comment: >
  
  The only way I could see gift cards being useful is if either the person buying the gift card gets a discount on the card, or if the person using the card gets a discount on what they buy with it.
context: This is a friendly reminder to read our rules.
  Remember, /r/Showerthoughts is for showerthoughts, not "thoughts had in the shower!"
  (For an explanation of what a "showerthought" is, please read this page.)
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  My 90+ year old grandma decided that getting Christmas gifts for everyone was too hard anymore. She decided to start giving gift cards.
  She literally gave me mine and said “Don’t spend it all in one place!”. Couldn’t tell if she was being funny or not. >
  
  I worked as a whitewater rafting guide for awhile and an old, old woman tipped my friend $2 and told him “don’t spend it all in one place” 
  I’ll never forget that 😭 >
  
  I think at some point it lost meaning and people just say it just because. Like "bless you" or "hi" or "give peace a chance". >
  
  Pretty sure the lady was clearly making a joke given the small size of the amount
  Come to think of it I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that phrase unironically >
  
  Studies show that gift cards are preferred by most. I would imagine a big part of it is that it's guilt-free pass to be "irresponsible" with money. When money was tight  with spouse and I, cash gifts typically went towards bills and groceries, which was still helpful and very much appreciated, but it kinda takes the fun part out of gifting. >
  
  Yeah I logically know cash is better, but know that realistically it will just be put directly in my wallet and then “disappear” into normal household spending.  Which isn’t bad of course, but not quite the intent of a gift. >
  
  My grandmother gives me gifts as a cash/bank tranfer. I usully allocate that for ny next bigger purhace and use it as a upgrade money (like, i was going to use 400 for gpu, i got 200, now i buy 600 gpu) >
  
  This is known as lifestyle creep. >
  
  I had relatives who were suckers for every scam on the planet. When they were particularly short of money, my mother gave them a Walmart gift card because that was likely to be spent on groceries and other necessities. >
  
  Well, it's like money but a little extra thought was put into it.  It's also sort of like a subtle way of telling the person it's okay to get something nice for themselves.  Maybe as a kid it didn't matter, but as an adult, especially with a family, I would probably use the money on my family, pay bills, put it to groceries, etc.  Or just put it in the bank.  I would want to be responsible.
  If it's a gift card for the PlayStation Network, mommy's gettin' a new vidya game!  Just saying. >
  
  My parents consider cash as a Christmas gift to be insulting/impersonal, but they are fine with Visa gift cards.
  So basically they are OK with cash as long as I spend $5 to get it converted to plastic. >
  
  I hate those.  It’s like cash, but way more annoying to spend.  I see the reason behind gift cards, I don’t see the reason behind those cash cards. >
  
  For those of us Outsite the USA we dont have access to services like Privacy so these are useful for websites you dont want to give real credit card info to. >
  
  Well, it's often more thoughtful that just giving money to someone. It shows you know the kind of things they like. >
  
  I prefer cash honestly.  I'm an adult. I already buy everything I want throughout the year. Just give me money to pay my bills so I don't have to is the best gift for me >
  
  Why not use your money to pay the bills? >
  
  I do? But having more money to save up for the things I want that are too expensive to ever expect as a gift is the best gift >
  
  So then you aren't using the cash to pay the bills you're saving up the cash to buy something you want... >
  
  No he probably has a job and he pays the bills and also saving up but he says that he would prefer having more money saved up rather than getting a gift card >
  
  They said they want money to pay the bills so they can save that money for something else.
  If you're using gifted money to pay bills and then saving the bill money or just saving the bill money directly, it's basically the same thing. >
  
  Ultimately the best power trip. I love sending my sister gift cards to places that don't exist in her state..... >
  
  My sister and I both live pretty far from my parents, but try to make it home for the holidays. This year my mom got at least $150 in gift cards the two of us couldn't use from family and friends lol . For me it's the thought that counts >
  
