Written by: Nathan Malone
Gift cards are a huge waste of money and you should never buy them as gifts. One reason why is that a lot of people never end up using them, almost one in three people that is that never actually use them. This is a shocking number saying that if the average gift card that every person buys is $25, then for every 3 gift cards that a company sells, the company actually gains $25 even though they never had to give up anything up in return. And that is saying something because according to a report made by CBS in 2014, Americans can spend as much as $32 billion dollars on gift cards every year, which in turn gives these corporations more than $10 billion dollars a year on products that they sell but never actually lose product on.
Another reason why you shouldn’t buy gift cards, is that these are literally the gift that is saying “I forgot about you so here spend this $25 on this one company that you don’t get a choice about”. And I know it’s the thought that counts, but if you are just going to throw away your money and turn it into a different form of money that can only be spent at one place, wouldn’t it be better to just take them out to a nice dinner instead of buying them a gift card for dinner. And even with that if you give someone for example a $25 gift card, most things don't cost exactly $25. So most recipients either won’t be able to get the full value out of their gift cards or they will want to get the full value out of their gift cards, which will just end with them spending money out of pocket and giving more money to these companies that are using gift cards to make more money in the first place.
A third reason that these gift cards are bad for people to be buying is that sometimes these companies that are taking your money and turning it into their own “currency” that can only be used at their company. Not only that but there are even some times where companies have the audacity to even put expiration dates on these gift cards. These expiration dates are just another money grab, because if the recipient doesn’t notice them at all the company will be able to once again just snatch up the money of the consumer without them being able to spend a dime of it.
So the next time you think you should buy gift cards as gifts, think again and instead take them out to a nice dinner that they can appreciate the time with you or ask them something they would like but never feel like it would be worth it to purchase. Just remember it’s the thought that counts, so if you find something quirky to buy them just go for it.
Works Cited
CBS News. “Why Retailers Love Gift Cards but You Shouldn't.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 19 Dec. 2014, www.cbsnews.com/news/why-retailers-love-gift-cards-but-you-shouldnt/.Lutz, Ashley. “3 Reasons Gift Cards Are a Waste of Money and You Should Never Buy Them.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Dec. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-never-buy-gift-cards-2016-11.
Young, Scott H. “10 Reasons Gift Certificates Make Horrible Gifts.” Lifehack, Lifehack, 21 Nov. 2013, www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/10-reasons-gift-certificates-make-horrible-gifts.html.
All the reasons you presented are really good. It doesn't change the fact that gift cards are still the best gift. I feel like you could have included evidence in your first paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI’d never really thought about gift cards being one of the worse things to receive because the gift card is just a number on a piece of cardboard that doesn’t fluctuate with the current spending power of a dollar.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do agree that companies do make decent to a lot of money off of gift cards, I still think that gift cards are in fact good gifts to give. This way, it is almost like a back up plan when you're running low on money, or if you're trying to save, especially being a teenager.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I have loved receiving gift cards as presents ever since I was younger. After reading this post, I agree with the author because gift cards are essentially just currency that can only be used at the company- and if the statistics are true that one in three gift cards are not used, then that is a lot of money wasted. The businesses that issue the gift cards take advantage of the situation, just like the author said. I will keep the main points of this blog post in mind before purchasing a gift card in the future
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, gift cards aren't that bad of a gift. At the end of the day it acts like a debit card for certain companies. It's hard to figure out what someone actually wants from a gift, so the gift card eliminates that problem and let's the user have a chance to pick something they want rather than what you think they want.
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog post was very interesting, however, I don’t agree with all of your points. I do agree with the fact that many people forget about their gift cards which causes economic benefits to the company. Yet, I don’t think it is necessarily a bad gift, personally, I like getting gift cards I feel as though it is a good way to still get someone a gift but not play guessing games on what they like or want. Also, by buying gift cards to stores it eliminates the awkward returning of unwanted gifts (which if the person giving the gift doesn’t include a receipt it will just end up as instore credit anyway). Finally, if you receive a gift card to Amazon, Walmart, or Target they have a wide variety of products and can be used at the receiver’s choice.
ReplyDeleteI think that this topic is very relevant and useful because of how many people will just buy gift cards for people, especially when they might not know a person as well, I think that it is actually crazy to see all the factors laid out because of why it is a bad idea, the thing is that when people get gift cards or at least for me, I never use all of them or I forget about the gift card and never use it or there might even be only $1 left and I can’t buy anything with it so you just have all of these gift card with money saved up on them. This is a good topic because I don’t think many people think about why gift cards are bad.
