I just don't fucking get it. There's no upside.
Store specific: Spend 50 bucks on a piece of plastic so that you can now only spend that 50 bucks at one specific place. Not to mention that in order to fully drain the card's balance, you're almost always going to have to pay more than the card has on it. Good luck finding something in the store worth $2.17.
Visa: Spend 60 bucks on a piece of plastic so that you can later spend 50 bucks somewhere. In case you're not familiar with how these work, you basically spend 120% of what the card is actually worth in one way or another. Either there's a $3 fee for each use, or a flat rate you pay when you buy the card itself.
So, why the shit do people buy gift cards? Someone please explain this to me.
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I worked at a store that sold gift cards. We sold HEAPS of them. They're really good for the store, less good for the customer.
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There are barely any gift cards sold here.
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Giving a gift card seems like a sad attempt to convey that the you know [i]something[/i] about the person, i.e. where they'd shop, while simultaneously avoiding giving anything, since you don't actually know anything about them.
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Edited by RJ27: 1/20/2013 9:21:35 AMIn all honesty, I would much prefer being given cash as opposed to gift cards. Fuck the sentiment of it. On a scale of 1 to 10, gift cards rank -2 when it comes to sentimental value.
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They're there for the people who buy last minute gifts for friends who, on a slim chance, might like the store.
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Half arsed presents, that make the giver feel better rather if they just gave money.
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I like receiving certain gift cards, like for Benihana (reminds me to actually go there with friends!) or Mitsuwa, a local Japanese market that I also enjoy. Certain restaurants are fine, but otherwise I typically don't care for gift cards and sometimes ask to trade my parents for money for 'em if I know I won't use it. I really like getting iTunes gift cards though! <3 music
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Sometimes you can trick people into buying them from you after you use them, that's an upside I guess. (I have never done it, however)
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Commercialism. It has its ups and downs. But yeah I -blam!-ing hate pre paid cards/gift cards. I tend to sell them on Craigslist, no offense dad but I don't need a $100 Gamestop card. I need to feed myself and pay bills
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I'm always down to take some free money.