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As an alternative to using a credit card online is a good idea, as good an idea as any for security and anti-tracking if nothing else. But only if you remember to use them.
One other thing is, (and I'm not positive this is true), but people on disability can't have over a certain amount of cash. Giving a gift card makes sense in that instance because it no longer counts as cash at that point.
It comes down to discomfort in giving people cash gifts. Agree that itβs stupid.
I will go a step further and say that in most cases, gift giving just destroys value. Exception for little kids, who derive a modicum of enjoyment from whatever plastic crap you give them.
Gift cards are great for the company they're tied to because they basically just made a sale of that amount and now it's up to the receiver to take the initiative to actually get anything from the company. Plus with inflation the value of the card always decreases. Plus you'll usually end up buying a little more than the amount on the gift card just to use it all up.
I think cash is usually a better gift, with one exception: a gift card can be a way to give someone permission to get something from a store that they would really like but usually not actually spend their own money there.
For me, I buy gift cards at a discount when I know I'm going to buy at a given store anyways. Might as well get $20 off of whatever.
Itβs not just a sale. Gift card money is invested and the company makes returns off of it, and all they have to do is provide you the base value of the gift card in coffee or whatever at some later date. Plus, if your purchases donβt add to a whole number, millions of gift cards with like 30 cents left over in each of them is a ton of free money for the company. Gift cards are a huge scam
Gift card money is invested same as sales, it rings up the same. This stuff gets sloshed together in the overall balance sheet. It amounts to probabilistic overpaying, where one person might spend their whole card immediately (no overpaying), another takes their time using it (overpaid at the rate of inflation), and another forgets about it, loses it, or just never spends all of it (overpayment by the amount left on the card).
You could also think of it as zero-interest debt issued by the purchaser to the store, payable in future purchase credits with the onus on the lender of the debt to collect later. As you note, the store can invest the money immediately so it is guaranteed profit.
We have family on otherside of country, sending cash via mail is risky, so we sometimes default to a gift card for something in their local area.
Typically only promotional/giveaway gift cards expire here in Canada.
I've done this same thing. My dad lived on the other side of the country and it was a way for me to "take him out to eat" at a restaurant that he loved but was too expe dive for his tastes. Another time, I bought him a round of golf at a nice golf course that he would not treat himself to. He did not "believe" in gift cards wither, but on both occasions he mentioned that it was as if I took him to eat/golf and it was a nice gift for the guy who has everything.
We had something similar. Dad went out for a dinner, then later you get to have a phonecall about the restaurant food and experience. A way to share, rather than a gift they probably didn't need.
The only reason I buy them is cash back / rewards credit cards. Say I know I want to spend $225 on something on amazon? I whip out my visa dividends, MC world elite or Amex Cobalt at the grocery store for 3-5% cash back or rewards card while purchasing groceries, and add a custom amount $200 gift card to the tally. So now I got $10 back on it in rewards that I can spend elsewhere. The CC issuer, Amazon and the grocery store are none the wiser.
Just an FYI, the grocery store doesn't know (or care).
But both Amazon and the CC company absolutely know, they just don't care, it's factored into their profit margins.
...why not just use the CC on Amazon?
Could be they want to hit a certain category (groceries) on the card. Maybe they are also trying to meet minimum spend on a new card.
For those who shop a lot on Amazon, the Chase Amazon Visa is probably worth it since it always gets 5-6%, but if you don't have that card, using gift cards to hit a grocery category seems reasonable. Slightly more hassle, but at least you can split purchases on Amazon.
I donβt know what to get you and prefer something better targeted than cash. Tell me what you want, what you really really want, and you might get that instead
β if you complain again, Iβm writing you a check: tell me how inconvenient that is
A check is more convenient than cash. I can deposit it with my phone.
Every few years I find a drawer of expired gift cards and throw them out. One time I kept a one hundred pound gift card in my wallet for months on end, keeping it alive with balance checks in the store but never using it. My partner noticed this and said βjust give it to meβ, and promptly lost it forever in one of her handbags.
When I had Netflix I registered it with a gift card.
For a lot of online transactions, this is usually the only way people can get access.
There are a lot of people out there who don't have credit cards or bank accounts, so they can't buy anything online. A gift card to an online store may be the cheapest or only way they can pay.
For those without a bank account but need to buy something online, yeah the gift card is a good idea.
Iβd still give them the cash and let them buy the gift card they want.
Good establishments don't have their gift cards expire.
Gift cards are great if the recipient often shops at a given store, but the giver isn't sure what they want.
Let's say I've got a friend who loves board games. I don't want to get them a board game, because A. They might already have it, or B. Someone else might get them the same one. A gift card to a game store would be the perfect gift for them.
I think the problem in your case was that a Dunkin gift card wasn't a great gift for you specifically, but the giver was trying, so don't be too hard on them.
My dad gave me an Apple gift card of something like 200$ last year.
I don't buy Apple product. I would have taken the money but eh
Since ,my company are such sticklers about not going over our daily meal limit while on travel, and have as yet ignored our requests to just do per diem or use the total from the trip, I often purchase gift cards to fill out an underspent day on travel. An Apple Card or something for some restaurant where my wife likes to get lunch.