A thread in CS discusses a commercial wherein people are ungrateful when they receive gift cards. How do you feel about them?
I prefer to receive gifts that someone has put thought into. An appropriate gift card fits the bill. I’d love an Amazon gift card, or one for Home Depot or Lowe’s, or a really generous one for Textron/Cessna. One for a day spa or Ross… not so much. If someone who knows my interests and buying habits gives me a gift card, I’d love an appropriate one.
I was going to get something for a friend for Christmas, but she mentioned that she’s bought the thing I wanted to give her. For many years she’s asked for socks from REI. She really likes them. She’ll soon have an REI store nearby, so for Christmas I bought her a membership and a gift card. I think she’ll like them.
Gift cards are like any other gift - it depends on the recipient and the giver.
Two examples - both gift cards and yet I would predict a WAY different reaction/
1 - “I know you are dying to get a pair of shoes from this store so here’s a gift card for that store”
2 - “Here’s a gift card for a store that has little to nothing you’re interested in and doesn’t have a location within 100 miles of anywhere you regularly go”
Personally I’m fond of gift cards but only for certain people. My daughter is an amazing shopper - she can find deals in places I wouldn’t even think of trying. We started both kids on a clothing allowance when they were 13ish and she’s bought all of her own clothes since that time. If I buy her $100 in clothes she gets one or maybe two items. If I give her $100 gift card she gets 5 or 6 items and she loves them all.
My son is a saver. He would take money meant to treat himself and add it to his RRSP (retirement account, Canadian style) which, while it’s not a bad thing is not always a good thing either. For him I’m more likely to find something I know he wants or would like but wouldn’t buy for himself.
For me? Gift cards always welcome. I don’t much like malls but I can online shop with the best of them so even the unthinking gift cards I can make work. Worst case scenario is I use them to buy a gift for someone else!
I lose them, or forget I have them, and I live hours away from major shopping areas, so I dont like them. My daughter, however, is extremely organized and I often get her gift cards for stores or restaurants I know she likes. So I guess my answer is, it depends.
I got a $25 gas card at the Christmas raffle a couple of years ago. I forgot about it for more a year. When my friend came to visit last Summer I gave it to her, since she was an unemployed student and had a 500-mile trip. So it came in handy!
I’ve never gotten a gift card I couldn’t use. I’m either predictable or lucky.
Actually, one time I got a gift card from Victoria’s Secret as part of a hotel package deal but I couldn’t use it. But I knew someone who could and sold the card to him for a bit less than face value.
With eBay or craigslist, it’s pretty easy it’s easy to get cash for cards. As for the lack of thoughtfulness that is percieved with gift cards, that doesn’t apply to me. If someone thinks “what does Zipper like?” “free money” is a great answer.
Fantastic. Anyone receiving unwanted/unappreciated gift cards can re-gift them to me, no problem.
ha, ha - me too!
Some of the best gift cards are to stores I regularly shop at, even a mundane place like a grocery store, because I can then use the money of my own that I don’t need to spend on groceries (or whatever) on something else I either need or want. But that’s me.
I don’t much care to receive them but they are great to give people. They are the gift that says I couldn’t be bothered finding you a real meaningful gift.
See, I feel like these two sentences perfectly contradict each other. I mean, yes, if the gift is coming from someone you hardly know, then it’s nice they didn’t try and fail miserably by guessing. But if it’s coming from a close friend or family member, or God forbid a spouse, and they don’t know you well enough to come up with something, or aren’t willing to put any effort into it, then yeah, it kind of sucks. Not the end of the world, and I’ll still end up with something I wanted, but it still kind of sucks.
I prefer to think of them as the gift that says you know I’m really struggling with money right now but won’t insult my age by giving me cash in a card like a preteen.
Even from an SO, honestly, a store specific card means, to me, “I know you love this category of things that you refuse to spend your own money on, so here, you’re forced to get something you love for you.” I don’t expect my SO to know which three of more than 100 Mercedes Lackey books I haven’t read yet, but knowing I love books enough to get me a gift cert to a local bookstore is awesome (and I don’t have to take another copy of Magic’s Price back to exchange it!)
What do I really want for X-mas? Cash. Seriously. But since that’s even more gauche in most circles than a gift card, I’m delighted with receiving gift cards!
