Gift Cards Save 20% to 75% on Post-Holiday Mark Down Sales.

Filed in Consumer Education , Personal Finance Tips 0 comments

Gift cards — love them or hate them — they’re still one of the most commonly purchased items of the holiday season.

Before you say they’re a cop out gift, I’ll admit that I partially agree with you.  Gift cards are certainly a convenience gift for those who hate to shop.

Like me!

So if you have a significant other or someone on your gift list that is more fastidious than the average person, don’t even think about buying a gift card.  The easy road is nice to travel, but it’s not worth the grief if they get annoyed with you and your laziness.

However, here are a few reasons while I still find gift cards serve a valuable purpose:

  1. Convenience for the buyer.  This is often the rub with most folks who hate gift cards.  There is no real thought or feelings that are included in a gift card other than “Hey, I was thinking about you, here you go, now you can’t be mad at me for not getting you something.”  Maybe I’m too much of a guy, but this doesn’t bother me one bit.  As I said before, this can occasionally backfire if you buy a gift card for someone who expected something more personal than a $50 piece of plastic.
  2. Peace of mind the recipient can buy something they want or find useful.  I wish I knew the exact number of sweaters I’ve given to Goodwill over the years because I didn’t care for someone else’s tastes in clothing.  Granted, it’s still going to a good cause and I’m doing my part to better society, but I would hope that my gifts are being used or worn.  Otherwise, it’s a waste of money to let things sit in a closet for 10 years or collect dust in the garage.
  3. Instant savings opportunities.  I’m a huge fan of after Christmas sales.  If you aren’t, you should be.  The best thing about a gift card are the post holiday sales where most of the unsold merchandise is marked down 20% to 75% from the “before Christmas” retail price.  After Christmas, retailers are simply looking to break even on their investments and mark down their merchandise accordingly.  By giving someone a gift card, you’re essentially allowing them to buy more “stuff” with your money.

If you decide to go forward with a gift card purchase, just make sure your chosen retailer will stay in business beyond the holiday season.  With stores like Circuit City and Linens-N-Things declaring bankruptcy in 2008, it could be possible that buying an ugly sweater would have been a better gift if that convenient little gift card is no longer honored when it’s recipient tries to redeem it a few weeks after Christmas.

I would also suggest you read the fine print included on the card.  I generally hate reading the mandatory legal disclaimers, but you could find that the card is only valid for one year, or has a “nickel & dime you to death” policy hidden somewhere in the fine print that eats away at the card’s original value.

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Posted by Matt SF   @   6 December 2008 0 comments
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