Did you know that it is illegal to actually and literally burn money or damage coins? Destroying or damaging money is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code and is legally enforced by the Secret Service. (Believe it or not, the Secret Service was created to combat the scourge of counterfeiting about three months after the Civil War ended. But that is another article.) A man named Ronald Lee Foster was convicted under this code in 1963. In 1963, Foster scraped the edges of pennies so that the vending machines of that era would recognize them as dimes. Foster spent a year in prison and paid a $20 fine. ($20 in 1963 would be $170 in today’s money.) So technically if you burn, rip, deface, or alter legal tender, you could be arrested. However, such crimes are hardly investigated unless perpetrated on a mass scale. So, why have I regaled you with this factoid? Because even though it is not illegal, we burn money when we waste or throw away Gift cards. Can gift cards be returned for cash?

Can gift cards be returned for cash? Yes, but there are usually conditions involved. And before we can really talk about the logistics of returning gift cards for cash, we need to discuss spillage.

Additionally, it goes without saying that you should use every penny on your gift card. You are just burning money if you don’t.

Spillage

Have you ever heard of spillage? Well, if you buy a gift card and then only use a portion of its available face value, then you are creating spillage.

You are literally burning money.

About 85% of people who use gift cards barely use 34% of the gift card’s face value. Not many people can be bothered to use the full amount of money available to them on gift cards.

You must consider the astronomical amounts of money we spend on gift cards to better understand the scourge of spillage.

In 1999, consumers only spent about $20 billion on gift cards. By 2015, that number had skyrocketed to $130 billion.

In 2016, consumers had spent about $140 billion on gift cards. That number then increased to $160 billion by 2018.

When we account for spillage in this context, it’s been estimated that over $41 billion have been left on gift cards since 2005.

In 2015, well over $1 billion dollars in spillage occurred.

Believe it or not, gift card companies use to scam people for spillage. Prior to 2009, gift card businesses would charge consumer fees for not using gift cards promptly.

The CARD Act of 2009

Before 2009, gift cards were only viable for several weeks, months, or for a period of time beneficial to the issuer. Gift card issuers of that era didn’t always print the expiration date on the card in an easily recognizable manner.

The Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 was ratified to tackle this issue.

After passage of the 2009 CARD Act, gift cards could not expire for at least five years after purchase. And gift card expiration dates must be plainly visible on the card.

Gift card issuers can you charge you a nominal fee monthly for using the gift card. And they can charge another fee if you don’t use a gift card for more than a year.

But you shouldn’t be too worried about gift card issuers scamming you.

You are probably going to waste most of the unused money on the card before that happens.

Can Gift Cards Be Returned for Cash?

So, can gift cards be returned for cash? Yes.

Kind of.

The gift card issuer is not going to make returning your gift card for cash easy to do. For one thing, the gift card should be unused and retain 100% of its face value. Also, make sure you have the receipt.

If the gift card was given to you as a gift, then make sure that get the original receipt from whoever gave it to you.

The gift card issuer has the right to only redeem your gift card at a discounted rate relative to the face value. So, you may only get 90% or 80% of the gift card’s face value returned to you.

Or, the gift card issuer may only allow you to receive the equivalent value redeemable for in-store credit.

If you don’t have a receipt, the issuer has every legal right to refuse you a cash refund.

Use Your Gift Card

Can gift cards be returned for cash? Technically yes, but you will probably leave a little money on the table for the privilege.

Or you may be forced to accept in-store credit as an alternative.

You are much better off just using the full value of your gift card.

Additionally, you can use various gift card exchange websites. People on those sites exchange gift cards they don’t want for gift cards they are more likely to use.

Such sites include:

• CardCash
• CardHub
• JunkCard
• Raise

You will have to pay a fee for the privilege of exchanging your unwanted gift card.

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