If you've got a drawer full of gift cards you keep meaning to use, you're not alone. 43% of American adults have at least one unused gift card, and collectively, we're sitting on roughly $23 billion in unredeemed value. That's more than the GDP of some small countries, just gathering dust in wallets and junk drawers.

The average American holds $244 in unused gift cards, though millennials take the crown with an average of $332 per person. And before you think everyone's just waiting for the perfect purchase, consider this: about 20% of people have had at least one gift card expire before they could use it.

Why Don't We Use Them?

Gift cards seem foolproof—it's literally free money—but several psychological and practical factors conspire against redemption:

We forget they exist. Out of sight, out of mind. Unlike cash in your wallet, gift cards are easy to lose track of.
The amount feels awkward. A $25 card to a store where everything costs $40+ means you're still spending money, which defeats the "free" feeling.
We're saving them for something special. Many people want to use gift cards on the "perfect" purchase, so they wait... and wait... and the card expires or gets lost.
Store closures and mergers. Companies go out of business or get acquired, leaving cards worthless.

Where Does the Money Go?

That unredeemed money doesn't just vanish into thin air—it becomes breakage revenue for companies. In accounting terms, "breakage" refers to the value of gift cards that will never be redeemed. Companies don't recognize this as revenue immediately; they wait until it becomes clear the card won't be used.

Starbucks, for example, reported $212 million in breakage revenue in 2022. For retailers, this is pure profit—they've received payment but delivered nothing in return. It's why companies love gift card programs.

The Secondary Market

Savvy consumers have found workarounds. An estimated 25 million gift cards will be resold on secondary market platforms in 2025, where people can exchange unwanted cards for cash or trade them for cards they'll actually use. The catch? These cards typically sell at an average discount of 12%, so a $100 card might only fetch $88.

Still, getting $88 cash beats having a $100 card expire or sit unused for years. Some states have passed laws requiring retailers to provide cash back for small balances (usually under $10), but most of that $23 billion remains locked in the system.

So if you've got gift cards lying around, now might be the time to dig them out. That "free money" only works if you actually use it.

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