Gift cards. You probably have one crammed in your wallet.

"They do have the tendency to sit in my wallet and I kind of forget that they're there," said shopper Lori Whittlesey. She has several left over from last Christmas.

“There’s one,” she said. Two more make three.

Like many shoppers, Whittlesey, holds onto to them for just the right item. The problem is she may never find it.

"I've had them expire. I've had them go a year probably," said another shopper.

But you don’t have to sit on your gift cards. You can turn them into cash with the stroke of your keypad.

Web sites like plasticjungle.com give card holders the options to buy, sell or trade. You can choose from a long list of stores. Cardavenue.com has a similar concept but requires a minimum bid for auction.

At Fred Meyer stores, gift cards last as long as cash.

“Fred Meyer gift cards don’t expire they never have,” said Melinda Merrill with Fred Meyer stores.

Last year, the state of Oregon passed a law making it illegal for retail gift cards to expire or decrease in value. But that doesn’t apply to credit card gift cards like Master Card because they’re regulated at the federal level.

The best way to get the full value for your card is to use it at the store that issued it. But if you can’t you may want to try the websites that can help you get the cards out of your wallet and turn them into cash.

Here are some Web sites that the consumer experts recommend:

Plasticjungle.com

Cardavenue.com

Swapagift.com