The are so many occasions and so little time - to shop, at least that's the way it seems. Faced with a growing list of showers, anniversaries, birthdays and holidays, gift cards offer a quick and easy solution to many a gift giving quandary.

Although they give the appearance of being more personal than cash, that is all they are. Cash with an expiration date, fees and limitations.

What do you do when you receive a gift card for a store you don't like? You could re-gift the card or buy a gift for someone else (possibly the person who gave you the card). To often people just throw the card in a drawer or carry it around in their wallets, only to re-discover it when it has lost all of its value.

There is another option, you could trade your gift card for one you can really use. The Gift Card Trader offers free 90 day listings. Only when the card is traded do you incur a nominal fee of $1.99.

Registration is required in order to place a listing or respond to an ad. Before placing a listing, you should verify the value of your gift card. This can typically be done by calling the 800 number listed on the back of the card. Also check the expiration date, you will need to include this information in your listing.

The Gift Card Trader is only used to trade gift cards. If you want to sell a gift card you would have to use another site.

One of the advantages, of trading rather than selling you gift card, is that you can typically get a card of equal value for a small transaction fee. When selling a card online for cash, the card must be significantly discounted. Why would anyone want to buy a card at face value when they can just buy one directly from the store?

Currently there are over 2,000 gift cards listed on The Gift Card Trader website. As with any online transaction always use caution and follow the safety guidelines of the site.