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Gift Cards

Started by WV Sawmiller, December 10, 2023, 07:44:26 PM

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WV Sawmiller

   Okay - I confess. I hate Christmas/gift shopping. The only thing I hate worse than shopping is buying trivial gifts for people that will not last long or are not what they want, need or will use. Gift cards seem like the perfect solution for wimps like me. Gift cards for the little grandkids means my kids can use them for toys during after Christmas sales and get 2-3 times the toys for the same price.

   It was raining today so I talked the wife into going to eat lunch and shopping for gift cards. What could be easier? After lunch we stopped at a WalMart and picked up some groceries on our list and I started looking at gift cards. I was thinking pre-paid bank cards so the kids and grandkids are not limited in one store where they can use them wherever they like and not just at one store or agency.

    What surprised me was the Bank cards (Master Card was all I saw) came with a $3-$5 purchase fee. That does not make any sense to me.  ???  ::) The bank gets their money as soon as I buy the card. The bank gets their vendor fee when the card is used. In the interim the bank has the money to use and no doubt some of the cards get lost and never get used - think if an uncashed check.

   I guess I will check with my local bank today and see if they have free pre-paid bank cards and if not they may just get cash this year.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

TroyC

Personally, I hate gift cards for the reasons you mentioned- get lost, not used, limits on where to use, etc. Cash is King!

PS- I hate Christmas shopping as much as you :)

WV Sawmiller

  Yeah that is why I was thinking Bank cards.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

gspren

  Depends on the kids age, a 3 year old may not appreciate the cash as much as a "toy" while a 12 year old will probably be thrilled with cash, I know I would have been. In between those ages it will vary by child but you can figure that out.
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thecfarm

We buy all the grandkids gift cards now. That way they can buy what they want. Been that way since they were about 12-14 years old.
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WV Sawmiller

  Two months from now my grandkids will be 5, 7, 11 (almost 12), 15 and 17. The parents can use the gift cards to buy for the little ones at after holiday sale prices and get them that much more. The older kids can buy what they want/need.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

trapper

We buy the gift cards thru the granddaughters school  .  That way both the school and the kid each get a small part of it








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Cedarman

I give cash to grandkids.  Last year my DIL said it was the greatest gift.  The kids, twins at 5 , 6 and 10 had a great time shopping for what they wanted. They even figured how much they could buy with help from Mama and when the money was gone, it was gone.  My DIL said they had a really great time shopping.  Message to me was do it again next year.  Of course the 4 older grandkids loved the cash.  (high school and college aged)
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YellowHammer

My kids ask for gift cards and get them, but it's kind of a letdown for me, so I always make sure I give them a unique and fun "Dad" gift.

If you have a business, gift cards are great, I had heard that in a retail business, only a fraction of gift cards are ever redeemed, somewhere about 80% according to what I've been told and a little web research shows that only 80% to 90% are redeemed.

So basically, up to 20% are free money to the business, and if you consider how many "Lowes" or "bank Cards" are issued, thats a lot of money. 

We issue gift certificates and every year there is a noticeable fraction that never gets used.  Free money.  Merry Christmas.

 
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Raider Bill

I can't even start to figure out what my 8 Grand Kids want so it's gift cards for them.
I used to try and get them presents but it was always last months out of date doll or game.
My Son is easy, gun or tool. Daughters not so much but I can normally come up with something but Grand teen age Grand Kids, nope.
The First 72 years of childhood is always the hardest.
My advice on aging gracefully... ride fast bikes and date faster women, drink good tequila, practice your draw daily, be honest and fair in your dealings, but suffer not fools. Eat a hearty breakfast, and remember, ALL politicians are crooks.

rusticretreater

Our family has transitioned to wish lists.  Why buy something they don't really want?  Amazon has wishlists but it doesn't work for products outside of their website.  So we also use a website called Moonsift.  Moonsift allows you to mark stuff on the list as purchased so other folks don't buy the same thing.  The purchased flags are not visible to the list owner.

I think this works better for me than it does for the kids.  I get nifty tools, stuff to build models and other cool things that they would never know to buy for me.  And I still get the hardware store gift cards on my birthday!
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WV Sawmiller

   Well, I am not going to pay an extra fee for the cards so I guess it will either be cash or I will get them a Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight or Rural King gift card this year. :D My son and SIL would be happy with that.

    I remember when I was in USMC at Parris Island we used to have to do an interim and a final pay call. It was a real pain when you got tagged to be the Pay Officer for a series. We did visits with San Diego and found they issued books of chits for use in the PX instead of cash. We changed and went to that system too as it was safer, easier and no petty larceny available and such. My boss, the Regimental S-4, asked the Colonel who was the Exchange officer how he covered the printing fees and such as he gave $100 worth of credit for $100 worth of chits and no admin fee. The Colonel said not to worry as he made money off the chits and my boss said that was impossible as he gave face value on every chit. The Colonel said he did not know why but every graduating recruit seemed to want to take a chit home with him for a souvenir which was just like an uncashed check.

   In Iraq and Afghanistan when I was working there as a contractor (We built and ran the military camps) and had PX privileges when we bought something they gave us change in paper tokens of 5, 10 or 25 cent and rounded the pennies up or down. The tokens would get washed or lost and they were the same with the PX making money on them in the end.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Raider Bill

Amazon gift cards are free.
The First 72 years of childhood is always the hardest.
My advice on aging gracefully... ride fast bikes and date faster women, drink good tequila, practice your draw daily, be honest and fair in your dealings, but suffer not fools. Eat a hearty breakfast, and remember, ALL politicians are crooks.

Ljohnsaw

Beware of gift cards. There was a busy last week. I guy was spotted looking at gift cards at Target. Pulled some off the rack and then put some others back. Something else prompted him to be detained.

They found tens of thousands gift cards in his car. I'd speculate that he had the numbers recorded and would be hitting them daily to see if someone purchased one and had it loaded.
John Sawicky

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caveman

I don't shop much at The Home Depot anymore due to their gift cards self destructing in my wallet.  I've had two that were unable to be read at the register and I was not able to redeem them.  They had what was left of $100 on them.  I prefer to give cash instead of gift cards since it can be spent anywhere and there are no fees.
Caveman

Magicman

You guys should be a lucky as me.  I was just notified that $899.99 had been charged to my PP account.  Yesterday it was only $89.99.  Reckon that they were giving himselves a gift.   ::)
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hedgerow

I am not paying any fees for gift cards. Some of our family still have small kids and we just give them cash to be used for them or a few that are long distance get a check in there Christmas card. Never had either one returned. A couple guys that help me on the farm always get a Christmas bonus check each year the first year I did it one of them returned the check. He finally kept it. Post office won on that deal. 

John357

I abhor gift cards. 

Alot of the talk these days is around the convenience and "giving the kids what they want".  When I was growing up we believed that Christmas was about the giving; taking the time to learn about the recipient and what kind of things they would like and maybe getting them something they couldn't or wouldn't get for themselves. 

For the kids it's a great opportunity to influence them (as much as a gift can) towards some of my values; less TV and screen time, and more time to interact with others, practice personal skills, develop some physical skills that will be with them forever. 

Merry Christmas to all!

John


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