With the Circuit City bankruptcy filing this week coming on the heels of the holiday shopping season, many people are wondering about gift cards. Is a Circuit City gift card safe to buy and give as a present?

Circuit City maintains that they will honor all gift cards at any store throughout the year. But with that said, do you want to risk it?

The most common question is whether you are protected in the event the gift card is not honored or the company closes all stores overnight. The answer is technically yes. In the event of bankruptcy, all gift card holders are considered creditors and eligible for protection under the law.

The problem with that is you will be on the very bottom of the list and it could be years before seeing any of your money back. And then it could be just pennies on the dollar.

There are many other stores to buy gift cards from that are on more solid footing financially. The bottom line here? Let the buyer beware and ask yourself if it’s really worth the risk?