The weirdest thing I learned about finding free gift cards at grocery stores

So I was digging around on a forum about receipt scanning apps last week and stumbled on this stat that blew my mind. Apparently something like 60% of those Visa gift cards people buy as presents never get fully used up because they lose the card or forget the balance. I started checking the little kiosk near the checkout at my local Publix in Marietta where people dump their old cards. Last Tuesday I found one with $12.47 still on it just sitting in the slot. Has anyone else tried looking through those card drop boxes?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_paul24d ago

My dumb self has definitely been the guy leaving money on those cards. I bought a $50 one for a Secret Santa once and forgot I still had a few bucks on it for like 8 months. Found it under my car seat with $2.17 left and felt like a genius for that one. $12.47 is a solid haul though, I bet that paid for a gallon of milk or something. I might have to start checking those drop boxes at my Kroger just to see if there's any free lunch money lying around.

jamie80424d ago

Are you really about to start digging through Kroger drop boxes for pocket change? Seems like a lot of effort for a free gallon of milk.

taraross23d ago

@jamie804 might be onto something about the effort though. My buddy Dave actually found a $15 card in one of those bins once and spent like 20 minutes checking every single barcode to see if any had leftover cash. He got $3.47 total from three cards and said it wasn't worth the weird looks from the cashier. Still, $12.47 is a win in my book, just don't get too addicted to the hunt.