oh oh ♪ ♪ don't you ask me for just one more kiss don't you see how weak i get ♪ ♪ when i can grant your wish so oh oh ♪ ♪ you don't own me i'm not just one of your many toys ♪ ♪ you don't own me don't say i can't go with other boys ♪ ♪ and don't tell me what to do don't tell me what to say ♪ ♪ and please when i go out with you don't put me on display cause ♪ ♪ you don't own me don't try to change me in any way ♪

♪ ♪

tonight on "nightline," many happy returns. want extra cash to pay the holiday bills. look no further than unwanted gifts. if you didn't get what you wanted this season, the secrets how to give it back and get paid. >> the last stop, inside the hidden world of human smuggling. we travel where cameras rarely venture. and survival is for sale. from camouflage backpacks to water to the dusty mexican town where anything goes. ground zero for those desperate enough to cross the line. >> and hotel room revolution, the amenity travelers love to hate, the minibar.

now minihotel chains say they're phasing them out. is this the end of a $10 candy

good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm byron pitts. it is a new year, if your resolution has anything to do with taking control of your finances, tonight we'll show you how to navigate a real gift exchange, that is turning all unwanted gifts into money you can actually use. ugly sweaters, unnecessary appliances, abc's paula faris has an inside look at a real gold mine that starts at home. >> five, four, three -- >> reporter: the holidays have come and gone. leaving most of us exhausted.

but even with a major snowstorm and freezing temperature thousands blasting the country, don't hide in your house till spring. january is the best time of year to take all of those unwanted gifts and turn them into cash. >> last year, retailers had $264 billion of merchandise returned. so for 2013 into 2014 it will be bigger. >> that $264 billion is hiding in most of our homes. >> hi, i'm paula. >> reporter: meet a party planner and stay at home mom. dad works in software industry. >> what did you get for christmas? >> reporter: like so many parents over the holidays, they shopped in december to make sure santa delivered on christmas morning. did you get this for christmas? what is it? after a busy shopping season, the bills can pile up.

and who doesn't need extra cash? >> unreturned gifts post holiday it is like a minigold mine sitting in your home. people could have some where between $50 to $250 worth of merchandise just sitting there. >> reporter: the number one item to be sent back -- all those christmas sweaters. over 60% of clothing items get returned. >> unless you know that person very well, i would pretty much guarantee in may that that swelter is going to be returned. >> reporter: toys and electronics get sent back. the one thing that people hold on to. >> jewelry, watches. that makes sense too, people don't want to part with the diamond. >> reporter: the family didn't get diamond, santa didn't bring them a new camera something they want. >> reporter: you do have a nice camera, but not practical? >> not practical at all. try to got this out t. >> reporter: get it out? >> i lost. and, this, really? really? >> reporter: you are a little

overloaded. we brought in a tech maven, from "the wall street journal" to help the family turn their christmas loot and household goods into ha cold hard cash. first up, did you know you could get cash for kids' clothes without leaving your home. thread up will give you dough for gently used duds. they'll send the bag. you load it up. >> zip-up hoody. >> $4.65. >> over $40 now. >> by the time the eldest turned 17, the family will have spent $14,000 on her wardrobe, multiply by four kids you are talking about $56,000. santa may have gotten the kids new clothes, mom and dad got $80 for their old ones. half of what they will need for the camera. next, go junk drawer diving for hidden treasure. >> we upgraded, this year, so we don't need this. we have a blackberry. we can trade them in on amazon, and nextworth.com. if you want money on the spot.

try target. you can trade in used video games and electronics. you could get $9.50. what if i wanted to trade in my iphone? that's good to know. >> yep. >> reporter: pretty good. >> $199 on contract. >> reporter: back at the family home, two rooms down, $218. we keep dig. we strike gold with the christmas gift cards. >> barnes & noble. >> gift card granny they gave us $46 for the amazon gift card. at gift card rescue.com, another $46, for $60 worth of cards. if you decide to hold on to your gift card. be sure you don't leave money on it. and forget about it. >> make sure you have an account of how much money are on the gift cards. you would be surprised if you look at the gift cards that you have gotten over the years, how much you have actually left on there. couldened end up totaling $75 $100.

