There are a handful of things we can count on every holiday season: time off from work and school; an overweight, bearded out-of-towner breaking into homes through the chimney; tone-deaf neighbors singing at your doorstep; embarrassing office-party antics; overeating; and, of course, gift cards.

Gift cards are everywhere this time of year, and for good reason: people generally love them.

But you don’t want yours to be just one gift card among many received by your intended recipients this year. You’d probably prefer it to be enjoyed rather than forgotten in a drawer full of clutter. And you certainly want to get a good deal, because who doesn’t?

Given that your gift card strategy can make or break the holiday season, particularly the budget part, the personal finance website WalletHub compiled a list of 10 great tips for gift card success.

1. Look for a discount.

You might assume that sales and savings don’t apply to the gift card market, since gift cards are more like currency than retail products with traditional product margins.

That’s not the case, however, as the best gift cards can all be bought for less than face value. See the sidebar for where to look for deals on the best gift card exchanges.

2. Avoid card-network gift cards.

Gift cards from Visa, MasterCard and Discover might seem like they’re as good as cash, since they can be used anywhere, but they’re actually quite inferior.

While retailers make money immediately when one of their gift cards gets purchased, these card-network gift cards make money from fees. There’s generally a fee of at least $3.95 when you purchase such a gift card, followed by a $2.50 monthly inactivity fee if the card isn’t used for 12 consecutive months.

So if you want the versatility of cash, why not just use cash instead? It will certainly be cheaper.

3. Don’t confuse gift cards and prepaid cards.

Despite often being displayed next to each other in stores, gift cards and prepaid cards are very different animals. Gift cards are designed to be used only until the original balance is gone.

Prepaid cards, on the other hand, are reloadable and designed to serve the same purpose as a checking account with a debit card.

Prepaid cards also have a lot of different fees associated with them, so giving one to someone instead of a gift card could result in the recipient not getting as much value as you intended.

In fact, the average prepaid card has nine separate fees, and the wrong prepaid card could cost an individual up to $311 per year if used incorrectly.

4. Beware loyalty cards.

A loophole in the law allows nonreloadable prepaid cards (aka gift cards) that are received through a loyalty, award or promotional program to expire with no restriction.

For context, normal gift cards cannot expire until five years from the date of issuance.

So it’s important to verify that you are indeed buying/receiving actual gift cards this holiday season and to read any applicable fine print.

5. Resale is always an option.

If you don’t end up using a particular gift card or the recipient doesn’t like it, you’re not out of luck.

You can sell it on a gift card exchange or simply swap gift cards with a friend or family member. See the sidebar for the year’s best gift card exchanges.

6. When in doubt, just give cash.

Cold, hard cash might seem a bit less personal than a gift card, but it completely eliminates guesswork from the equation and is the most versatile gift anyone can give.

Plus, you might be able to give your recipient more value without shipping fees or shopping trips to worry about.

7. Tap into unredeemed value.

Have you contributed to the billions of dollars in gift cards that have gone unredeemed in recent years? Check your drawers and find out. Any gift card from the past five years is most likely still good.

You have three basic options when it comes to unlocking the value of unused gift cards.

First, you can sell unwanted gift cards for cash. Secondly, most stores allow you to trade in old, unused gift cards for new ones, which is great news for regifting cards that have developed noticeable wear and tear as a result of sitting idle for years.

Finally, most states have programs that allow you to recoup unused funds from expired gift cards under unclaimed property laws.

8. Buy gift cards with rewards.

Most credit card rewards programs allow you to redeem your points/miles for gift cards from a wide variety of major retailers. In many cases, you can garner more value from this type of redemption strategy than redeeming for cash.

For example, under Citibank’s rewards program, you need 10,000 ThankYou points to get $50 in cash back, whereas you only need 5,000 points (50 percent fewer) for a $50 gift card.

9. E-gift cards are great in a time crunch.

E-gift cards have been gaining traction in recent years, and increased mobile functionality stands to foster greater use of such products this holiday season.

That’s good news for time-crunched shoppers who want to avoid the shipping fees that many major retailers charge for physical gift cards ordered online.

“E-cards make redemption easier in terms of logistics, time and salience (once you enter the card number to your account, the money is there waiting to be used),” said Ayelet Gneezy, associate professor of marketing in the University of California, San Diego’s Rady School of Management.

“In short, this is one domain where I expect digital to provide consumers great value.”

10. Avoid using gift cards as an excuse to overspend.

When redeeming gift cards, two-thirds of consumers spend more than their cards’ face value, according to Consumer Reports. This is likely due to the same psychological factor that leads consumers to spend more with credit cards than cash: the money somehow seems less real.

While gift cards can be quite useful in subsidizing the cost of large purchases, you should be especially cognizant of your spending when using a gift card, so as to avoid unnecessary expenses.

For the full list of 2017’s best gift cards, visit http://bit.ly/2A9aDbv.

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