Tips for Last-Minute Shopping

Dec. 23, 2004 -- -- With less than 48 hours to go before the big day, holiday shopping is in high gear. According to the National Retail Federation, 20 percent of holiday sales will occur this week -- a large percentage in the next two days. MasterCard is predicting its single busiest hour of the year, in terms of transaction volume, to occur from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

With this as the backdrop, here are some important tips if you still have room under the tree:

Mellody's Merry Tips:

If you receive a gift card you do not want, instead of leaving it in your wallet to expire, register it online at swapagift.com or cardavenue.com. Both of these sites allow consumers to buy, sell or trade gift cards with other users. The transaction fees range from $3.99 to 6.25 percent of the value of the card. This is not only a good way to get rid of a card you do not want, but an excellent means to finding a good deal. For example, as of Wednesday a Pottery Barn card with a balance of $320.15 was being auctioned for $290 on swapagift.com and a $500 Pier One Imports gift card was available for $425 -- a savings of 10 percent and 15 percent!

And Remember …

Mellody's Math: If the average American charged holiday expenses of $702 and only paid the minimum of $17.55 a month, with an average annual percentage rate of 13 percent, it would take 93 months -- nearly eight years -- to pay off the debt and they would pay an additional $358 in interest.

Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital Management (arielmutualfunds.com) in Chicago, is "Good Morning America's" personal finance expert. Ariel associates Matthew Yale and Aimee Daley contributed to this report.