How to Keep Gift Cards From Going to Waste

With certain gift cards that are widely accepted—think Visa, American Express, or Amazon—this might not be an issue because it’s easier to deplete balances. On the other hand, brand-specific gift cards, which limit consumers to a single establishment, can be a slippery slope to overspending. 

An annoyance to shoppers, it’s a beneficial outcome for merchants known as “up spend,” or when a consumer expends more on a purchase than the value of the gift card, says Amy Dunckelmann, vice president of research operations at Mercator Advisory Group.

Instead of disregarding or tossing out that card, keep it on hand for future purchases. If you don’t foresee yourself using the card, consider reloading it (if possible) and giving it to someone else for a birthday, holiday, or celebration. If you have multiple gift cards with leftover sums, keep a list with the card numbers and corresponding balances, which you can easily refer to and use the next time you’re shopping.

To track remaining balances, look to the back of your card. “Retailers provide information on where consumers can go to check their balances—usually a retailers’ website, although some offer a toll-free phone number,” say the experts behind the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA), a trade group that promotes high standards and best practices in the gift card industry. 

Avoid using third-party apps or services to check your gift card balances because they could potentially lead to theft or scams. “Whether you have a gift card to a store or restaurant or a bank-issued gift card, the safest and most secure way to check the balance of a gift card is to go directly to the gift card issuer,” Hunter says, adding that issuers are the only source that can provide an accurate balance.