Why would anyone ever buy a gift certificate?

[Chimera]

I can't think of a single think that makes them better than real money.

They're impersonal.

They're restrictive.

They often expire.

You usually lose the money on them that wasn't spent on their purchase.

Credit and debit cards serve as a better means of monetary exchange if they don't feel safe carrying cash.

So why not give money or a check? The Dilbert animated series was spot-on about this.

[Chad Bonin]

Cash and checks seem very "last minute", while gift cards/certificates show that you at least know where the person likes to shop... or where you would like to force them to shop.

I've already gotten one for Blockbuster (guess I'll have to find a game there I want) and Media Play (go go cheap animé... after the card).

[Kury Wagner]

I love getting gift certificates.

They're impersonal.Not really, if you're someone who doesn't really know what a certain person wants, it can be a great gift. Or even if you do know of something good to get. . .
They're restrictive.Okay, I agree with this one, but American Express has their gift charge card now. I think someone else has something similar.They often expire.Most have at least a year from the purchase date to spend it. That's plenty of time.
You usually lose the money on them that wasn't spent on their purchase.What do you live in a hole until it's the day before it expires?

[Mr. Pedro]

I actually prefer to give and receive gift cards and certificates. It's a lot easier to sorta give the cash straight to the person, and you won't have to worry about fudging up a gift request because you forgot some tiny detail, or accidentally got the wrong size.

Besides, there's nothing quite like the joy that comes with opening up an unsuspecting card on Christmas Day and getting a buttload of Best Buy gift cards. :anime:

[PaQ]

I think Giftcards are great, because you can get it for some store that carries something that person might like and they can buy it themselves, instead of getting something maybe they won't like or might already have.

But I've also seen the downside to gift cards in that you're tied to that one store and forced to buy it there where you might find it cheaper somewhere else or might want something entirely different. so.. :shrug:

[cross blues]

I can't think of a single think that makes them better than real money.
first, they're called gift certificates, so you can pass them off as gifts. second... well, I mostly agree with you. I'd rather get money. gift cards/certificates and money both say the same thing to me: either someone didn't feel like shopping for me or didn't know what to get me. this past weekend I got some gift cards from a relative. they are for Redners, to use for gas. it was thoughtful I guess, but not in the "just what I always wanted" category. I guess it's ok. but if I got gift certificates from someone close to me, I wouldn't be happy.

[AndreaBeaumont]

They're convienent.

They took more thought and effort than cash or check.

They're tangible enough to be a gift(what you call restrictive) but flexible enough to let the person you got one for deem how the money can be best utilized for them.

[EinBebop]

A couple of common cases in my family:

Case A) Person X is saving up for some several hundred dollar item, from, say Best Buy. Now, I can't afford to make this purchase for him, but I can contribute in the form of a Best Buy gift card.

Case B) Clothes. I seem to always need them around Christmastime. Someone is often kind enough to give me a card for one of my favorite shopping places to allow me to get something I really need rather than another toy or trinket. Not that I'm fussy about the latter. :)

Case C) Paying in advance for a service someone uses frequently. When I was in college, someone in my family went to the trouble to contact my college bookstore to get a gift certificate! That was cool, and very helpful! I've heard that this year a movie theater gift card and some fast food certificates are floating around my family for people who frequent those places.

So to respond to what you said:

I can't think of a single think that makes them better than real money. They're impersonal.

Not nearly as impersonal as the cash that you're advocating, IMO. I think the cases above show some level of thought and often practicality.

They're restrictive. [And] They often expire.
Again, that's where thought comes in. These are not issues if you know the wants and needs of the person you're buying for.

Now if you want to talk impersonal, restrictive, and expirable, let me tell start a thread about that family member who sends everyone those boxes of cheeses and meats every year. ;)

[Martianinvader]

A stack of envelopes isn't nearly as exciting or traditional as a stack of presents. :shrug:

[EinBebop]

A stack of envelopes isn't nearly as exciting or traditional as a stack of presents. :shrug:That's where creative packaging comes in, or attaching it to some other cheap little thing you picked up somwhere. :)

[Elven Moon]

I like getting them, especially if it's a store I like. It keeps the temptation to spend the money on something else away :sweat:


This year I have one gift certificate to give.