>> since 2005, estimated $40 billion left on gift cards. money down the drain. and even though you may be shopped out, january is the best time of the year for sales. >> a lot of the retailers want to get rid of their old mid to make room for the new. and electronics, clothing, winter clothing, bedding, home items, can go on seaale, 60% fo 80% off. giving you extra bang for your buck on the gift card. looking for discounts, shop wholesalers for big ticket items. many end up in warehouses like this. >> can you seep us. >> reporter: they're letting us into the warehouse. mountains of unwrapped, unwanted presence. scooters, slides. ceiling fans, games. >> i have a feeling santa may want to shop here next year? >> reporter: they resell them on their website for discounts of 80%. >> for people that didn't like what was under the tree, a lot of gifts come back here. if it is out of the box they scant put it on the shelves.

>> reporter: where we found the family camera for a fraction of the cost. jamie, jordan, the whole reason we were here was to put real money in your hands. we got enough money to get your new camera. sony cybershot. >> yea! >> reporter: actually enough for two cameras. the family uncovered $375 in household goods. now gold instead of garbage. so, for the rest of us, who are staring at a pile of unwanted christmas loot, experts urge you to get organized and hit the stores. >> the main point is to get motivated and get out there and get, get what you deserve. which its the present that you have always wanted. >> reporter: it worked for the family, capturing a photo album of family memories. for "nightline," paula faris, in new jersey. >> thank you to paula faris. to find out more about cashing in wanted gifts. go to abc news.com/"nightline." next we travel to a place just across the border where survival its for sale.

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now a rare look inside a secret world, where cameras have seldom penetrated into the heart of the mexican town where human smuggling is the principal business. and immigrants pay inflated price for what may be their last purchases on the earth. watt tire get them across the desert. coats to protect them from night cold, and if all else fails,

rosaries. here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: the cold, hard end of the road. a metal slab in the morgue, tucson, arizona, where hundreds of unnamed immigrants end their desperate quest for an american life. and it falls to robin, an anthropologist working among the dead here to tackle the huge task of identifying the remains of men and women who died crossing the mexican border over the past three years. >> the i think it is really important for us to think about the human cost of our border today. >> reporter: down the hall, robin keeps a solemn locker room. >> people are carrying a lot of religious items with them. like rosaries. many, many prayer cards. it really, to me indicates that you are, you are planning for something where you need extra protection. >> she keeps a book filled with the hard luck cases. >> these are cases where the family is called in. they haven't found someone yet.

they don't know what happened. their son or daughter called from altar and said, mom, we are crossing the border tomorrow as soon as we get across i am going to call you. and they never heard anything. >> reporter: the call never comes. altar, a town, an infamous dusty crossroad for immigrants coming to the u.s. illegally. the coyote whose prey on them and drug cartels who some say control it all. few have ever gone there with cameras. who do we choose to provide a halo of protection an unarmed, diminutive, good samaritan, named sister mercedes. >> the economy is all based on immigrants. yes the immigrants in the town. >> reporter: she helps run a shelter for migrants untouched by the cartels. we venture through the heart of the town, the center square. >> this is where they all meet. people from different places, from nicaragua, honduras, el salvador, guatemala.

there is a church here watching over it all. the guys in the white vans do not seem very religious. they're coyotes. their gutted vehicles line the square. >> they take, 20, 30 people in there like sardines. >> reporter: sister mercedes says her experience is that the guys charge each of the sardines about 3,000 pesos or $230 for the two-hour drive to the border. but this coyote squares the price is only 100 pesos per head. $8. and then is anxious for the nosy reporter to move along. >> all of this is more the migrants. all of the products are what they buy to take with them. bags, jackets. ski masks, blankets. the desert gets surprisingly cold. everything is in camouflage. >> si. >> here hanging up in every shop is an item you went see at saks or wal-mart, carpet shoes.

>> that's what they put on so they don't leave footprints. the border patrol doesn't find them. >> reporter: in high demand, rosaries protection from a higher source. then over here we went into a group of would-be migrants sizing up the carpet shoes. [ speaking foreign language ] >> we plan to cross tomorrow, tomorrow night if they give us a chance. so far, he says he has spent 7,000 pesos, $560 to make it this far. the price tag to cross the border can be real money. ,000 $4,000. a with real risks. >> biggest danger, dehydration, snakes, animals. >> reporter: the final step is the most risky, meeting with the coyote. >> reporter: your part, how much do you charge to get them from altar to the united states? >> translator: it depend. but usually to go to phoenix we ask $35,500.

