You have a list of folks you intend to send gifts to. Most are out of state. Then there are your immediate siblings. Some you understand well. Others? You just don’t possess a clue in regards to what half of them like? Which means you consider giving them something special certificate. Free Chipotle Gift Card Balance After all money doesn’t grow on trees. The fact is with the cost of gas doubling over the past couple of years, inflation on our heels and the growth in family reunion attendance, offsetting the price of gift giving by finding inexpensive items that everyone loves has become a much greater challenge then it ever has been. Thus the growing popularity of gift cards.
The National Retail Federation anticipated $17.24 billion worth of holiday sales this past year in gift cards. The reasons gift cards are so frequently bought instead of other items are numerous. Nobody wants to provide a gift that’s not appreciated. In addition, who wants to burden down an aging relative with needing to drive several miles to a store she nevers shops so that you can exchange the gift.
All too true. For example, what if you give a gift card from a sporting goods store to someone who’s not into sports? Or perhaps a gift to shop a jewelry store to someone who lives too great a distance from the store to even bother to look there.
But has the gift card changed all that much in the last three or even more years? Perhaps. Prepaid gift cards issued by VISA and MasterCard offer a way to work with a gift card anywhere bank cards are accepted. Prepaid debit credit card providers and 60 percent of store gift card issuers offer the potential to secure a replacement card with the rest of the balance if the initial is lost or stolen. But getting a replacement may require the purchase receipt and the card number. Some companies may accept other proof of purchase. The gift card recipient would have to have all these papers to obtain a replacement. No wonder a significant percentage of gift cards have gone unredeemed. That said, when buying a gift card, look carefully at the pre-purchase disclosures of terms and conditions on the net site and the packaging in the store. If terms aren’t given or appear too cryptic to be complete don’t buy.
When a recipient receives a store issued gift card from a store they don’t really like obviously the card just sits in a dresser drawer until it’s long at night expiration date? Are merchants pocketing the cash while the gift card purchasers just dispose of money? That was once the case. But companies like Sears announced it is eliminating expiration dates from all gift cards issued beginning December 17, 2003. Other card issuers have been quickly following suit.
In addition to less expiration date worries there are now a handful of companies dedicated to redeeming major retail gift cards for recipients of unwanted, unredeemed gift cards. One site, thegiftassistant.com, offers gift card ordering, redemption programs as well as gift card exchanges. Many of these companies offer services for such card issuers as Best Buy Starbucks and Outback SteakHouse. Still with all the recent changes and only the recipient losing the impersonal commercial stigma connected with gift cards is a challenge.
Some gift card websites have attended great lengths to overcome this obstacle. Now you can upload your own images and add your own text to make a custom card. Embossed text provides card that engraved look, an extremely personal touch.
Still with the work to personalize a gift card they still seem to need help to stand out in the crowd of handmade cards and gift bags. After all something special card is four times smaller a simple greeting card and weighs just a few ounces. Does this imply that gifts card don’t have what it takes to stick out among large presents? Some issuers compensate for this by upping the monetary value of gifts cards. Some cards values far outweigh any large dominating boxed gift. From $200 to $300 or more. With the advent of prepaid debit gift cards from VISA, MasterCard, American Express and DiscoverCard folks can give something special card valued at $500 up to $3000 dollars with respect to the provider. Perhaps big things do come in small packages.