Gift Cards: A Convenience or a Ripoff?

[David]

I am beginning to suspect the "valid" uses of gift cards. I am beginning to think that the very concept of gift cards is a sham. Think about it. What is the usefulness of a gift card over plain cash or a check (as a gift)?

When you give cash (never mind the crassness or the vulgarity of it because a gift card is no less crass in strict etiquette terms), you enable the recipient to spend it as he wishes: shopping anywhere, charity, savings, &c. A gift card does not allow this. It essentially forces the recipient to shop at one vendor or one distributor.

Also, when you give cash or a check, what you pay is what the recipient receives. Very often with gift cards, there is a fee attached to the initial purchase (as with the American Express gift card).

Furthermore, the recipient of a gift card usually finds it difficult, if not impossible, to spend the exact amount of the card value on a purchase. Either you buy less than the value of the card, in which case both the purchaser & the recipient "lose" money, or you buy more than the value of the card, in which case the recipient must pony over additional money.

Yes, indeed. I feel that gift cards are a racket. They're a form of advertising that is free for the vendor or distributor. Notice all the bright colors they're made in, & the way they're all stacked up & displayed together in your market. All those shiny bright colors luring unwary shoppers, especially around holiday or birthday times. What a ripoff! If you're going to do the quick, crass thing, just give cash!