It weren't before. Now wallet founds are valid for one year.

The wallet funds you get from fair price have always had an expiry date. They're gonna disappear after one year, the rest of the wallet won't.

Mine say "Valid indefinitely". They were purchased a few hours ago.

edit: Of course they say that in light gray text on a gray background. *sigh*

reedit: Finally had someone pony up some cash into my wallet and there's not a single thing that interests me currently on sale. :(

[i]Why?
[/i]

^This. and AFAIK they don't disappear when you "touch them". If you have, say, 2.40€ and use 0.99€ to buy a really cheap game on sale I think they go for another year from that date on.

It is as toxicTom says. Though I really don't understand why.

Here in the US, many states would consider it unclaimed property after a certain time period, presumed abandoned and the funds would fall back to the state government.

edit: At least that's how those refund cards work when you get them in the stores. It's come up a number of times with my moms. Not sure what things are like in Poland.

I had some Microsoft credit that was expiring a few years back. Let's say $5. So I bought a game by buying $20 gift card and bought a $15 game. My account had $10 left. And then when my $5 expiration came up, I had only $5 in my account. I was pretty irritated. Stupid companies and their Stoopid things.

In the State of Michigan it is mandatory that all gift certificates/credits last at least five years.

I have no idea how that helps this thread, but I wanted to throw it out there. :P

Now that you mention it... even here most gift cards expire after one year. That is very unfair, as they have been paid. Why imposing a limit on the use? It's not like the customer can play around with inflation and foreign coin. 1 dollar will remain one dollar, not exchangable ot usable in any other way than in a certain shop.

Because it gets progressively harder on your books to keep debt like that. To you, it's your money waiting to be spent, but to the company, it's a debt they actively owe you.

Some states even separate the two. One of the reasons why many retail chains put return credits on a gift card now.
Not sure about Italy but here in the US, companies can't claim it as a sale until it is used. Or declared abandoned. After a year, they declare it abandoned and take the cash.

edit: When I first saw this thread, I went looking for the Polish laws but couldn;t find anything about it right off. In fact google kept assuming I was talking about New Jersey instead of Poland for some reason.

The regulation is targeted not at customers but at the stores. Gift cards are free, tax-free credit.

If the last funds you added came from fair price, you see their expiry date (which is 1 year later). If the last funds you added were purchased directly from you, you see their expiry date (which is "never"). This is because GOG will use the "purchased" wallet first, and then the "fair price" part of it.