Well maybe if Sharper Image didn't charge an arm and a leg for everything, they might do more business...
Never liked giftcards, the change left over is a hassle to deal with. They're sure easy to get other people though when I have no clue wtf they want
I've seen 2 businesses in my hometown go out of business after the Holidays... both sold several thousands of dollars in giftcards. What an ugly situation....
Gift Cards take good money and ruin it. I hate 'em, but I get a lot of them as gifts to places I shop a lot (like Target), so they aren't entirely useless.
Gift cards are alright, as long as they're from a store anyone would consider shopping at normally. Hell, if I end up using a gift card on groceries, there's nothing wrong with that. Target, walmart, best buy maybe. The crap like itunes or sharper image gift cards are annoying because I'd never go there in the first place, and then I'm stuck trying to come up with something to buy from there. These things I usually just end up re-gifting(don't get started about seinfeld) to someone else. I actually wound up with an itunes gift card from work last christmas that wound up being the same amount we were gonna spend on a white elephant gift party elsewhere, so I just bought a new card to put it in, the person who ended up with it was pretty disappointed, oh well. And yes, stores LOVE to sell giftcards, because they already have the cash and people can lose them, or just forget about them.
Goft cards are great for giving gifts to people when you are unsure what the person likes, or if you are in a hurry. fir example if you are going to a wedding and it you don't know the people too well, BAM! Gift card to best buy. As for the fiscal benifit to companies: they make a killing on unclamed balances on giftcards.
Yea giftcards are pretty much perfect for the company and shit for the consumer. The company gets a guaranteed transaction with the possibility that the card might never get used, a lot of gift cards actually expire or have money charged off of them if they aren't used fast enough so that gives the company more free money, and practically every company out there refuses to give change when there is only a dollar or less left on the giftcard forcing you to either spend more money to use all the gift card or not use the left over money and just give it to the company. They really pushed giftcards when I worked at TRU and every single time they would give the employees a reason to push giftcards at the register it always came down to "This helps us and screws the customers."
I got my friend a gift card for Barnes and Noble, since that place is like Disneyland to her. I just want to know how much money those leftover "useless" balances on credit cards (usually under a dollar?) add up to. I have a Starbucks card that still has like one dollar one it.
Millions little news item There has been some new legislation in canada preventing fees and cancellations of unactive cards...but there is still lots of money floating around.
If they want to treat them as loans, they shouldn't call them "gift cards." I wish I had a Sharper Image gift card right now, so I could drive to a Sharper Image store, give it to them, then steal an item of equivalent value.
Jeebus, I wouldn't have imagined that much money... Thanks for the link! I should just steal people's wallets and take their giftcards. I'd be rich. Speaking of rich, who shops at Sharper Image anyway? Don't you need like a monocle and a suit to even get in?
At that point it's more like a dollar-off coupon and I use it up as such. I won't toss it unless it's at zero.
yeah, im like foster...i'll use a giftcard and just pay whatever left over balance...i used a starbucks card the other day that had 43 cents left on it...and that's 43 cents i didnt have to pay...however i never realy thought about what happens when a business collapses and you;ve got a card...thats scary...
On average, a person uses about 80% of a gift card. The other 20% is lost cards, low balances, or just plain forgetfulness. For certain people, gift cards are a great idea. At my theatre, for example, gift cards are a way of saying, "I know you like movies, but I didn't know what specific movie you'd like to see, or the day and time to see it." For retailers, gift cards are the best idea since super-sizing. -Tony!
