Gift card graveyard: Aussies sitting on $1.25 billion in unused vouchers
Billions of dollars in gift cards remain untapped across the country, according to new research by Finder.
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A Finder survey of 1,010 respondents revealed the average Aussie has $181 on gift vouchers languishing in drawers and some will expire before they can be used.
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The research found 1 in 3 Australians (33%) have at least one unused gift card, including 21% who have 2 or more.
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Taylor Blackburn, personal finance specialist at Finder, said not taking action on unused gift cards doesn't make financial sense.
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"Gift cards are great for convenience or when you are out of your depth – like me buying my wife make-up – but they can also be easy to forget about.
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"Not using gift cards is like flushing money down the dunny.
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"Currently a third of us have put the cash in the bowl and are reaching for the handle," he said.
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A staggering 21% of Australians have wasted money on gift cards they did not use.
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That's the equivalent of 4.4 million people who have let the dollars on their plastic go to waste.
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Almost 1 in 5 (18%) admitted the gift card expired before they got around to using it, while 5% lost the gift card.
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Finder's research shows men have $175 each in unredeemed gift cards, while women have $186 on average.
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Women (24%) are more likely than men (19%) to let funds expire.
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Baby Boomers are the most diligent in spending gift cards – with only 14% having 'lost' money on a gift card, compared to 27% of gen Z.
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Blackburn said it's best to take action straight away when you get a gift card.
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"If you received a gift card recently, set a reminder in your phone, keep the card someplace where you won't forget about it and make plans to spend it.
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"If you don't like the store, shop at the store for someone who does and save the gift.
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"If no one you know likes the store, try selling the gift card online for less than its worth – at least you'll come away with some cash," Blackburn said.
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Just 1% said they didn't get to spend their gift card because the company it was issued at went out of business.
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Have you ever lost money on a gift card?
| Yes, the gift card expired | 18% |
| Yes, I lost the gift card | 5% |
| Yes, the company went out of business | 1% |
| No | 79% |
| Source: Finder survey of 1,010 respondents, December 2024 |  |
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Methodology
- Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker is a monthly recurring nationally representative survey of more than 60,000 respondents.
- Figures in this release are based on 1,010 respondents from December 2024.
- The Consumer Sentiment Tracker is owned by Finder and operated by Qualtrics.
- The survey has been running monthly since May 2019.
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