It is less awkward than giving cash and more useful than useless gift. A card to buy some wine is always welcome
My family know I love to read a book token is an ideal gift
The best present anyone can give me is a gift card for a bookstore.
That limits you to books you know or can/would find on your own.
That’s better than being limited to books they know, and that they know you’d like. The last time I got a book as a present, it was Slaughterhouse Five. What other people think my tastes are and what they actually are differ greatly.
And even people who know my tastes aren’t likely to know what I’ve read already.
As usual, Manda Jo nails it. Gift cards for generic shopping are the perfect gift in an emotionally distant, superior-subordinate relationship. Thanks for the gift card to a large department store, boss or very wealthy cousin!
But when they are in useless denominations at random places you never shop, its kind of like… thanks? Just as bad as a super useless present, except even more thoughtless.
Example: I have a $35 gift card to the Pottery Barn from my wedding 8 years ago. You can’t buy anything at the Pottery Barn for $35 except maybe some overpriced tea lights. And we were NOT registered there before anyone asks, because its a stupid, overpriced store that I hate. I can’t even donate it because financially struggling people don’t have a use for $35 at the Pottery Barn anymore than I do. I honestly would have rather gotten a sincere card and no gift since looking at it makes me feel guilty because my guest completely wasted their money.
A gift card to a specific store you would frequent more if you could afford it, like a wine store or hobby store catering to your specific hobby, can be a good gift.
Tl;dr gift card giving is a minefield. It works best between people who hardly know each other or people who know each other VERY well.
If comparing a generic gift card (Wal-Mart, Food Lion, Visa) cash would be just as good. Still, I have never found a gift card to be an offensive gift. But, an Amazon gift card is a true gift to me. I love books. I read constantly. I am too cheap and too poor to pay for as many books as I can read. I love to re-read books, so libraries work, but are not as much fun. An Amazon card allows me to actually purchase some books I would not other wise buy for my self.
A gift card for a place where you shop all the time anyway is useful, but pointless.
A gift card for a place where you don’t want to shop is annoying.
But a gift card for something that you wouldn’t normally / very often get for yourself but still like can be nice. For instance, here in the Netherlands we’ve had book gift cards since forever, and I like those because it gives me an excuse to go to the bookstore and find something that I might like even though it ends up on the enormous unread pile anyway.
I like them personally because I am fairly hard to shop for. I don’t generally give them but I did this year for my youngest daughter. She got an iPad so I gave her a $50 card to the iTunes store plus some other gifts that I picked out. She was thrilled when I showed her how to redeem the card for apps, music or games because she doesn’t have much cash of her own being 9 and all. I also told her it was her money and she could buy whatever she wanted with it but, when it is gone, it is gone. I think it is a good lesson in prioritizing and general money management.
Well, it depends who you know. For example, my mother reads the book review sections from two or three newspapers every week; she has a great track record picking books for others.
They can be useful, I used to give Borders GC a lot because so many people I know like music and/or books but I didn’t know what specific books they had or if they’ve read them. This way I know they could use them and pick what specifically they wanted.
I personally would rather get a GC or cash at work than a turkey or holiday party. So they do have uses.
Personally, I hate to get them or give them. In my life, gifts are expressions of affection. Nothing affectionate about gift cards. I love to pick out gifts.
In general, I think gift cards are dumb. But if there’s a restaurant that I like that my wife is indifferent to, then having a gift card to that restaurant simplifies the process of convincing her to dine there.
I don’t mind them at all. Everyone who knows me even informally knows that I go to Chipotle almost every Friday at work. Even the most casual friend knows I read several books at the same time. I don’t go to Starbucks every day , but I go often. So, gift cards to those places I like are quite welcome.
I’m okay with Amazon gift cards. I had built up quite a balance and use a lot of it on their holiday deals. Saved quite a bit of money as well as getting a few things that were slightly frivolous using them. Plus, I got several promotional offers using them that I then “cashed in” for even more discounts.*
E.g., I got my first smartphone using these for very little money. It’s a Frankenphone. Made up of a various parts to create an unlocked working phone. Says “Verizon” on the outside. The boot splash screen says “MetroPCS”. It uses the AT&T network and it’s served by Tracfone. I’m calling it “Abbie Something.”
Don’t like other store-specific cards for the most part. But pre-paid debit/whatever gift cards are cool. I use them to buy an Amazon gift card for myself.
People getting us things like chain restaurant cards are the worst. Have they met us? We rarely go out to eat and we certainly don’t eat at the chain places.
- One item was late shipping so they gave me a free movie to watch. Cool! It was Kung Fu Panda. Whaaat? A crappy 7 year old kids movie???
I have a tight budget so gift cards to stores/websites/etc. where I would otherwise normally already be spending money are a great blessing. Examples include the closest grocery chains, Wal-Mart and Target and similar all-purpose/one-stop big boxes, and Amazon cuz you can get nearly any legally purchasable item delivered to your door and who can’t use that?
Less universally helpful but still appreciated are gift cards to places where sure, I can find something I could buy, but I probably will have to supplement the card with my own dough (since I can’t just use the card towards, say, a running grocery tab at the place where I usually get kitchen staples) and thus almost always represents an Unnecessary Errand and I prefer to minimize those. Examples include restaurants I like (I don’t eat out much) and things like hardware stores since I’m a tenant/renter so while, say, Home Depot has stuff I guess could come in handy it’s not a pressing urgent need.
As long as they’re to some place I shop, I love them. I consider the “thought” of the present to be they know me well enough to pick some place I shop.
Have you looked at sites like Gift Card Granny, where you can sell unwanted gift cards? I love gift cards, but have turned unwanted ones into cash or Amazon cards at some of those sites.
I very much like gift cards although the fun of unwrapping packages is gone. I am an older person and can’t write down a gift list (mostly if I want something, I buy it. If I don’t have it, chances are I don’t want it.) so with a gift card in my wallet, I can browse and buy something that I really like. I understand that people don’t like gift recipients knowing the value of the gift but is is much better than returning something you don’t need/want.
Bob