Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday, according to the National Retail Federation. Most will be redeemed.

Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays.

Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.

Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.

But many cards — tens of billions of dollars’ worth — wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.

    • @9point6
      9•9 months ago

      For sure, but I had an “expires in 6 months” gift card for a restaurant over here a year ago. Could have done with not feeling forced to squeeze it in-between existing plans

    • @[email protected]English
      4•9 months ago

      Uh, what? Are you defending companies stealing gift card money from people because it’s a “weird account on the books”?

        • @fishpen0
          3•9 months ago

          Oh noo, my business has thousands of dollars bearing interest for half a decade whatever will I do

          Starbucks makes nearly as much off interest from their gift card accounts as they do actually selling products. It accounts for 155m of revenue annually.