and iPhone applications, just sent us their top five picks for travel apps to accompany you on your road trip this Labor Day weekend.  

If you have an iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone, here’s a quick rundown of the best 5 travel apps:

Weatherbug – The simplicity of Apple’s Weather app, but with a few extras for your phone. It’s the largest network of professional weather stations in the US and is the only source for truly live, local weather (as taken from their site).

BePut - Enables users to share their whereabouts with people they want to find them. Users simply use the application to locate their exact position and with a touch of a button, have the opportunity to send an email or text message to the desired recipient with their exact location. The recipient gets a special FindMe Key which is secure.

Car Care & Roadside Emergencies - Hate it when things don't go your way? Driving home from the beach and you get a flat tire? Come out to the parking lot only to find someone backed up into your car, leaving a massive dent? These situations happen, and usually when you  least expect them. For those who need a helping hand in these situations, particularly us city folk who aren't used to driving and fixing cars, this is the app for you.

Waze - Waze is a social mobile application that enables drivers to build and use real-time road intelligence. The service includes constantly-updated road maps, alerts on traffic and accidents, and data providing users with the fastest route to get to wherever they need to go. Map and traffic updates are automatically collected and generated as users drive with Waze activated, but drivers can also actively report and update other users with what's happening on the road.

Shazam – In the car for hours and can’t figure out the song playing on the radio? When you hear a song and wonder what it is, Shazam is there with the answer. Hold your iPhone to the music and within seconds Shazam will tell you the artist and track name. You can even download the song through iTunes on your iPhone.