>> not sure if this was their coyote, he was the only one willing to speak here at altar. then only if we dent shidn't sh face. >> translator: if you don't rob the migrant, if you've treat them well it is fine. i belief we are offering them a service. >> and that, my friend is altar, very happy to get the sour taste of a predatory business out of our mouths. it is back to the other side of the story now. people actually trying to help out those desperate immigrants. >> it is a very small space. you can see. but as i tell different people -- this is where the miracles happen. >> reporter: father sean, a jesuit. he and his group called the kino border initiative serve two meals a day. with a heaping portion of dignity in nogales, mexico. so what its the mission?

>> address the urgent humanitarian needs that people have. >> reporter: aren't you facilitating what people here frequently call illegals? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: aren't you complicit? >> our motivation is fais-bath-d one. people in difficult situations make choices. they're fleeing violence or looking for a better life. >> reporter: this man who traveled from honduras across mexico now plans to cross the border into the united states, the next day. >> reporter: why do you want to go? what kind of job do you think you will do? >> i am a chef. i know how to cook. >> reporter: so far he has been on the road 20 days and is flat broke. his life savings of $500 exto extorted from him at cartel check points. who did you have to pay that to, a coyote? >> no. >> reporter: to who? are you afraid?

to cross? >> no. i'm with god, man. >> reporter: irena is sad and loany. her last two attempts to cross, resulted in the capture of her husband. how strong is your dream to been the united states? >> translator: it is important to be in the united states for my children. they will go to school and learn english. >> reporter: all the trips, all the danger, it is all for the two kids. right? >> translator: they are everything to me. they will have a better life and won't suffer as much as me. >> reporter: giving up on the desperate journaey that begins n a cynical town, preying on immigrants, delivers the vulnerable into our kitchens, front yard, and yes, sometimes to that morgue where robin keeps the small memento thousands of the dead. >> they're kind of humble,

intimate things. you know? so i try to treat this with, as much respect and dignity as i can. >> reporter: we note among the most popular items carried by immigrants, saint jude, the personal saint of lost causes. for "nightline," jim avila, along the arizona border. >> our thanks to jim avila and his producers. we'll be right back. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. [ cellphone beeps ] this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. but he's got such sensitive skin

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>> finally tonight, a fixture for every hotel traveler, the minibar. the end may be near for this expensive amenity. here is nick watt with a soon of the times. >> it is the lonely business traveler's best friend. home of the $9 mouthful of scotch and the $3.50 sugar rush. but for how much longer?

some say this once little box of booze is going the way of the dinosaurs. >> the hotel minibar is a dying amenity. >> the men knee bar invented in the 50s by the germans and conquered the world. but a recent trip adviser survey discovered 21% of guests now care if there is a minibar. but the dictator summed up how many people feel. >> $10 a day for internet. what the [ bleep ]. and they accuse me of being an international criminal? nobody touch the minibar! >> marriott is phasing them out. hilton, hyatt doing something similar. some are using an empty fridge you can stock yourself. >> losing a lot of money from the minibar. not only expensive to have the minibar. people are stealing things. >> reporter: the old drink the vodka, fill the bottle with

water. pop it in the minibar trick. the there is more to it than that. apparently hotel guests are becoming more sociable. >> the days of really eating room service and attacking your minibar in your guest room are slowly evolving. people really want to spend more time out in public areas and feel comfortable. >> reporter: here at lowes in hollywood they're upgrading the lobby. sofas, candles, brand new bar. >> people want to be seen when they go to the hotels. like wearing a brand label. all about being social now. and thanks to social media. >> reporter: the poor minibar has one potential life line. lowes and luxury brand are keeping them for now. do you have the little pads you can tell if somebody lifted the whisky. >> we do. >> reporter: they're updating the minibar for modern pallets. >> for example, we have such, such a gummy, gummy -- gummy bears. >> reporr: