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More than you want to know about gift cards

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Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#31

Post by cmckn »

winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

I don’t think it is, at least not in my family. Cash is no more of a faux pas than a gift card, at least. I happen to think either is a pretty lame gift. Instead of a gift card to LUSH, for example, just buy me a bath bomb or whatever. Maybe I won’t like the scent you choose, maybe I’ll love it—that’s the nature of receiving a gift. Besides, gift cards are rarely enough to cover an actual purchase with taxes and etc added, so they often end up forcing the recipient to spend some of their own money (or they gather dust until they expire).

I know some people are “hard to buy for” but this might be an indication that you shouldn’t be giving them a gift. If you don’t know them well enough to have a gift idea, or don’t feel comfortable asking for ideas, are you really obligated to get them something?

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#32

Post by brewdad »

spekcular wrote: post #15
pezzana wrote: post #2

> Personal financial columnists and comedians do not understand the jobs that gift cards do. They are not cash-but-worse-in-every-way. Closed loop cards allow a giver to personalize a gift to the recipient. A Barnes and Noble gift card to a favorite niece tells that niece that you remember she is a reader, unlike those uncreative family members who would just give her cash. The article doesn't actually explain the jo…

The job being done by gift cards is transferring money to your relatives with some protection against them spending it on drugs. (Source: a relative who used to give me gift cards.)

Given all the gift card scams on the internet, I would think it would be pretty straightforward to convert a gift card into drugs but at a net loss in value.

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#33

Post by geek_at »

mavhc wrote: post #30
winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

https://jeremyperson.com/2009/12/25/dilbert-christmas-gifts I'm terrible at gifts, but I'd never give cash/gift cards (cash that expires and you can only spend in one shop) The point of a gift is to show that you understand your friend/family member and have spent your own time to try to make them happy

I agree to an extent but if you know somebody is saving up for something (eg. niece saving up for a gaming pc) then it's a great gift to bring them closer to their goal.

For a co-worker you should probably think a bit harder

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#34

Post by lmkg »

winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

I mean, it's all cultural.

But the idea is that a gift is personal, and that cash is impersonal. The universality is exactly what makes it impersonal.

The ideal gift (again, in US cultural context) is one that reflects something unique about the giver, or recipient, or the relationship between them. An exchange of cash is something that happens between strangers on a regular basis.

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#35

Post by brewdad »

airstrike wrote: post #24

Conversely, here's really "All you need to know about gift cards": think about the interest being generated from all that cash sitting idle on some issuer's account while the recipient of your gift card decides how to spend their money. > Most retailers do not have sufficient gift card liabilities and do not have sufficiently sophisticated treasury teams to make a meaningful amount of income off an investment portfol…

My brother gifts us AmEx gift cards every year. I think he gets them at a discount so it does allow his gifting budget to go further but they are a pain in a-- to use. Unlike a store gift card, they are almost impossible to stack with other payment methods (at least online). Additionally, the test charges a store does to ensure the card is valid places a hold on some of the funds of the card (typically a dollar) making it virtually impossible to use all of the funds on the card. Typically, I end up adding them to my Amazon payment methods and buying an Amazon gift balance to myself and toss the remaining $1 of value in the trash.

I also end up "buying" the gift cards from my wife and son since I'm the only one with the patience to deal with them, so at least we get most of the value off of them rather than letting them expire. It's now 12 days until Xmas and I finally spent us down to only $11 left from last year's cards.

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#36

Post by dlhavema »

lhorie wrote: post #12
winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

In chinese culture, it's a pretty normal thing to give red envelopes with cash inside[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_envelope

I get those from my boss every year. pretty cool tradition.

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#37

Post by cm2012 »

winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

“Every year I give Leslie the same present I give everyone. A crisp twenty dollar bill..."

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#38

Post by mavhc »

geek_at wrote: post #33
mavhc wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://jeremyperson.com/2009/12/25/dilbert-christmas-gifts I'm terrible at gifts, but I'd never give cash/gift cards (cash that expires and you can only spend in one shop) The point of a gift is to show that you understand your friend/family member and have spent your own time to try to make them happy

I agree to an extent but if you know somebody is saving up for something (eg. niece saving up for a gaming pc) then it's a great gift to bring them closer to their goal. For a co-worker you should probably think a bit harder

If they ask for cash, fair enough

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#39

Post by chongli »

mikepurvis wrote: post #23
oneoff786 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not really a faux pas but it’s not very thoughtful. Receiving a small amount of money is also irrelevant to most middle class and above people.

I don't see a gift card as much more thoughtful than cash, but there's at least the slight push of "use this to spoil yourself" when it's something indulgent like Starbucks, the liquor store, Steam, whatever. Versus cash where you may have given it with that intent, but it just as easily ends up folded into the general pot and becoming something boring like gas, groceries, whatever.

Yeah exactly. As the article points out, if you give someone a gift card to a book store knowing they’re an avid reader then that person will presumably use it to buy some books they really want to read. Then when they’re reading they’ll think of you and feel good. On the other hand, if you go out and just buy them some books they might smile and thank you sheepishly but then those books might sit unread on a shelf forever.

People’s tastes can be very specific and so it may be very difficult to buy them a gift they’ll truly appreciate and enjoy unless you’re very close. It’s much easier to buy a gift card for a retailer (coffee, books, video games, makeup, fashion) in their area of interest than to try to buy something truly suited to their tastes. This is especially the case for casual acquaintances such as coworkers.

Re: More than you want to know about gift cards

#40

Post by winternett »

cmckn wrote: post #31
winternett wrote: post #10

I still don't understand why it faux-pas to just put cash in a nice card... I just do it anyway. It's a more universal gift card without fees and expiration dates... Anyone who tries to put me down for doing so will simply not be receiving a gift from me next year... Screw stressful stores. plastic cards, and standing in line, my method is much more "green"... :P

I don’t think it is, at least not in my family. Cash is no more of a faux pas than a gift card, at least. I happen to think either is a pretty lame gift. Instead of a gift card to LUSH, for example, just buy me a bath bomb or whatever. Maybe I won’t like the scent you choose, maybe I’ll love it—that’s the nature of receiving a gift. Besides, gift cards are rarely enough to cover an actual purchase with taxes and etc…

Pro Tip: Cracker Barrel Country stores are great... They have tons of low-cost and quite universally likeable throw-away nick-nacks that you can pick up and keep in a closet of your house until an awkward "I don't know what to get this person" situation comes up. :P
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