Cardpool Launches New 'Marketplace' Option; Allows Gift Card Exchange Sellers to Set Their Own Price

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardpool, Inc., a leading gift card exchange company owned by Blackhawk Network, today announced Cardpool Marketplace, an ecommerce platform that enables sellers to list their pre-owned gift cards on Cardpool.com's website alongside Cardpool's inventory of gift cards. When selling a gift card, customers can accept a direct purchase offer from Cardpool or instead, list their gift card for sale at the price of choice on Marketplace for other buyers to purchase. This additional service gives customers more ways to unlock value from their gift cards.

This new option for buying and selling gift cards comes as awareness and adoption of gift card exchanges continues to grow. A June 2016 Blackhawk Network consumer study on consumer perceptions of egifts* found that 89 percent of the consumers surveyed stated they were aware of gift card exchange sites. However, only 13 percent of respondents said that they have purchased a gift card from an exchange site, while 78 percent said they would feel moderately to extremely safe about purchasing a gift card on a gift card exchange site and 48 percent said that they would consider using an exchange service to buy or sell gift cards.

"Cardpool streamlines the buying and selling process for pre-owned gift cards and egifts. We're continuously working to optimize our gift card exchange tools to 'get the right brands in the right hands'™," said David Jones, general manager of Blackhawk's Digital & Incentive divisions. "We're delighted to offer our customers multiple options for selling and purchasing gift cards and egifts online at Cardpool.com, via mobile through the Cardpool app and in-store at select U.S. retail and grocery locations."

To sell a gift card using Cardpool:

• Enter the card information—brand, value, etc.—and choose to either accept the offer from Cardpool or list the gift card for sale on Cardpool Marketplace.
• If a seller lists the gift card on Cardpool Marketplace, he or she manages the listing while the gift card is for sale.
• Once the gift card is sold on Cardpool Marketplace, the seller ships the physical gift card or emails the egift to the buyer and receives payment after the card or egift is delivered.
• The fees to sell gift cards via Cardpool are among the lowest in the industry, so successful sellers may keep a larger profit margin for themselves.
• Users can sell pre-owned plastic gift cards or egifts at a price below the current balance of the card, and Cardpool accepts brands of merchants or retailers ranging from large-scale national brands to smaller, locally-owned businesses.

Because of the direct sale of gift cards from other consumers, shoppers can expect to find an even wider variety of gift cards to choose from, all with Cardpool's one-year guarantee. See terms and conditions of the guarantee at www.cardpool.com/guarantee.

Cardpool supports purchases and sales of gift cards through a variety of in-store partnerships, online marketplaces and mobile applications. To visit the website or to sell and purchase a gift card, visit www.cardpool.com.

*About Blackhawk's eGift Survey
Blackhawk's egift survey is an Internet-based survey that was conducted by Blackhawk Network in June 2016. The sample size included 1,144 American respondents.

About Cardpool
Cardpool, Inc., a Blackhawk Network, Inc. company, is a leading gift card exchange company where customers can buy discounted gift cards or sell gift cards for cash. Cardpool verifies the balance of each of its gift cards and offers the Cardpool Purchase Guarantee; see cardpool.com for terms and conditions. Cardpool also helps retailers provide their shoppers with these exchange services in their own physical stores or on retailer-branded sites. Cardpool provides a turn-key solution driving commerce for its partners, and retailers may integrate with the exchange services by using Cardpool's proprietary APIs. Located in San Francisco, California; visit Cardpool at www.cardpool.com.

About Blackhawk Network
Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc. HAWK is a global financial technology company and a leader in connecting brands and people through branded value solutions. Blackhawk platforms and solutions enable the management of stored value products, promotions and incentive programs in retail, ecommerce, financial services and mobile wallets. Blackhawk's Hawk Commerce division offers technology solutions to businesses and direct to consumers. The Hawk Incentives division offers enterprise, SMB and reseller partners an array of platforms and branded value products to incent and reward consumers, employees and sales channels. Headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., Blackhawk operates in 26 countries. For more information, please visit  blackhawknetwork.com, hawkcommerce.com, hawkincentives.com or our product websites giftcards.com, giftcardmall.com, cardpool.com, giftcardlab.com and omnicard.com.

CONTACT:
Amanda Fiech
amanda@fletchergroupllc.com
303-525-0520

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SOURCE Cardpool, Inc.