ReplyDeleteI agree that gift cards can waste much of your budget. I remember purchasing a few gift cards for Christmas gifts when I had nothing else left to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we should buy less gift cards. I think a better solution would be just giving people money as gifts because that is easier for you and allows the person getting the gift to spend money on anything they want. The main reason why gift cards are bad are because they make so much profit for businesses that is not needed and not reasonable. This is because so many people never end up using gift cards and then the company made money without giving anything up. This topic is very interesting and I think makes a huge impact!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy getting gift cards as gifts but, I understand how they could be a waste of money. Getting gift cards for people you don't know very well can be risky because you don't know if it is something they will actually use. I feel like the better option is cash because then they can use the money on whatever they want. It would be a good idea to pick out a gift card that you know the person will like to avoid an unused gift card. I never thought about this topic, nice article!
ReplyDeleteAlthough this may be true I think that gift cards are still a great gift because they get to pick something out for themselves and you don't have to guess on what they want which is really helpful. I think it all matters for what your saying is that you buy the correct gift card for the person. You have to know that the person is going to go there. Why would you go get a Starbucks gift card for something that doesn't even drink coffee. I know they sell other item there but if the person doesn't even think about going there why would a gift card change that? I think it's the person who bought the gift cards own fault that they lost their money.
ReplyDeleteI see where you're coming from. I often forget that I have gift cards and I forget to spend then sometimes for a long period of time. However, when I am given a gift card I actually really like it because it lets me get what I want, and it makes me feel like I'm not spending money. The only problem with gift cards if when buying them for people, I often think that they are impersonal as they aren't a real good gift. I'd never really considered the fact that many gift cards don't even get used.
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point. Gift cards can be a waste of money, especially, when someone gets you a gift card to a store where you don't usually shop, or don't really like. If they gave you plain money instead of to a certain store, you are way more likely to use the money. But, even though it may not be the best option to make the most of your money, I still think it is nice to receive one anyway.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a unique topic to focus on considering I don't give that much thought to gift cards, but now after reading this article maybe I really should! I was baffled to find out that gift cards have expiration dates because often I fail to notice them which is essentially giving the company free money. Although, I don't necessarily think that a gift card is saying "I forgot about you" I think there is true value in taking someone out to dinner instead of giving them a gift card. I will for sure think about these things next time I consider buying a gift card!
ReplyDeleteI find it hard to believe that 1 in 3 people don't use the gift cards they receive because I always get excited to use gift cards. I do think we need to limit how many gift cards we buy and to be more creative in our gifts but gift cards are just so easy that it makes an easy go to.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting topic to write about. I actually agree with you a lot that gift cards are just a waste of money because its not an actual gift. Most of the time for christmas or other holidays, my grandparents or mom want me to refrain from asking for giftcards because its not really a fun gift for someone to give to you. They are just paying to put money on a card for you to buy something random. People want to give actual gifts like clothes or something that you need. That is why I try to stay away from asking for giftcards even though I may prefer to receive those because I can choose what I want from a store
ReplyDeleteAlthough this post is very interesting, I disagree with some of the points made like the fact that it is not a thoughtful gift. I ask for gift cards a lot of the time because I don’t want to have to go through the hassle of returning gifts that I don’t want. However I do think that they aren’t great for the environment because there’s not really a lot you can do with gift cards after you use them up, it’s a lot of plastic left on the earth and maybe a better way to go about it would be an e-gift card. I hadn’t thought about the other points though, so it was an eye-opening piece to read.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting to me because whenever I receive a gift card as a present or gift, I am very happy with it because I always use it. I also disagree with the point that it isn't a thoughtful gift because I am much more happy with that than an actual gift. I do admit that I haven't used a few gift cards but I I use at least 90% of them. Very good topic and writing piece overall.
ReplyDeleteAgastya Asthana,
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to know that many people in the US don't actually end up using the gift cards and end up just sitting at home. Even a rough estimate of the amount of money spent on gift cards mean that there is about a billions of dollars just sitting up at people's home which is put back in the economy can boost the countries economy and can be invested back to small businesses increasing diversity of businesses increasing diversity of products and services.
I was not aware that the numbers were that high for people that didn't use them. The thing that I think is worth bringing up is that gift cards are the easiest gift when you don't know what someone likes. Part of the reason I think it has the popularity it does is because you don't need to know a person well enough to know what they like to get them a gift card. I can just assume most people like amazon and move on. In a productivity based industry, it is the easiest method while it may not be worth it.
ReplyDeleteYou make some very valid points within this argument but there are a majority of gift cards that can be used at different retailers such as visa gift cards, and what if the gift recipient would rather have the ability to go shopping rather than a gift they are unhappy with? Also the whole point of a company is to make money off of consumers if you buy a brand exclusive gift card they are being compensated either way because someone spent money that they receive at some point.
ReplyDelete