15 Year Old Aims to Bust the Retail Gift Card Racket

What were you doing when you were 15?

Assuming you’ve passed that age, you probably spent a whole bunch of your time sitting around with friends, checking out new music, movies, games, girls/boys and doing all those other things that make teenage years some of the best, and least productive, years of your life.

Not, Lachy Groom.

At 15, Groom, who lives in Perth, Australia has just started his second business (he sold his first design company to a US business) and plans on crushing a scam that the major retailers have been running for years.

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So what is this new venture?

Groom has created CardNap, a secondary market for gift cards.

For too long Gift cards have been a money-making rort for large retail organisations. In Australia, reports from consumer groups show that 1 in 3 cards are not fully used before they expire.

In other words, it’s money for nothing and more and more people get caught every year.

Enter CardNap.

CardNap’s market provides a way for card holders and people who want discounts (that should be everyone, right) to benefit.

• People with unwanted gift cards can exchange them for  into cash by using their card selling process; or
• Those who want to buy Gift Cards can do so  at a price up to 30% lower than the actual credit value

CardNap isn’t the first Secondary market for gift cards, competitors like ABC Gift Cards already exist and do a roaring trade, but that hasn’t stopped Groom from looking to move more heavily into international markets.

For instance, he’s just returned  from a business trip to the UK, where he’s been closing deals and partnerships to support the launch of CardNap in the UK and is also preparing to launch in New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong & South-Korea.

You kidding me?

CardNap has had support from the Sydney-based Seed Accelerator‘s “Business Seed Program” which has provided mentorship and other support to help take the business to the next level.

Whether CardNap succeeds or not I have a feeling we’re going to be hearing more from Groom in the near future.