GiftCards.com reports Jan. sales up 75%

Pittsburgh GiftCards.com, an online site for discounted and Visa gift cards, announced that gift-card sales for the four weeks of January 2010 increased 75% over the same period last year.

"The increase in sales is really twofold. We had an increase in our card redemptions, which increased our card inventory, and we also had a big demand for the discounted gift cards," said Jason Wolfe, CEO of GiftCards.com.

GiftCards.com acquires unwanted gift cards from customers that would rather have the cash than the gift cards.

"We have seen a significant increase in gift-card redemptions this year. I think that many people are just trying to pay down their holiday debt," Wolfe said.