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Tis the season for money laundering


Gift cards  

20 members have voted

  1. 1. Did you receive any gift cards this year for Christmas?

    • No, none at all
      13
    • Just one
      1
    • More than one
      6
  2. 2. Did you give anyone gift cards this year?

    • No, none at all
      14
    • Just one
      4
    • More than one
      2


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Well? Slightly more thought out than pure cash, check, or money order... but there's no concealing how much you love someone (monetarily speaking) on these.

 

I didn't, but the kids all got some from cousins and grandparents... i-tunes and gamestop topped the list. I wouldn't have minded getting an i-tunes one myself, truth be told.

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I bought one for my 8 year old niece. When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said a Toys R Us gift card. I asked her if she had something in mind and I might get it for her. She said she did have something in mind, but would have more fun going shopping with her mom and buying it herself. So, being the best uncle ever (her words, not mine) I bought her a gift card.

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Guest Speed Racer

I got our cat-sitter a gift card for her help. I knew she'd refuse cash, but a gift card creates the illusion of effort, so I thought she'd feel bad refusing it. And it's a hologram, which is way cool.

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Making me go shopping is not what I consider a gift.

This. Though if the card is well chosen, I don't really mind all that much.

 

I don't give gift cards because I try to put some thought into what I give ... though my knack for finding good gifts has been almost entirely depleted, so I may have to go that route in the future.

 

In the end, though, if you're going to give people gift cards, why not just give them cash?

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In the end, though, if you're going to give people gift cards, why not just give them cash?

Exactly. And considering that only something like 50-60% of gift card value is typically utilized, it's especially annoying to receive one. While I won't go as far as to call it a scam by the retailers, they're certainly very happy to sell you what amounts to 50 cents for a dollar.

 

That said, I have given gifts cards in the past and I will likely give them in the future -- but I only do it when I know that the person actually shops at the store on a regular basis. But even then, I usually try to buy something for them at the store myself and just give the gift receipt (and assure them I won't be offended if they return it).

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This. Though if the card is well chosen, I don't really mind all that much.

 

I don't give gift cards because I try to put some thought into what I give ... though my knack for finding good gifts has been almost entirely depleted, so I may have to go that route in the future.

 

In the end, though, if you're going to give people gift cards, why not just give them cash?

 

Well, in the end how are you going to remember who exactly gave you how much cash when you have a wad of say $100?

 

I enjoy getting gift cards. I have no qualms about it because let's face it at 32 years old I don't expect my relatives to be calling my folks to ask them what I really want for Christmas?

I'm not 8 years old.

Aunt: So does he own The Town or Inception yet? How about that band that he loves? Sunoco? What's his size again?

You get the point. I'd rather have a gift card that when I use it I remember exactly who it came from, rather than a $20 bill that could be my own $20.

 

I guess gift cards are a nice way of saying "I didn't know exactly what to get you, but I kind of know where to get it."

 

I don't know. I'm surprised how many people on here get so upset about getting a gift card. Would you rather get something that you didn't like (or if you already had it. or if it didn't fit etc) and then have to go and return it? I mean, how much stuff could you possibly want/need each Christmas that can go around your whole family to get for you? Then the complaining of getting a Type A present instead of a Type B present : electronics gift vs. tools etc.

 

Some people don't get shit for Christmas and are homeless and poor. To hear the way how some people are talking like this is very disappointing. I don't know what to say, maybe don't celebrate Christmas then.

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I guess gift cards are a nice way of saying "I didn't know exactly what to get you, but I kind of know where to get it."

This may be a first, but I think I agree with you. :huh

 

As someone who has received cash in the past (see the "worst gift ever" thread), I am still pissed off (years later!) that the person who gave it to me couldn't even be bothered to get me a gift certificate (this was before the proliferation of gift cards) to a book store. That would have shown that at least a minimum amount of thought was put into it, that the person giving it knew something about who I am and what I might like.

 

I know that my nieces (14 and 15 years old) like to shop, they get a kick out of finding something on sale, etc. So a gift card to a store that they like gives them the chance to spend a day doing that, plus they come home with something they definitely like, rather than something that auntie picked out, but would only have been their second or third or fourth choice from that store.

 

We shop for them, too, but I don't think the occasional gift card is necessarily a bad gift.

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Guest Speed Racer

In the end, though, if you're going to give people gift cards, why not just give them cash?

 

I received a check from my aunt; I receive one every year and I LOVE it. But, now that I'm a "big kid" with bills and stuff, I'll usually put it directly into savings or use it to defray the cost of my monthly expenses. I love getting it, I'm grateful for it, but I don't have as much fun with it as I used to.

 

A gift card to a store (one other than Target, where I would again use it to defray the cost of household goods and groceries) means I can buy something for ME. Just ME. Something fun, and something that doesn't have to be sensible. (While a sweater is sensible, it is definitely more fun than something like cat litter.)