  Yeah, but that's the point of gift cards. A gift is for one's pleasure (in a broad sense), not for necessities. If you give someone just some money, they're likely to use it on necessities (e.g. daily supplies or bills) or they can use it even not for them, but for others (e.g. for their kids or parents). You can make them buy something for their own pleasure by giving them gift cards. Of course you'd better be considerate in choosing (like when you choose a gift) >
  
  Conversely, a Walmart gift card is more likely to be spent on groceries than street drugs. Which matters when you want to help out an idiot that you just happen to be related to. >
  
  If you give me a hundred bucks for Christmas, I´ll put them in my wallet and I assure you, withing a week, they are gone. And not for nice things. Not for things, anyone would even recognize as a Christmas gift. More like groceries, toilet paper, lunch at a food truck. Shit like that. Next time you come visit me, I´ll be like "Yo that TP you wiped your ass with just now? Thanks for that!"
  If you give me a 100 bucks gift card though, I´ll make 100% sure to buy something I would otherwise not have bough with my own money. Maybe something useless. Maybe something obscene. But it WILL make me happy! >
  
  If you really know me and know what I like, a gift card is way preferable over cash. If you give me cash, I'm just going to spend it on my kids. A Torrid gift card on the other hand, I will most definitely spend it on myself. >
  
  Yes! I got a $50 visa gift card from my sister --- I'm a single mom so it went right into household needs. Gift cards for specific places I might actually spend on myself. (Unless it's Target or Walmart 🤣) >
  
  They would make more sense if there was an exchange rate of like 1 to 1.25 or something. Even if it had a time requirement.
  For example if a $25 gift card cost $20, but could only be redeemed after 30 days. >
  
  Infinite money >
  
  No more so than fractional reserve lending. >
  
  My in laws always give me gift cards that are thoughtful as fuck and I love it. She also knows if she gives us cash we will just be responsible with it. 
  They know my husband and I are struggling to afford dates? Restaurants and movie theaters. Christmas this year she knows we (her and I) use the same skin care place and I have some things I want to try, sos he got me a gift card there! For birthday last week? Massage gift card and an offer to babysit for a couples massage (my husband and I are a day apart and she got one for us each). It’s fucking amazing and I love it. Don’t knock gift cards! >
  
  Normally giving cash could feel like you didn’t even think of anything, or coin dot be bothered to put effort into the gift. That’s why something “cheap” but meaningful would always be a better gift from a loved one. Gift cards are at least 1 step above cash, and gives people “free spending” for things they wouldn’t normally buy. For me if I get cash I end up saving it lol. >
  
  Get prepaid visas. It's giving them money without fattening their wallet and they can STILL use it anywhere. >
  
  im terrible at getting the right gift for the right person. so if I have no ideas, i go for gift cards. because for some reason nobody likes to be handed cash.
  so i just go with something super generic like amazon gift cards. >
  
  Gift cards make zero sense. They are in every single way worse than what you exchange then for. 
  The part that makes my blood boil is the “no change given” as if they have somehow done you this favour by exchanging your fully tradable cash for this highly limited piece of card. >
  
  I eat at the same places often enough that a gift card could be used and appreciated. I'm sure a lot of others do too. And it's not like there is a limit on the amount needed to use the card. There's no $1 limit on gift card use. And there have been a number of times I would've been grateful for 75¢ on a gift card when grabbing a quick lunch or something. 
  Also, if you really hate gift cards sell them online. You'll lose some value but then you'll have the cash you wanted to buy whatever it is you wanted. >
  
  Isn’t it a tax thing? Like you can pay someone in a gift card and it’s not taxable because it’s a gift? >
  
  Its still taxable. If I have a $25 gift card I cant buy a $25 item because of sales tax. >
  
  Taxable as income tax >
  
  Even a visa gift card? They can spend it online or in most stores. >
  
  Its also giving them less money, because rarely do gift cards ever get emptied. Some dont even get used in the firat place and fees just make the money evaporate over time. 
  Just give them cash. Its always better. >
  
  My mom does a charity with her detachment (OPP). Gift cards are preferred over cash because they don’t work “downtown”… >
  
