Grim Gift Card Facts

Another drawback:

If you received a gift card for theholidays, don't let it gather dust in yourdesk drawer. A lot of gift cards have anexpiration date, some as little as 9months out, and if you don't use it, youmay lose it. Card issuers may also nickyou for an inactivity fee of a few dollarsa month if you don't use the card for aspecified period. With most cards, you must use theentire amount for shopping; most cardswon't give you any unspent cash back.That can be a double shot in the bottomline for gift card issuers—according tosome estimates, gift cards can pump upspending by as much as 40%, while theunused value left on gift cards can runbetween 14% and 22%.