 

ETA: My sister LOVES shopping, and after-Christmas sales are awesome. When her boyfriend was on the fence about what to get her, I told him that a gift card to her favorite store would be a 2-in-1: the gift of shopping, and the gift of quantity, as her $50 card could get her twice as much as $50 of merchandise before Christmas would have.

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For the past two years my family has played gift card bingo. My parents cash in their credit card points for hundred of dollars worth of gift card. Then after opening presents on Christmas morning, we play bingo and who ever get bingo gets to choose what gift card they want. I ended up getting enough to get my gf's presents for free. The bingo gets kind of old by the 10 game. But it is a good way to give out the gift cards to the people who would use them rather than making assumptions about that.

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This made me laugh because I absolutley refuse to give a gift card but love getting them.

Same here. I don't like giving gift cards because they don't show a lot of thought and they aren't fun to wrap or unwrap. But there's something to be said for giving a gift card rather than giving a present that has the potential to disappoint or go to waste. (I'd much rather get a gift card from my mom than another sweater that I will never, ever wear.)

 

Side note: I read somewhere recently that about 30% of all holiday gifts are now gift cards / certificates.

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I don't like giving gift cards either. But I didn't have a choice this year. We draw names on my wife's side of the family and we got her stepsister and husband. Since we never really see them, we asked for suggestions or things they might like. The rest of the family had no idea and then they asked for a Target gift card and an iTunes gift card, respectively.

 

It also kind of sucks to get a gift card, although I don't mind it as much. But I'm really easy to buy for and all it would take is a call to my wife if you're really stuck. It just shows lack of effort.

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Well, in the end how are you going to remember who exactly gave you how much cash when you have a wad of say $100?

 

[...]

 

I guess gift cards are a nice way of saying "I didn't know exactly what to get you, but I kind of know where to get it."

These days, cash can be a nice way of saying "I hope you'll buy yourself something nice with this, but I know you're having a hard time making ends meet so I won't be offended if this ends up paying the electric bill."

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There is something to be said for the joy of shopping for something you really love. Generally, I hate the shopping experience, but from my teenage years through my 30s, I loved shopping for music. That's changed because of the lack of inventory in most music stores. Now it's beer. When I used to get gift cards to music stores, it filled me with anticipation. Now it's the same for the beer store.

 

Finding the perfect gift for someone is a great experience. When you know they'll love it, the anticipation of giving is awesome. But a well chosen gift card is often a better alternative than the less than perfect gift.

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Guest Speed Racer

we asked for suggestions or things they might like. The rest of the family had no idea

 

I'm really easy to buy for and all it would take is a call to my wife if you're really stuck. It just shows lack of effort.

 

So you didn't put forth the effort, is what you're saying? :lol I'm just funnin' you, but I think everyone thinks they're easy to buy for. If you know someone enough to know their interests, but not well enough to really know them, buying a gift can be tricky since you don't want to buy something they already have, or something they already have 1,000 of, like a scarf or mug. A gift card to a store full of shit they're interested in is a nice gift.

 

Gift cards are such a benign gift[*] that people who are offended to receive them are a special kind of a-hole, in my opinion.

 

[*] Benign as in, "you can buy something for yourself" cannot be interpreted, in any way, as an affront to someone unless an pro-life person received an abortion gift card. And I don't think they make those.

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So you didn't put forth the effort, is what you're saying? :lol I'm just funnin' you, but I think everyone thinks they're easy to buy for. If you know someone enough to know their interests, but not well enough to really know them, buying a gift can be tricky since you don't want to buy something they already have, or something they already have 1,000 of, like a scarf or mug. A gift card to a store full of shit they're interested in is a nice gift.

 

Gift cards are such a benign gift[*] that people who are offended to receive them are a special kind of a-hole, in my opinion.

 

[*] Benign as in, "you can buy something for yourself" cannot be interpreted, in any way, as an affront to someone unless an pro-life person received an abortion gift card. And I don't think they make those.

 

We tried to put forth the effort. We asked them for suggestions for themselves, we asked them for suggestions on their spouse, we asked the family that might know them better, and they finally just told us to get them gift cards to those places. Kind of takes away the joy of gift-giving when you're essentially told by the person what to get them.

 

I don't mind giving gift cards, but I usually don't have to.

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Guest Speed Racer

We tried to put forth the effort. We asked them for suggestions for themselves, we asked them for suggestions on their spouse, we asked the family that might know them better, and they finally just told us to get them gift cards to those places. Kind of takes away the joy of gift-giving when you're essentially told by the person what to get them.

 

I don't mind giving gift cards, but I usually don't have to.

 

You asked for suggestions and they gave you one. It worked!

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