Gift card tips worth knowing

Check your balance before you shop

A declined card at checkout — especially at a busy register — is awkward and slow. Knowing your balance beforehand takes about thirty seconds and eliminates the guesswork.

Most major retailers offer instant online balance checks with no account required. Walmart, Amazon, and Starbucks all let you check by card number and PIN directly on their websites.

A notable exception: Dollar Tree has no standalone online checker. Your options there are a phone call to 1-888-875-7375 or a quick check at the register in-store.

Gift cards do not expire — but prepaid cards can

Under the Credit CARD Act of 2009, gift card funds cannot expire for at least five years from the purchase date. Inactivity fees are prohibited during the first 12 months of non-use. After 12 months, a fee is permitted — but only one fee per month, and only if the card has been inactive for that entire period.

Closed-loop retail gift cards — store-specific cards like those from Target or Starbucks — typically carry no expiration at all. Most major retailers go beyond the federal minimum and simply never expire the balance.

Open-loop prepaid cards from Visa or Mastercard follow the federal floor. That means no expiration for five years, but post-12-month inactivity fees are possible depending on the issuer. Check the card's terms or the cardholder agreement that came with it.

Some states give you cash back for small balances

Several US states require retailers to redeem gift cards for cash when the remaining balance falls below a certain threshold. This is called "escheatment" in the narrower legal sense, but these statutes apply specifically to cardholder requests — you can ask for the cash.

California's threshold is $10, set by California Civil Code § 1749.5. If your card has less than $10 remaining, you can request cash at the register instead of using it toward a purchase.

Other states with cash-back requirements include Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, though thresholds and conditions vary by state. Worth checking your state's consumer protection laws if you have a near-empty card sitting in a drawer.

How to avoid gift card scams

Gift card fraud is common and growing. The FTC received more than 60,000 reports of gift card scams in 2023, with reported losses totaling $228 million (FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, 2024). Three specific scam types account for most of the damage.

Tampered cards on store racks

Scammers visit retail locations, scratch off or carefully lift the PIN panel on unactivated cards, record the number, and replace the protective sticker. Once you buy the card and someone else activates it, they drain the balance immediately. Before purchasing, check that the PIN panel's foil or scratch coating is completely intact and shows no signs of lifting. If it looks disturbed, choose a different card.

Fake balance checker websites

Third-party sites pose as balance checkers, collect your card number and PIN, then drain the balance. The only safe place to check a balance is the retailer's own website. Every gift card page on this site links directly to the official retailer URL — never to a third-party checker.

Emergency scams (impersonation calls)

A caller claims to be a family member in trouble, a government agency, or a utility threatening to cut service, and instructs the target to buy gift cards and read the numbers over the phone. No legitimate emergency involves gift card payment — not from the IRS, not from a grandchild, not from anyone. Hang up.

Combining multiple gift cards

Most major retailers allow multiple gift cards per transaction, but the limits vary more than you'd expect.

Amazon lets you load multiple gift card balances to your account — they pool together automatically and apply at checkout. There's no per-transaction card limit because the balance becomes account credit. Target allows an unlimited number of gift cards per transaction both in-store and online.

Sephora limits online orders to two gift cards per checkout but has no restriction in-store. GameStop caps transactions at five gift cards. If you're splitting a large purchase across several cards at those retailers, in-store is the easier option.

When in doubt, call the retailer's customer service line before you arrive — policies change, and the card page on this site notes specific limits where they're confirmed.

What to do with a low balance

A card with $2.37 left on it isn't worthless — it just requires a plan.

The easiest option is split tender: pay part of a transaction with the gift card and cover the remainder with cash or another card. Most retailers support this both in-store and online. At the register, tell the cashier you want to apply a specific amount from the gift card first; online, enter the gift card at checkout before selecting your second payment method.

If you're in California or another state with a cash-back threshold (see section above), you may be able to redeem the remaining balance for cash at the register if it falls below the state threshold.

Secondary markets like Raise and CardCash buy unwanted gift cards, typically for 70–92% of face value depending on the brand and current inventory. If the card is from a retailer you don't use, that can be a straightforward way to recover most of the value. Some nonprofits also accept gift card donations — worth confirming directly with the organization before mailing a card.