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States, Sellers Drooling Over Gift Card Sales

Posted Jan 27, 08 2:19 PM CST in Business 

(Newser) – After enduring tepid holiday sales, retailers are happily awaiting $8 billion from shoppers with unused gift cards—because only then can sellers claim the added revenue, BusinessWeek reports. But some US states say that their unclaimed-property laws enable them to extract a piece of the left-over card pie. What's really up for grabs is revenue from millions of cards that are lost or forgotten and go unspent.

States like New York and Delaware order retailers to send them unspent balances, while Virginia and Florida let sellers keep the dough. It's a pickle for investors too, who can't easily determine how much merchandise really moved and how much retailers pocketed through unspent balances. Japan has a solution to get people spending: put gift cards on cell phones, so people won’t forget to use them.

Source BusinessWeek

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Apple iTunes Gift Cards and Apple TV on display at Costco store in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)   (Associated Press)
A variety of retail store gift cards sare seen on a kiosk at a store in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)   (Associated Press)
Gift cards for various retailers are offered for sale at a supermarket in Omaha, Neb., Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)   (Associated Press)
A variety of retail store gift cards are seen on display at a store in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Tony Avelar)   (Associated Press)
A variety of gift cards for use at various stores and restaurants are seen at a convenience store in Brunswick, Maine, in this Dec. 12, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach, file)   (Associated Press)
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US economy  • Florida  • New York  • retail sales  • Virginia  • retail stores  • Best Buy  • US states  • retail shopping  • Delaware  • retail technology  • gift cards


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