Retailers love gift cards. They are the most profitable item for nearly every store that carries them. “How can this be?” you may be asking. I mean, at the end of the day a gift card is really just a substitute for cash, right?
Yes, sort of. The thing is, once a gift card has been purchased the retailer has already captured a sale essentially, with a cost of goods sold of zero (if you don’t include the minimal cost of producing the plastic). Now think about all of the gift cards you’ve received in your lifetime that have never been redeemed. Stuck in a bedroom drawer, lost when you moved, thrown out with your wallet, beneath the seat of your car. Let’s be honest, gift cards are amazingly easy to lose and that’s part of the beauty for retailers. For every lost gift card and every gift certificate that doesn’t get redeemed a retailer is essentially earning free money.
Makes me want to get into a business of selling some “stuff” and offering gift cards like they’re going out of style. While many gift card recycling businesses have risen up around the web, it barely puts a dent into the massive amount of dollars being made by retailers who sell tens of thousands of these little plastic golden tickets every year.
Please just give me cash when my next gift receiving event rolls around please. I promise I’ll spend it on something memorable!
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