Posted on 06/02/2009 1:37:31 AM PDT by JoeProBono
SAN FRANCISCO (Private Equity Week) - With jobs and credit harder to come by, cash-strapped consumers increasingly are looking to bring in a little extra money selling the gift cards they receive as presents. That's contributing to a pickup in activity gift card resale sites, which are drawing higher traffic and greater interest from outside investors. Plastic Jungle, a Clovis, Calif.-based site for selling, buying and exchanging gift cards, last week announced the largest recent deal in the sector. It raised $4.8 million in a Series A round of venture funding from Shasta Ventures The 12-person startup plans to use the money to add staff and expand its marketing efforts. "There are about $40 billion worth of unspent gift cards in consumers' desk drawers and sock drawers," according to Gary Briggs, a former eBay chief marketing officer, who joined Plastic Jungle as CEO in November. "We think the opportunity is quite significant."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
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