Don’t forget about the gift cards you got over the holidays
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - You likely got a gift card or two over the holidays. If you haven’t used it yet, you are not alone.
The Mercator Advisory Group says one to two percent of all gift cards goes unused each year - that’s billions of dollars forgotten about.
Don’t let this happen to you, get out all your gift cards and pledge to use them by a certain date.
Put a reminder on your smartphone, so you don’t forget, and not every gift card is right for you.
If it’s to a store you’ll never visit, re-gift it to someone who will. You could even donate it to charity or hand it to a first responder as a thank you for all they’ve done during the pandemic.
You could also trade it with a person you know or sell it to them. Just be careful of selling them online, scams are everywhere. Avoid selling it to a stranger or through Craigslist or Facebook.
If you want to use an online site, make sure it has a post-transaction money-back guarantee.
If you plan to use your gift card know this, under the federal Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, gift cards can’t expire for five years although issuers can charge inactivity fees if the card hasn’t been used within 12 months.
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