Most consumers do not know that it costs $4 to $7 to buy a general purpose gift card or that they may be subject to monthly fees of up to $4.95 as soon as six months after the card is purchased, consumer advocates said on Monday.
More sad factoids findings from the survey, which was commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America and National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators:
The consumer groups told Reuters that "An estimated 10 percent of this value (the card's original value) is never used."
If you want to give someone the gift of money, there are so many better ways to do this—personal check, actual cash, or store-specific gift cards. Buy someone a general purpose credit gift card, however, and you'll just be inadvertently giving a nice big gift to the card company.
"US consumer advocates warn of gift card costs" [Reuters]
(Photo: SuZenDu)
My employer uses a service that allows them to give a value and let the employees choose where to get the gift cards. Trouble is you can't choose cash...
@pecan 3.14159265: I like video games way too much. The only positive turn my addiction has taken is that my collection takes up no actual space, thanks to digital distribution. (Our 360 serves duty as a media extender, only)
L4D2 demo delayed twice! C'Mon! Oh, well. I'll at least get to slay some zombies after our earnings call tomorrow.
And that was a really long reply to a day-old thread, but hey, I never got the most discussed thread before. Feels good!
]]>Do stores really have a separate policy for Visa Gift Cards, or would that apply to credit cards in general? I'm referring to the last one about how some people had trouble splitting the card with another form of payment.
I guess I haven't had troubles at most of the stores I've gone to for the few times I've had to split between cash and my debit card, but it seems like this would be a general store policy on mixing and matching payment rather than something specifically targeted to Visa/MC gift cards.
]]>@Chris Walters: What an awesome website! You've officially used up the rest of my worknight with that.
Word website in general are great. I look forward every day to the new "Word of the Day" from dictionary.com
]]>I like that idea very much. For our wedding some of my husbands friends flew over from Europe which I think is present enough and made us a dvd and a card and they researched how much it would be to take a hot air balloon ride around us and gave us cash for that. Unless I know someone who goes to the same place every day (ie starbucks) or spends a ton of money at one store (Macys mom) I don't buy giftcards. I want to give them something that they need or reflects them, like knowing they want to go somewhere or are saving towards something I can help out financially rather than giving something because I have to. When I was younger I knew that one relative wouldn't have enough money to give me what I wanted (say a camera for a trip) but I would ask for contributions towards the purchase that way they knew I was saving it to go towards something tangible but not out of their price range. Something I don't see much anymore, savings bonds, they can still be good gifts because you can forget about them till you need them in an emergency.
]]>@metsarethe...:
So you'll be rooting for the Yankees???
You can always send them a cheque for the cost of a first class stamp...
]]>I do hate these things, I'm the worst at using gift cards. It's a terrible business. I've probably wasted a total of at least $200 over the past 5 years in unused cards or ones with like $6 left on them for a restaurant I barely ever go to. It really only works if you know it's a place like dunkin donuts or someplace the person stops at everyday.
]]>I would generally agree. Some people like something physical, a printed out email doesn't always appeal. Good gift if you intend to send something to someone out of state though.
]]>Just give the gift money in something like a money clip then? Or do what I do and mess with people at times. Give them cash in a box with a random heavy object.
]]>I also know that if I send a package through the mail to relatives far away, I'm doing to spend at least $5 in postage and probably more.Then my relatives get exactly what they want and it doesn't arrive late or damaged.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: Some of my relatives assume the stores in our area are the same as the stores in their area, so we've ended up with a few gift cards that can only be used when we happen to way out of town. It's annoying, but I know they're trying to be nice. And I think them trying to pick out an actual gift would be even more off the mark.
]]>@dfens42: They also make them for bar/bat mitzvahs. Giving a check/cash (particularly in denominations of $18) is perfectly acceptable.
