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Why on gods green earth do people buy gift cards? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago by weeeeum@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Utterly stupid little things, its money that is less useful in EVERY situation and expires! Even at the store where you can use it, what do you do with the money that's leftover but too little to spend? Especially at expensive places, you could very well end up with 10-20$ OF YOUR OWN MONEY, that you can't even use!

I was given a dunkin giftcard for volunteering at a repair cafe. First of all I'm on a diet but secondly I stuffed it in my wallet so quickly I completely forgot about it. The day I remember and go through the trouble of attending such a wretched establishment I was told it expired after I finished giving my order! After such bother to try to use this cursed thing I refuse to return fruitless from my endeavors so I paid with my own cash.

It is now, sulking into my hashbrowns and Boston cream do I realize I am now poorer, fatter and fucking miserable. FUCK gift cards.

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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

They could be purchased en mass at a discount. The corporate gift card as a gift, might only cost 70%, and have a rebate if it's never used. Depending on your jurisdiction it may not count as income either, reducing HR burden. So it makes financial sense.

They're often sold at a discount to retail customers, to lock them in, a bet that they won't actually use it versus utility somebody gets from a discount. Just like mailing coupon/rebates

It is one of the more practical off-ramps for crypto, you can buy gift cards with crypto, then use those gift cards for real world needs.

In the domain of gifts, if somebody has a spending problem, or a dependency problem, and you want to make sure they buy something in a certain vertical, locked in money as a gift card to make sense. If you give a drunk $50, they're going to buy alcohol. If you give them a $50 gift card to bed bath & beyond, they might actually use it to improve their house

It can also be a form of virtue signaling, a $50 gift card to the air and space museum, or the science museum... Is both a gift of money, but an excuse to go to a new place and do a new thing.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm surprised this comment is at the bottom... It's the correct answer. Companies can offer or donate gift cards to employees (like during a team event). But if they offer cash, that works like a bonus and it's legally trickier.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 1 points 1 month ago

I posted early, so i get sorted to the bottom by new. I had too much text so many people won't read it. If I wanted lots of karma I'd have a one or two sentence pithy zinger.

I tried to be accurate and complete, yet I still got downvoted! haha, that's lemmy for you.