“To give and then not feel that one has given is the very best of all ways of giving.” — Max Beerbohm

B&N Gift CardI love gift cards. I like getting them and the ease of giving them. My family depends on gift cards during the holidays and I’m often on the receiving end of the bookstore variety. I still have unused dollars on cards from Barnes & Noble and Borders and for weeks now, Jeanine and I have been trying to get to both stores to use them.

I know I can use the cards online, but going to the bookstore is about the only type of shopping that I like to do. The browsing feels like an event and new books always make me feel accomplished: thinking they will make me smarter or at a minimum more aware.

So at the moment, we’re in the market for “A Photographer’s Life“, the recent collection of work from Annie Leibovitz. We like coffee table books and since they’re typically expensive, it helps to offset the purchase with a gift card. See, that makes me a happy gift card user. And I will use up all my bookstore gift cards in the next couple of months.

But millions of Americans let their gift cards go unused. In The Gift-Card Economy, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt of Freakonomics fame write, “The financial-services research firm TowerGroup estimates that of the $80 billion spent on gift cards in 2006, roughly $8 billion will never be redeemed ” ‘a bigger impact on consumers,’ Tower notes, ‘than the combined total of both debit- and credit-card fraud.’ A survey by Marketing Workshop Inc. found that only 30 percent of recipients use a gift card within a month of receiving it, while Consumer Reports estimates that 19 percent of the people who received a gift card in 2005 never used it.”

“Perhaps you are among the exceptional minority, and you have already spent it, or soon will. But the odds say that it has instead wound up in your sock drawer.” Nice, I like being categorized as the “exceptional minority” but what about you? Where are your gift cards? Are any unused?

ConsumerReports.org reviews all the hidden gotchas that you should keep in mind. They write, “Gift cards eliminate the headache of choosing a perfect present, but the recipients might find some cards a pain in the neck. Many come with enough fees and restrictions that you might be better off giving a check. Most annoying are expiration dates and maintenance or dormancy fees, which can drain a card’s value.”

“Gift cards come in two flavors: Retail cards, from stores and restaurants, are valid only at the retailer named on the card. Bank cards are good at any merchant (and sometimes ATMs) that accepts the credit-card logo shown on them. But bank cards are especially apt to have fees.”

Here is their suggestion for what you can do: “Whether giving or receiving, read the terms on the card or packaging and on the issuer’s Web site. Avoid cards that make you call for info. Try to get a card without an expiration date, shipping charges (if you’re buying online), pre- or post-purchase fees, and maintenance fees.”

Finally, if you’re not using your gift card, then you’re letting the man win by letting the retailer come out on top! Donna L Montaldo at About.com writes, “Gift card sales for retailers and credit card companies are big business. Basically they receive payment in advance for products or services they may or may not ever have to deliver. For every dollar on a gift card that is not redeemed, the gift-card seller earns a profit. Last year, Best Buy Co., reported $43 million dollars in unused gift-card revenue over the previous two years.”

“Gift cards are a wonderful solution to gift-giving for reasons already stated. Once the card is given, how and when it is spent is out of the hands of the giver. If the recipient never spends it, there is really nothing that can be done.”

Finally, if you’re never going to use your gift card, then here is one other idea: donate it to charity and get a tax deduction. Is that an incentive or what? Donate A Gift Card explains, “Do you have unwanted gift cards collecting dust or waiting unused in your wallet? Whether you’ve received a gift card you don’t want or just don’t have time to shop why not use that gift card as an opportunity to help out one or more charities you feel strongly about?”

“At Donate A Gift Card we are dedicated to turning your gift cards into a helping hand for the charity of your choice, a donation usually eligible for a tax deduction. You can save the world AND get paid by Uncle Sam, just by donating your gift card.”

Now giver and receiver wins!