• Check carefully about other service fees and expiration dates, which are more common with mall-issued and bank-issued gift cards than with those issued by retailers.
It's important to heed this last piece of advice, according to a report in the December issue of Consumer Reports Money Adviser.
The report cites a study by the Montgomery County Consumer Affairs Office, which found that many bank gift-card issuers levy fees ranging from $3.95 to $11.95 just to purchase the card.
Gift cards issued by banks generally offer terms and conditions less favorable to consumers, the study found.
While gift card expiration dates are becoming fairly rare, "inactivity" or "dormancy" fees -- usually $2 per month if a card has not been used for 18 months -- have become very common, according to the report. All the bank-issued gift cards had expiration dates and monthly maintenance fees.
Out of the 30 retail cards studied, the 18 ranked the best for consumers are those from Best Buy, Borders Books, Circuit City, Costco, Gap, Hecht's (May Department Stores), Home Depot, J.C. Penney, Lowe's, Nordstrom, Old Navy, PetSmart, Sam's Club, Sears, Sports Authority, Starbucks, Target and Wal-Mart.
If you want to read more about which gift cards are worth your money, go to www.montgomerycountymd.gov/consumer. The data compiled in this report also appear in the Consumer Reports Money Adviser newsletter and on the publication's Web site, at www.consumerreports.org (click on the link for the site's Holiday Giving Guide).
If you receive a gift card, try to use it right away. About 4 percent of people keep their gift card without using it for more than a year, according to Stored Value Systems.
But if you find an old gift certificate or gift card, don't assume you can't use it. Recently I found a $25 gift certificate from J.C. Penney given to me in 1995. I called J.C. Penney's toll-free customer service number and was told that I could still use the certificate.
I wasn't always a fan of gift cards or certificates because I thought they weren't creative. But I'm a convert now. If you shop for the right card, it could be a welcome gift that won't have to be returned or re-gifted.
Researcher Lorraine Denis-Cooper contributed to this column.
Join Michelle Singletary today at 6:40 p.m. on "Insight" with Stephanie Gaines-Bryant on WHUR, 96.3 FM. Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or by e-mail at singletarym@washpost.com. Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note that comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.