[Rogue_A]

A stack of envelopes isn't nearly as exciting or traditional as a stack of presents. :shrug: Trust me, there are many people in my family get more excited getting gift cards or money from than gifts. They give all the wrong things, and it drives me and my mother insane. They don't listen when I tell them what I want (neither my mother). For example:

I tell them I want one video game for PS2, like Tony Hawk's Underground, they go and get me Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1....I told them to get me a hockey game, they give me one I said I already have...and for the past 5 years they've made it a tradition to give me boxes of stale Bazooka gum and 50 million presents related to wolves. Recently they've added another painful habit of giving me shojo anime and earrings . I don't have my ears pierced yet, my mother has told them about that. And I never liked things like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, heck, I don't like anime that much anymore period. Rather have a good US-made classic...but...they just don't listen. :mad:

And they'd never give me cash because oh....they're cheapskates. Or something like that. I've run out of things to describe them as.

[PRdude]

I never saw anything wrong with gift certificates and cards. Anyway, money orders are better than checks, since checks can bounce.

[Conekiller]

Trust me, there are many people in my family get more excited getting gift cards or money from than gifts. They give all the wrong things, and it drives me and my mother insane. They don't listen when I tell them what I want (neither my mother). For example:

I tell them I want one video game for PS2, like Tony Hawk's Underground, they go and get me Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1....I told them to get me a hockey game, they give me one I said I already have...and for the past 5 years they've made it a tradition to give me boxes of stale Bazooka gum and 50 million presents related to wolves. Recently they've added another painful habit of giving me shojo anime and earrings . I don't have my ears pierced yet, my mother has told them about that. And I never liked things like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, heck, I don't like anime that much anymore period. Rather have a good US-made classic...but...they just don't listen. :mad:

And they'd never give me cash because oh....they're cheapskates. Or something like that. I've run out of things to describe them as.
Dude.....I'm sorry?

tha'ts just bad. It seems as if they don't even give a whit about what you like or to even try to understand you. SOunds like a "family meeting" (tm) is in desparate need.

On topic: I realise I'm hard to shop for, most of the things I wnat, I just buy. and the stuff I don't "just buy" is difficult to track down or too obscure for non-geek family members to even know what it would be. So getting a gift card formthem tells me "I know you're hard to shop for, so here's this money from a store that sells things you like. I'm sure you'll put it to good use and save you the time of exchanging something that you didn't like/already have."

last year I REALLY wanted this One Piece calendar, so much so that I left the import webpage open whenever I left the computer with an oh-so-sublte " I WANT THIS!!!!!" taped to the monitor

[Mek]

My dad's mother has Alzheimers, so she can't give us money or gifts anymore. Gift Cards are pretty much the only thing she sends nowadays, and I'm just fine with that.

'Sides, I like Target, and I don't feel bad having to mooch money off of my parents moreso than I do already. >o<

[krazymed]

That's better than the six packs of underwear I got. Seriously, that's ALL I got. From six different people. I'll take gift certificates or cash any day of the week, because getting nothing but clothing no one else will ever see is really weak.

[Bryangst]

Knux nailed it right on for me. When I get them, it shows that my parents, friends, and other siblings KNOW where I like to shop. They're also as Andrea said, convenient. People don't know or keep track of what I have anymore, and it's not like they're going to sit here and go through everything and get me something I don't have and I will most likely not use as much as anything else I have.

[Fone Bone]

Gift cards and certificates are very thoughtful. I received three and gave two this year.

[Outlander00]

Actually... I had to do it this year for Christmas with my friend because after telling me some of the things he wanted, his family got him the stuff for him or he bought it. I was quite lost in what to get him so got him a gift card to Best Buy. So really I had to do it out of a desperate situation than anything.

[Opaque]

IThey often expire.
Not in California they don't.

[HumanoidTyphoon]

Not in California they don't.If you look in the fine print you might see otherwise usually about a year. Sometimes they even start charging interest if they expire. Still you usually have a good amount of time to make sure this doesn't happen.

[Bryangst]

If you look in the fine print you might see otherwise usually about a year. Sometimes they even start charging interest if they expire. Still you usually have a good amount of time to make sure this doesn't happen. The beautiful thing about Best Buy gift cards is that in that fine print, it says "No Expiration Date." =D

[RayChuang]

....Let the recipient pick out their own present. :cool:

Especially popular gift cards are those from Best Buy, Borders, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com, since people love to buy consumer electronics and books. http://webpages.charter.net/connectingzone/agree/4.gif

Clothing is actually becoming increasingly less popular as gifts, no thanks to the fact the clothes might not be to the recipient's liking or it doesn't fit. But gift certificates/cards to a clothing store is another matter....