There does seem to be a backlash going on against the Gift Card industry this Christmas season, and I ( for one ), like it. Preet B. wrote about it yesterday in the Globe and Mail, however, I have said this all along. Why is there a stigma about giving cash and no stigma giving a gift card?
I asked my Christmas Gifting expert, Mrs. C8j and she said the big thing about cash is it seems like a Lazy Present (i.e. you didn’t feel like spending some time to find a nice present). While I understand the sentiment about cash, I again say why are Gift Cards being viewed as “just fine” then?
I can buy a gift card at my Loblaws for pretty much any store, in fact, I can do that at most Gas Stations now, why is that more personal than Ca$h?
Cash on the other hand, you usually have to go to a Bank to get. Banks are very exclusive, yes they may be open 7 days a week, but they close a lot more than most stores (and certainly more than most Gas Stations).
If you give Cash, you know it will get used, if you give a Gift Card, do you know how many gift cards never get completely used? I have no idea, but I am sure it is a huge number. Cash is friendly, fits in your wallet just like a gift card, and it has a picture of the Queen on it (or other important Canadians).
Give Ca$h this year, for Christmas.
I have always felt that giving someone a gift card is punishing them. I would rather give cash. I will tell you a story. My daughter got a gift card for $100 for Lululemon when she was young . She went there and could not find anything for less than $100. She had to put in her own money to use the gift card to buy yoga pants. Another tale. I knew a family who would go to Indigo (Chaoters)) every Sat, sit on the couches they provided( these are gone now) spend the whole day reading their books without buying anything. So , one birthday, I gave the father a $100 gift card for Chapters. This forced them to buy something there. Now that was a good use of the gift card!