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Gift cards?

What is your opinion of gift cards?

  • I love getting them. Now I can buy what I want!

    Votes: 10 32.3%

  • I love giving them.

    Votes: 6 19.4%

  • I love getting and giving them.

    Votes: 7 22.6%

  • They're ok, and serve a purpose at times, but I try to not rely on them.

    Votes: 14 45.2%

  • Meh. Whatever.

    Votes: 7 22.6%

  • Fine for adults, not for kids.

    Votes: 3 9.7%

  • I hate getting them.

    Votes: 2 6.5%

  • I hate giving them.

    Votes: 3 9.7%

  • I hate getting and giving them.

    Votes: 1 3.2%

  • They are the spawn of Satan and should be banned. If that's all you can do, don't do anything.

    Votes: 2 6.5%
  • Total voters
    31
radcen

radcen

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Ok, not political, but it's Christmas day, so let's do something a bit lighter.

What is your opinion of gift cards? Getting and/or giving as gifts (for any occasion). Great? Ok? Another tool for the lazy? Somewhere in between?

ETA: Multiple choice is allowed.

ETA 2: How the eff do I misspell "Gift" in the title? I swear, some people...
 
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Re: Guft cards?

radcen said:
Ok, not political, but it's Christmas day, so let's do something a bit lighter.

What is your opinion of gift cards? Getting and/or giving as gifts (for any occasion). Great? Ok? Another tool for the lazy? Somewhere in between?
Click to expand...

C'mon man, who doesn't love gift cards? I'll pm you my address if ya wanna send me a few. :mrgreen:
 
Re: Guft cards?

Why not give cash instead? You can use that anywhere.
 
Re: Guft cards?

I have wondered about this:

You buy a gift card. You pay sales tax when you buy it. Does the recipient also pay sales tax when he redeems it?
 
Re: Guft cards?

ronpaulvoter said:
I have wondered about this:

You buy a gift card. You pay sales tax when you buy it. Does the recipient also pay sales tax when he redeems it?
Click to expand...

I've never paid sales tax on the purchase of a gift card.
 
Re: Guft cards?

I don't give or receive gifts for adults on Christmas (or birthday's).

I only send/buy gifts for children.

Though I just sent an Apple iTunes card to my nephew via email (for the iPad mini I bought him last year).

It's cool - he can buy what he likes with it and no money is wasted.
 
Re: Guft cards?

Scratch my vote. I was thinking about guft cards, not s store credit card.

I hate receiving them, and I do not give them. I like to shop around different stores before I score.
 
Re: Guft cards?

I received almost entirely gift cards for Christmas. They're for stores that I intend to shop at, but for products that are more specific than most people would know to purchase.

The options are:

a) pay really, really close attention to what I want, which is relatively easy for those close to me (both literally and figuratively) but more difficult for those that aren't.

b) spell out exactly what I want to someone, which seems more like a ransom than Christmas gift exchange.

c) suggest the stores that I shop at, and then let me do the heavy lifting of selecting the exact item(s) I'm looking for.

Ultimately gift cards save time for the shopper, don't make me feel like a jerk ("Make sure it's the model 5200B, because the standard 5200 is known to not work as well in blah blah blah blah..."), and get me exactly what I want.

For the record I only purchased one gift card for others, however, because I'm a hypocrite and/or a better person.
 
Re: Guft cards?

And here I thought "guft cards" were some new thing where people sent you a cards containing guff.
 
Re: Guft cards?

Guft cards are what New Zealanders use to buy fush and chips. Gift cards tie you to the issuing store/business and should the store go bust, are worthless. Better to give money. It can be readily exchanged for gifts almost anywhere!
 
Re: Guft cards?

I can just imagine trying to explain to family and friends about what anime and manga to get me. Yeah, and then get more clothes I will never wear because that is what people know to buy. I made a 300 dollar amazon order earlier today entirely from gift cards and am extremely excited about what I am getting, know none of it is something I have, and will enjoy all of it. On the flip side, hardly any one wants me to pick stuff out for them. So gift cards work well.
 
Re: Guft cards?

The only gift card I gave this year was to my brother and sister in law. Since they live out of town it's a lot easier and it was fairly specific (a dinner cruise).

I received several gift cards but Cabela's and I have an understanding so it works just fine!
 
Re: Guft cards?

I only buy gift cards for family members that are out of town. I don't buy them for people who are nearby, because I think they are impersonal. I take a lot of time buying gifts, though, and making sure I have the right gift for each person. I usually do pretty well with getting people gifts they want/like/need.