  I like getting gift for specific places that people like to shop or eat. >
  
  And most people never use them so it’s free money for the store. >
  
  No its not free money to the store, because most gift cards are sold by a third party company. Even the instore bought ones. 
  I learned this working retail, so basically the store won't get the money until the gift card gets used in that store. This is why so many giftscards can be bought everywhere not exclusivly at a store you bought the card for. >
  
  Gift cards are the biggest scam big companies convinced you was a good thing. They make lots of money from people losing cards or leaving a few unspent dollars on the card. You give money to a company promising that you're gonna spend it in their store. What do they give you in return?? Nothing! Money is the universal gift card. It's fucking accepted everywhere!!  People are like: buying a gift card shows that you put thought in your gift....bullshit. It's the easiest thing to buy. >
  
  From an economic standpoint more value comes from a gift card than a physical gift (money would be the highest value) >
  
  Most people generally know where the person likes to shop, so the gift card is usually tailored to their interests. People give gift cards mainly when they know which store someone likes, but ultimately doesn't know what items from the store they like. It's more personal than just handing them cash, it's intended to show that the person knows what store they like (most of the time, anyways). >
  
  A woman I work with that has 2 kids has a really bad drug and drinking problem. For work we did a secret Santa and I so happened to get her. I got her a 20$ gift card for our local store so she’d HAVE to get food for her kids instead of meth >
  
  If people really want something, they find a way around. That's why people sell $20 gift cards for $15 online, that way they can use the cash for whatever they want. >
  
  My mom got me gift cards every year. She said I don't want to give you cash and you pay some bills with it. Go out and get something nice for yourself. >
  
  I like getting a gift card because it means I can spend money on things I otherwise probably wouldn’t. 
  I love Starbucks but really can’t justify spending close to £6 on a hot drink. Even if someone gave me cash I probably wouldn’t buy it because of the price. 
  Someone gave me a £50 Starbucks gift card last christmas and it was great. I went every weekend for nearly 2 months and actually enjoyed it without feeling like i’d wasted my own money, or that I should have “spent it on better things”. 10/10 would love that again. >
  
  There is a local restaurant in my city that does gift cards. The first time things opened up after the pandemic started, they had a “policy” that they would not be accepting gift cards during these “difficult times”. While I understand how tough the pandemic was on restaurants, you know what was making the time a little less difficult? The interest free loan my parents gave you that you are now saying you have a policy against “paying” back. It was frustrating because I basically decided I’d hold off on going until they started accepting gift cards again, but even that risked losing the chance if they didn’t make it through the pandemic. >
  
  Myep. Why give someone a 50$ gift card for somewhere when you could just give them 50 bucks? >
  
  As an adult, if someone gives me cash it's just going straight to bills. If someone gets me a gift card, I have to buy something I want with it from whatever place it is. So it's marginally more "thoughtful" than just straight up cash - to me at least. >
  
  And I look at it that instead of getting you something you don’t want from Best Buy, which you’re gonna have to take back and stand in the line and return, I’ll give you a Best Buy gift card and that way you can go and have the pleasure of picking out exactly what you want. >
  
  I agree it's even worse when it's at places that don't let you split with another payment. Like the thing I want is 80 but I 50-dollar card and they won't let me pay the difference. >
  
  Socially acceptable way of putting zero effort into gift choice and therefore negating the whole reason for giving a gift. >
  
  You're giving someone a card that will forever have 2 dollars and 36 cents on it >
  
  My in laws insisted on doing a gift card exchange for Christmas this year. Most freaking pointless thing I've ever heard of. "Let's all spend $50 on a card for $50 somewhere, and trade with eachother to get what we want." Um.... at this point, can everyone just keep their own $50 and not be screwed to spend it somewhere they don't go? K thanks. >
  
  I like to get my brother and his wife a gift card for a fine dining restaurant for xmas so they have to have a nice date night on me. They're so busy with the kids I dont know if they would ever do it otherwise. >
  
  It's making sure the "money" will not be spent on gambling or illegal stuff. >
  
  the only gift card you should get is a visa gift card that can be used anywhere. being locked into a specific store is ridiculous