171–180 of 180 posts
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Vulnerable to double spends.
How can you claim that this is vulnerable to double spends when we haven’t even finished defining the system? Double spending is a symptom of a broken system. Let us at least figure out the system first so we can determine if it is broken. Of course double spending is a concern that will need to be navigated in a system like this. Check out some of other discussions in this thread about where that leads - a centraliz…
If you give the same QR code to two people in the same taxi, literally nothing in the system can ever distinguish between them.
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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) maki…
Wouldn't it be easiest to use the money for routine spending, perhaps somewhere where splitting a bill is normal? For example, next time you take the family to a restaurant. "Could you put $50 on this card please, and the rest on this one."
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So I admittedly don't tend to think of consumerism as a game that a consumer can win, but I just wanted to add one more route here. What if you buy a gift card on special deal that gives you an additional percentage of funds for you to spend? Such as... Buy $100 get an additional $20. Assuming this is a place that you regularly want to shop? Then you are effectively getting $20 off a purchase you were going to make a…
Perkbox in the UK does this. You can buy gift cards for less than their face value as an employee perk if your company subscribes to the service.
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I've made a bunch of fancy chocolate truffles more than once. The basic truffle can be rolled in all kinds of nuts and shit, so you get an assortment; the greatest expense is the packaging (pretty boxes, nice little paper shells to put them in). Even if the recipient doesn't care for truffles (vegan, weight-loss dieter) they like the packaging, and they have something to share. And truffles are easy to make.
We live in Georgia. For a few years now we've bought a bunch of peaches sometime in the summer and made a bunch of peach jam, put it in pretty little jars, and brought them to holiday gatherings with my family around Philadelphia. It's always a hit. The thing is, they actually have good peaches up there too! I know this because I ate so many of them when I lived near a good farmer's market there!
Philly peaches: I believe that Robert E. Lee's troops got through a lot of "foraged" (stolen) peaches on the march to Gettysburg. Presumably squits was a big problem in the confederate army.
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The last two times, I’ve included a short url that redirects to a notion page personalized for the person. As in it includes the nickname or something. The page includes instructions on how to add the gift card to the store’s app and/or site (with an account). All relevant links included to make it as easy as possible. I also looked up apps that can be gift card aggregators and will include that next time too. —- I d…
Hey, I started an app that’s centered around birthday gifts ( https://hbd.cool ). You can send gift cards and digital greetings kind of like you describe, it’s a fun way to personalize what’s usually a boring gift (as other commenters have mentioned). Would love to get your feedback on it!
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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…
My wife did something amazing this year that I think is relevant here. She had a baby shower to go to. She didn't know what to get the mother to be. So she bought an Amazon gift card. And then she created a wishlist of items she thought the mother might need, doing the research to find reputable brands, unique solutions to problems, "best mom gadgets", etc (such as the pacifier that you can put liquids into; it lets…
If you are unlucky enough to have to get medicine into a baby, something has happened and you are hopefully under the supervision of a doctor or a nurse who can aid with the practicalities.
Small babies are delicate machines and gifting any sort of medical aid "just in case" might give the recipient ideas. Feeding a baby cough syrup may have been just an example but sounds downright dangerous. Please be careful.
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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…
My wife did something amazing this year that I think is relevant here. She had a baby shower to go to. She didn't know what to get the mother to be. So she bought an Amazon gift card. And then she created a wishlist of items she thought the mother might need, doing the research to find reputable brands, unique solutions to problems, "best mom gadgets", etc (such as the pacifier that you can put liquids into; it lets…
It is a great idea, but it makes more sense when the recipient does the registering IMO.
Gift cards are the ultimate anti-consumer scam: - If you buy a gift card that isn’t worth enough for what you actually buy, the store “wins” because you will probably make up the difference with cash and they then sell you something you either would not have bought at all, or bought somewhere else. - If you buy a gift card that is worth more than whatever you end up buying, the store “wins” again because they have re…
Except when I get 20% off the gift card, and use it for stuff I was already going to buy. Like food.
Gift cards are the ultimate anti-consumer scam: - If you buy a gift card that isn’t worth enough for what you actually buy, the store “wins” because you will probably make up the difference with cash and they then sell you something you either would not have bought at all, or bought somewhere else. - If you buy a gift card that is worth more than whatever you end up buying, the store “wins” again because they have re…
Except when I get 20% off the gift card, and use it for stuff I was already going to buy. Like food.