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Think twice before you buy that gift card
By Deb |
Trim the tree. Make your holiday gift list. And don’t forget to whip up some no-bake cookies for your child’s Christmas party while you’re at it.
As the holidays rush toward us, the last minute shopping crunch is enough to push many of us into a tailspin. . . as if our days aren’t full enough!
What do you give the picky teen, the person who has everything, or when you just have no clue what to buy for someone this holiday season?
A gift card is the logical choice.
Gift cards are a popular gift-giving option and for good reason. The recipient can use them for something he or she really wants and won’t have the hassle of standing in the return line the day after Christmas. It really is a one-size-fits-all solution to your gifting dilemma.
It’s also somewhat personalized because you’ve chosen the store or restaurant based on the recipient’s preferences; however, the easy choice is not always the best one in the long run. Unused gift cards equal a financial windfall for retailers.
For instance, Best Buy earned a reported $43 million in 2006 from unused gift cards. This year, Ruth’s Chris—a popular steakhouse chain—expects to earn an additional $2.2 million from unredeemed gift cards. It’s such a financial boon that Consumer Reports has learned from a recent survey that at least 27 percent of people who received gift cards in 2006 still haven’t used them; other surveys report that half of Americans have unredeemed or partially unredeemed gift cards in their possession.
If you do have confidence in gifting with gift cards this year, take note: Some cards have expiration dates, which means that the recipient could unknowingly allow these cards to expire before using them. Statistics show that cards without expiration dates are most likely to go unredeemed if they have not been used within two years of purchase, so keep this in mind if you’re stockpiling cards from holidays past.
Therefore, you may want to consider giving cash instead of cards this holiday season. After all, cash has no expiration date and can be used to buy clothes in the correct size and color, dine at a favorite restaurant, or help someone catch up on bills during the holiday season. And, when someone exchanges cash, it’s always for something they want and like.
Which, by the way, reminds me. . . . I’d better make a trip to Home Depot. I have plans for that gift card I received this past spring. (Sorry, Jay. The nearest Home Depot is an hour away. I really DO intend to cash in that card to buy paint for my son’s bedroom.)