I give a lot of gift cards for birthdays and Christmas, because I like the flexibility* they provide to the recipients. Generally I get them from rewards programs, which means that most arrive as e-gift cards. I print out two copies: one to give and one as backup in case the cards get lost.
Which isn’t me being paranoid. Lost gift cards are a thing. According to a Bankrate.com poll of nearly 2,400 adults, U.S. residents have an estimated $15.3 billion in unspent spending power just lying around. The average amount is $116 per person.
On the bright side, it was $167 per person back in January 2020. That’s progress.
These numbers are sobering – and unnecessary. That’s why I’m proposing that we all go on an unused gift card hunt. Mine happened on Sunday, quite by accident.
While organizing the holiday presents I’ve already bought, I found copies of e-gift cards from the past couple of years. Just for fun, I decided to check for outstanding balances. Found some, too.
Most were small amounts (10 cents, 66 cents, 88 cents) but one Hot Topic gift card still had $14 of the original $25 left on it. Maybe my great-niece’s copy got left in the shopping bag and later discarded. Maybe it got lost in her room and was later swept up in a great de-cluttering.
Fact is, that money has been languishing in e-limbo for almost two years, waiting to be used. You, too, might have such cards, or some store credit, forgotten in an unused purse or a desk drawer.
Gift cards: Don’t waste them
Almost half (49 percent) of the people surveyed by Bankrate said they’d actually lost gift cards, whether that meant physically losing the goods, having them expire or seeing the retailer go out of business.
Recently I did an article for Money Talks News called “3 things that will make this Christmas more expensive.” Briefly stated, they are:
- Supply-chain issues
- General inflation
- Shipping price hikes and planned slowdowns
As a result, certain holiday gifts may be hard to find this year – and when you do find them, they’re likely to cost more. You can also expect inflation to kite the prices for garden-variety items unaffected by the above factors.
If you’re organized, and also lucky to be in a position to shop all year long, then you may already have finished your holiday buying. Thus you’ll escape this year’s price hikes. (Maybe next year’s, too, if you hit the post-holiday sales and keep watch throughout 2022 for other good deals.)
And if you’re not? I suggest you get going right now – and that you start with one of those gift-card hunts. Any unused scrip that you turn up will help defray the cost of this year’s celebration. Even a 66-cent gift card balance is wanted and needed. I’ll be dropping off those stragglers with my niece sometime this week.
Readers: Do you have unused gift cards/store credit? And if you answered “no,” are you sure you don’t have any?
*I always make sure the scrip is to their favorite retailers.
Related reading:
- 13 ways to use unwanted gift cards
- Extreme Frugality: Holiday attitude edition
- The REAL way to save on Black Friday
I have both unused, and lost within the house/purse/car/coupon box.
It happens. A couple of years ago, while clearing out some old paperwork, I found $20 worth of gift cards I’d bought and set aside.
And we, too, have a coupon box. While shuffling through it a few months back I found movie gift cards someone had given DF for Christmas a while back. He rarely goes to the movies, except to see the Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts, so he’d tossed them into the box and forgotten them. We’re going to see the Met’s HD broadcast of “Boris Gudonov” next month, so I plan to bring the gift cards and see if their value can be applied toward the $25 tickets. Here’s hoping.
I have several. One to a hair salon that my husband gave me. I have not used it because of Covid, but will soon. I also found 2 Dollar Tree gift cards when my Brother passed that I had given him. One was still in the envelope I mailed to him and one I know he used some, but may have a balance. I also have a TJ Maxx gift card with a balance. Thanks for reminding me to get out there and spend. I can do some Christmas shopping with these, except the hair. That one is all mine.
As it should be!
I am sorry about the loss of your brother.
Thank you. It was expected, but no one is ever prepared for it. Love your site.
I have a box where I keep the physical ones but this reminds me that we have one that I really need to remember when we travel next. I’ll have to set up a travel prep checklist now and put it on there.
I have several gift cards around for various reasons. I rarely get to starbucks, but have some gift cards I keep them in case I end up there, or if I need a gift for someone. Recently I dropped my average unused gc balance by finding some to a grocery chain I never used to use, but now it’s the only one in town. Once I ended up with a $10 starbucks card when someone was cleaning receipts out of their purse and accidentally had one in the stack. It was in the trash. There was no way to track the person down.
When I get a gift card to a place I won’t be using, I often pass it along to the workers I hire at my house, most often to their young assistants. This includes the young men helping cut down tree limbs, the plumber, the guy who mows my grass when I don’t feel well, etc. Quiet often the cards are for fast food places (I have food allergies and often cant’ use them), or for a free cold drink at one, and these guys often lunch there. They love getting the “tips” and in return, I get incredible service. Many times they’ll do something extra for me and not charge for it.