]]>@AlexDitto: I think if you don't know someone well enough to get something thoughtful for them, you shouldn't be expected to get them anything at all
My problem is that I want to give family members gifts that aren't *things* - for example, a somewhat far away sibling wants to come visit but can't afford the airfare/train. My aunt loves manicures but never gets them for herself. I'd like to give them some gift card that can be used for these purposes, but the visa/mastercard/etc ones are too much of a rip-off and store-specific giftcards don't really apply.
I'm probably going to give them cash & a handmade coupon saying "to be used for airfare to visit your big sister!" or something similar. If the cash ends up being used for rent, food, etc I guess that's fine, but I'd be a little sad. So I see the attraction of gift cards - the gifter gets to exert a bit (lot) of power over what the giftee gets to do with the present.
]]>balance: $0. $2.50 removed every month for the last 4 months I've forgotten to use the last $10 on it.
Awesome.
]]>@pecan 3.14159265: I'm the same way but see myself changing. The wife and I just got a house and have been spending the first month fixing it up before moving in. needless to say much less time for video games and more and more time in lowe's or home depot. And, of course, slowly but surely the tool acquisition begins!
]]>@CompyPaq: I usually use it to splurge on something unneeded but even though I don't get behind on bills I like this idea. It's free money either way and at least it goes towards a balance of a monthly expense.
]]>I think if you don't know someone well enough to get something thoughtful for them, you shouldn't be expected to get them anything at all, except for maybe a Holiday-themed cookie or a nice Holiday-specific card. Otherwise, the whole ordeal becomes less like gifting and more like balancing a social checkbook; how much did so and so give me last year? I have to give them that much this year, unless they give me more this year in which case I'll give them more....
]]>Dunkin Donuts gift cards and Lotto tickets, people!
They are the future!
]]>@CompyPaq: I just did that, recieved a prepaid mastercard as a baby shower present.
]]>Just get him a visa gift card...oh wait...
]]>They make those cards for Chinese New Year, ask me how I know...
]]>@TheSpatulaOfLove: Nope. We don't have any room for power tools or additional screwdrivers. We have two hammers, a set of six screwdrivers and that's about it. Mr. Pi likes video games more.
]]>Could save on some fees.
]]>What I need to do is just hang onto the card for the following year's Black Friday sale, which is when I usually end up buying something from BB.
]]>@carefreeamit: Amex gift cards are also unusable outside the US. I noticed that when I tried to buy online from Strapya.
]]>Mr. PI doesn't have a tool fetish? That's where all my Sears GCs go towards! ;)
]]>As a matter of fact, my sister just asked me what kind of gift card I'd like to receive for my birthday: Starbucks, (local) grocery store, or (chain) retail store. She knows what I like, and she knows I'll spend the entire amount on something I like.
]]>The last thing we need is a gift card to a place we don't go to, like Sears.
]]>I hate those gift cards. I hate the rebate ones, too. What is wrong with a simple check? Oh, yeah, people might actually use the whole thing.
]]>We use our cashback rewards to buy gift cards through Discover, so far the ones we've gotten don't have expiration dates/maintenance charges. And they're for places that the family like to shop/eat at.
]]>I disagree completely (with your desire for a Phillies repeat) :-)
]]>I think if you're buying a store-specific card, it's okay as long as you know the person frequents that place.
]]>Side note: I believe factoid is used in the wrong sense above
Factoid -
1 : an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print
2 : a briefly stated and usually trivial fact
I really don't understand why people just don't give cash instead, I would rather have the extra $5 spent to buy the card in my pocket.
]]>People: either give someone a tangible item (if you want to seem thoughtful) or give them cash (if you feel like you need to fulfill an obligation, if in person) or a check (if sending a gift by mail). In general, people can get at least a debit card with a Visa logo on it these days to do online purchases so there's really no excuse for buying a general-purpose gift card.
]]>And no, everybody doesn't live in states with relatively strong and pro-consumer gift card laws.
]]>Amex has no maintenance fee
]]>