But I sent out a bunch of Olive Garden gift cards for friends and family this year. It's a lot easier to drop a gift card in the mail, than to pay $55 for shipping plus the cost of the gifts to people that you haven't seen in years anyway. :shrug:

As far as receiving them? I'd rather get a gift card than a gift I'll never use.
 
Re: Guft cards?

One advantage of Gift Cards is that it allows one to make purchases online. If you gave them cash it would be a different story.

On the downside, I have Gift Cards sitting around with than less than $5 left on them and will probably never use them. Some legit charity needs to come up a way in which people could dump the remaining amount on their gift cards to them.
 
Re: Guft cards?

Crosscheck said:
One advantage of Gift Cards is that it allows one to make purchases online. If you gave them cash it would be a different story.

On the downside, I have Gift Cards sitting around with than less than $5 left on them and will probably never use them. Some legit charity needs to come up a way in which people could dump the remaining amount on their gift cards to them.
Click to expand...

For what it is worth, most stores I have gotten gift cards for allow you to pay what you have on the gift card with that, the rest cash. So if you have 5 dollars left on a gift card, just pay 5 dollars with the gift card, the rest cash or debit/credit. Amazon will draw from your gift card balance until it is gone and then bill the rest to your CC. Pre-paid credit cards are a bit more difficult, but even those can usually be managed to get down to small change.
 
Re: Guft cards?

As long as the card is to a place I'd actually go I like them. More personal than cash and can be used online.
 
Re: Guft cards?

When I can find a gift the recipient actually would want - I buy an actual gift.

But I refuse to buy something that will be tucked away in a drawer until I come over and they have to parade it out.

And if I do not know the person well enough to know what gift card to buy them? Then I don't know them well enough to give them a gift.:lamo
 
Re: Guft cards?

They're okay. They're basically a gift of last resort. I get them for people who I don't know enough about to get them anything else.
 
Re: Guft cards?

Since gift giving is an act reflective of the thought put into it, giving gift cards is the brainchild of the selfish and thoughtless.
 
Re: Guft cards?

CanadaJohn said:
Since gift giving is an act reflective of the thought put into it, giving gift cards is the brainchild of the selfish and thoughtless.
Click to expand...


Gift cards are excellent for those who already have what they need, and aren't emotionally close enough to you for choosing a personalized gift. I wouldn't buy one for a spouse or a parent, but there's plenty of friends who love them.
 
Re: Guft cards?

lizzie said:
Gift cards are excellent for those who already have what they need, and aren't emotionally close enough to you for choosing a personalized gift. I wouldn't buy one for a spouse or a parent, but there's plenty of friends who love them.
Click to expand...

Even then... my father-in-law is a very "I don't want/need anything" type of person, and will not give suggestions on things he may want. But, buy him a Cabella's gift card and he's a happy camper. His eyes literally light up.
 
Re: Guft cards?

radcen said:
Even then... my father-in-law is a very "I don't want/need anything" type of person, and will not give suggestions on things he may want. But, buy him a Cabella's gift card and he's a happy camper. His eyes literally light up.
Click to expand...

I begged for an Amazon.com gift card this year. Nobody got it for me. :lol:
 
Re: Guft cards?

radcen said:
Even then... my father-in-law is a very "I don't want/need anything" type of person, and will not give suggestions on things he may want. But, buy him a Cabella's gift card and he's a happy camper. His eyes literally light up.
Click to expand...

DH was exactly the same way, when it came to gifts from anyone besides me. He had just about everything he wanted, and he was hard to buy for, but he loved Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, and similar gift cards.

I love getting a gift card for Starbucks myself.
 
Re: Guft cards?

CanadaJohn said:
Since gift giving is an act reflective of the thought put into it, giving gift cards is the brainchild of the selfish and thoughtless.
Click to expand...

Good morning, CJ. :2wave:

This year, most of the adults in my family opted for gift cards on their "wish lists," which made my shopping and shipping easier. Their thinking was that they could use the cards to buy exactly what they wanted, and probably even get more since the after-Christmas sales usually have lots of bargains. I did buy toys for the children, and that was fun, and I also bought a small gift for the adults, too, just to have something to unwrap. My family has been expanding the past few years with marriages and births, and I'm now buying for 15 people, and that doesn't include neighbors and friends. It would probably be less expensive to just take my family to Disney next year as a Christmas gift! :lol: I'm probably going to have to quit retirement and start a small business or something in self defense! My brothers and sister and their families just get Christmas cards from me, and vice versa, but we all get together to have a few drinks during the holidays, and discuss plans for the coming year, absent my sister who lives in California. She uses Skype, though, so it's the next best thing to being here.
 
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