Not at all. ‘Putting thought into it’ can go something like this: Hm. Johnny likes books and DVDs. He often buys clothes at REI. Oh, and he has a house. I know his DVD/book tastes are pretty eclectic. I can think of several that he’d like. But he has so many, it’s quite possible I’d get him something he already has. Clothes? Hm. He really needs someone to dress him. But would I get him something he’d never wear? I know he’s like a new pair of shoes… And let me think. House. He has a chop saw. He has a couple of drills. Should I get him a circular hand saw, or a jigsaw? I know he wants both. But then, he’s been thinking about new closet doors.
So a card from Amazon, REI, or Home Depot would be a perfectly thoughtful gift for me. If someone gave me a gift card for Target, it would be useful but not as thoughtful.
See, I’ve got most of the things that I want that I can afford. I’m very unlikely to get what I really want, which would have Grumman or Cessna or Robinson or Schweizer painted on it somewhere.
I hate to shop, so I hate gift cards. Fortunately, several years ago, both sides of the family quit exchanging gifts, so it’s not an issue. Honestly, a gift card or a check feels like “Well, I felt obligated to give you something…” If you don’t know what I would like, chances are you don’t know me well enough to give me a gift, ya think?
Right, but a gift card to any of those places (especially Amazon) could also be saying, “I don’t have any desire to put much effort into this, so I’m just going to get you a catch-all gift card and let you pick out your own gift.” It’s really just the modern-day equivalent of putting cash in a card, which is fine if it’s coming from someone you don’t know very well. I guess it just bothers me when, as I said, it’s coming from someone who should know me better.
Having said that, sometimes it bites me in the ass when I realize I have no idea what to get someone myself! I still try hard to avoid getting them a gift card, though, unless it’s a casual acquaintance.
Sometimes, who the giver is counts too - at a certain point my mom became to disabled to do much shopping, so a gift card from her was “I’d like to go shopping but I can’t, so please select something you’d like”.
Though, honestly, I’m in the group of NEED CASH, but I’ll take what I can get.
When you get right down to it, no one has to give me anything, so anything I’m given I appreciate as a gift. (Of course, some gifts are nice/better than others, but I was brought up that one never points this out to the giver)
My SIL’s most favorite material things in the world are shoes and purses. If you asked her what she would want most for free she would say shoes or a purse. But if you said that that I would be picking out shoes or a purse for her, she’d probably rather have me poke her eyes out.
The perfect gift for someone with very a taste for personal items, like clothes or accessories, is a gift card. Especially for someone who can’t really afford to splurge on such items - a new parent, a new homeowner, a student.
I think the generously-sized gift card for Nordstroms that I got my SIL for her 40th birthday was the most thoughtful thing I could get her. It said “I know you love to buy things at Nordstroms, this one’s on me!”
Since no one is likely to give me a gift card that will let me buy something I couldn’t afford otherwise, the only ones I like are ones that force me to visit a store I want to go to but usually don’t get around to visiting. The number one example is a card for Rasputin, the big Bay Area used CD and DVD store. The one near me closed, so I have to make a special effort to go, which I usually only do when I have a gift card.
Here are some gift cards I’d really enjoy getting:
[ul]
[li]A card for a store that sells stuff I really like, but wouldn’t want someone else picking out for me. As an example, very few people know me well enough to know what music I like, but don’t have. Therefore, a gift card to the iTunes store would be awesome. They’re giving me music, but I get to pick it.[/li][li]A card specific to an item. Example: my in-laws knew I wanted a USB turntable. The local Radio Shack had several for under $100. They sent me a $100 Radio Shack gift card with a photo of a USB turntable and told me to pick one I liked. [/li][/ul]
On the other hand, here are some bad gift cards:
[ul]
[li]Cards to stores that compete with me. I own a retail bookstore. Don’t give me some other bookstore’s gift card. That’s rather insulting. (yes, people have done this)[/li][li]Cards to stores that sell stuff I don’t like. I got a Starbucks card as a gift. I don’t like coffee. I don’t even like the smell of coffee. I hate going in Starbucks. And on top of that, there isn’t a Starbucks within an hour’s drive of here.[/li][li]Cards that expire or decline in value over time[/li][/ul]
This reminds me of the time that a gift card was an awesome gift.
I had been dating my now-wife for only a few months as Christmas rolled around. I had met her parents twice in that time and thought the meetings had gone well. At this time, we actually lived about two hours apart, and I was traveling up to see her about every weekend.
In any case, I was spending the holiday with my family, then coming back to spend a week or so with her before going back to start the next term at grad school. While at my folks’ place, I was told (in a very excited tone) that her mom had made me a stocking – something she had never done before for a boyfriend.
When I went to see her, I got to open the stocking, and the big gift in it was a $50 gas card. That was a pretty awesome show of acceptance wrapped up in the form of a gift card.
