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http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/budgeting/gift-card1.htm
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zen_shooter has been ranting about these for a while now. They were merely an annoyance to me. Frankly, if someone can't/won't/doesn't have the time to pick out something unique and individual for me, I'd rather have cold, hard cash. Especially since I provide a very complete wishlist to anyone who wants to buy me something. There are 2 reasons I don't care for gift cards:
1) Some people who buy them do so because they don't know me or don't know what I want, but for some reason feel obligated to get me a gift and don't want to *appear* as though they didn't put any thought into it, as cash supposedly signifies. It's all for appearances and obligation. And I hate that. I'd rather not get the gift at all if you think you owe me one or you are trying to pretend like you put some thought into it.
2) I always end up spending my own money because the denominations seem to be carefully designed to be just under whatever really cool thing it is I want. In the past, especially when I was even more poor than I am today, I rationalized the use of gift cards as more of a discount coupon. If I think of the card like a coupon, then I don't feel so put-out when I have to spend my own money on a gift for myself. But then I have to ignore the fact that someone else paid their own money for nothing more than a "coupon". If someone wanted to contribute financially to a purchase, at least the cash wouldn't have locked me into making that purchase at a particular store. What if I don't find anything I like under or near that denomination? I can't take the card somewhere else!
But over the last couple of years, I've come to regard them as scams, and I feel personally offended that the stores are trying to scam me and my friends and family. Stores and restaurants count on gift cards not ever being redeemed. The money spent on those cards is pure profit with no exchange of product. What I didn't know was that a full 10% of cards never get redeemed! That's 8 billion dollars ... billion - with a "B".
And then the stores count on those who do redeem the cards to spend more than the denomination of the cards, as I was saying that I did. People spend 15-40% over the value of the card! So, when I would have walked into Walmart one day and bought myself a $5 DVD, with a gift card, Walmart gets $25 from the gift giver and another $5-$15 from me! That's 6 times the profit!
And, on top of that, here's something I didn't know before. The government is taking a chunk out of all these gift card sales too! The state government uses something called "escheat laws" to collect a portion of the profits of unredeemed cards.
So please, do your family and friends a favor and do not buy gift cards. If you absolutely must give a gift but you don't know the recipient well enough to pick something out, give cash. So what if it's "tacky" ... in this economy, who DOESN'T want a fistful of cash? You could also try asking other people who know the recipient better what the recipient might want.
And, to help all those who are agonizing over what to buy *you* as gifts, do them a favor and make your wishes known. In polyamory and healthy forms of other relationships,tacit likes to say that you can't reasonably expect to get what you want if you don't ask for it. I'd argue that this is relevant for all relationships, not just romantic ones.
No, I'm not suggesting you go around telling all your relatives that they are expected to buy you gifts now. I'm just saying don't be a pain in the ass when someone indicates that they want to buy you something and you respond with "oh, I dunno, you don't have to buy me anything!" Of course we don't. But someone may want to.
So go easy on them and create a wishlist. Have an online wishlist at Amazon, Best Buy, Blockbuster, whatever, or consolidate all your wishlists into one online service, like The Things I Want. At the very least, keep a few items in your head that are reasonably priced and/or free that you can blurt out even when taken by surprise. You can even do whatdatan0de did, which is to pick a favorite charity and request donations directly to them instead of buying you something that maybe you don't need. Ask for hugs, or footrubs, or babysitting duties, or sending out positive vibrations to the Universe - these things don't have to have a monetary value.
Honest communication is what makes relationships work. Gift exchange shouldn't be an exception. It's these sorts of things that make gift-giving so stressful and contribute to the sense of obligation; the sneaking around to surriptitiously discover what the recipient wants without them knowing you're searching, pretending not to want anything to avoid seeming greedy, refusing to allow someone else the pleasure of doing something special for you, etc. ... if you want to know something, then ask. If someone asks, then answer. It's a very simple equation.
zen_shooter has been ranting about these for a while now. They were merely an annoyance to me. Frankly, if someone can't/won't/doesn't have the time to pick out something unique and individual for me, I'd rather have cold, hard cash. Especially since I provide a very complete wishlist to anyone who wants to buy me something. There are 2 reasons I don't care for gift cards:1) Some people who buy them do so because they don't know me or don't know what I want, but for some reason feel obligated to get me a gift and don't want to *appear* as though they didn't put any thought into it, as cash supposedly signifies. It's all for appearances and obligation. And I hate that. I'd rather not get the gift at all if you think you owe me one or you are trying to pretend like you put some thought into it.
2) I always end up spending my own money because the denominations seem to be carefully designed to be just under whatever really cool thing it is I want. In the past, especially when I was even more poor than I am today, I rationalized the use of gift cards as more of a discount coupon. If I think of the card like a coupon, then I don't feel so put-out when I have to spend my own money on a gift for myself. But then I have to ignore the fact that someone else paid their own money for nothing more than a "coupon". If someone wanted to contribute financially to a purchase, at least the cash wouldn't have locked me into making that purchase at a particular store. What if I don't find anything I like under or near that denomination? I can't take the card somewhere else!
But over the last couple of years, I've come to regard them as scams, and I feel personally offended that the stores are trying to scam me and my friends and family. Stores and restaurants count on gift cards not ever being redeemed. The money spent on those cards is pure profit with no exchange of product. What I didn't know was that a full 10% of cards never get redeemed! That's 8 billion dollars ... billion - with a "B".
And then the stores count on those who do redeem the cards to spend more than the denomination of the cards, as I was saying that I did. People spend 15-40% over the value of the card! So, when I would have walked into Walmart one day and bought myself a $5 DVD, with a gift card, Walmart gets $25 from the gift giver and another $5-$15 from me! That's 6 times the profit!
And, on top of that, here's something I didn't know before. The government is taking a chunk out of all these gift card sales too! The state government uses something called "escheat laws" to collect a portion of the profits of unredeemed cards.
So please, do your family and friends a favor and do not buy gift cards. If you absolutely must give a gift but you don't know the recipient well enough to pick something out, give cash. So what if it's "tacky" ... in this economy, who DOESN'T want a fistful of cash? You could also try asking other people who know the recipient better what the recipient might want.
And, to help all those who are agonizing over what to buy *you* as gifts, do them a favor and make your wishes known. In polyamory and healthy forms of other relationships,
tacit likes to say that you can't reasonably expect to get what you want if you don't ask for it. I'd argue that this is relevant for all relationships, not just romantic ones. No, I'm not suggesting you go around telling all your relatives that they are expected to buy you gifts now. I'm just saying don't be a pain in the ass when someone indicates that they want to buy you something and you respond with "oh, I dunno, you don't have to buy me anything!" Of course we don't. But someone may want to.
So go easy on them and create a wishlist. Have an online wishlist at Amazon, Best Buy, Blockbuster, whatever, or consolidate all your wishlists into one online service, like The Things I Want. At the very least, keep a few items in your head that are reasonably priced and/or free that you can blurt out even when taken by surprise. You can even do what
datan0de did, which is to pick a favorite charity and request donations directly to them instead of buying you something that maybe you don't need. Ask for hugs, or footrubs, or babysitting duties, or sending out positive vibrations to the Universe - these things don't have to have a monetary value.Honest communication is what makes relationships work. Gift exchange shouldn't be an exception. It's these sorts of things that make gift-giving so stressful and contribute to the sense of obligation; the sneaking around to surriptitiously discover what the recipient wants without them knowing you're searching, pretending not to want anything to avoid seeming greedy, refusing to allow someone else the pleasure of doing something special for you, etc. ... if you want to know something, then ask. If someone asks, then answer. It's a very simple equation.
