While gift cards seem like an easy gift, and buying discounted gift cards at Costco adds value, they only make sense if people actually use them. My gift card pile at home has at least a couple from restaurants and retailers that no longer operate.
That’s actually pretty typical, and it happens frequently in retail and restaurant bankruptcies. Many, including Sears, Tuesday Morning, and Christmas Tree Shops, only accepted gift cards for a brief period after the company had filed.
“43% of U.S. adults currently have at least one unused gift card, voucher, or store credit,” according to a study from Capital One Shopping. “Average unused value per person is about $244. Total estimated unused gift card value in the U.S. is around…