Posted on 03/04/2008 6:44:33 AM PST by yorkie
You know that Sharper Image gift card you got for Christmas? Right now, it's worthless. And other gift cards in your wallet could lose their value, too.
As more retailers file for bankruptcy or go out of business, more than $75 million in gift cards are at risk of becoming worthless pieces of plastic this year.
[snip]
The number of retail bankruptcies or liquidations this year is expected to reach the highest levels since the 1991 recession.
Brian Riley, senior analyst at The TowerGroup, estimates that shoppers could lose more than $75 million just from stores and restaurant closings in 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Well, spend if you got’em folks.
There were a few websties that allowed people to swap gift cards, I bet there are some people holding worthless gift cards at the moment...
Lesson 1: Don’t get a gift card worth more than a nominal amount.
Lesson 2: Spend it.
Lesson 3: A $25.00 gift card that may or may not retain its value is still worth more than, say, a tie rack that cost $25.00.
One more advantage: People will still want to see the velvet Elvis painting they gave you ten years later. They won't ask to see the worthless Hudson's card they gave you. You can actually dispose of the latter. :-)
Whenever I am tempted to give a gift card, I give cash instead. I tell the recipient that it is a gift card that works anywhere they want it to.
I like giving gift cards. I know some think it shows less thought, but I think it’s more useful. It requires some thought to choose the right kind of store, but it can be superhuman to choose exactly the right utensil, book, movie, whatever.
And from the retailer’s perspective, they’re better since you can avoid having to pay interchange fees, which are too high. Visa and MasterCard should negotiate with merchants. They haven’t, but they should.
Plus I like getting gift cards.
Holy crap!! There goes the gift cards I was gonna get people this year.
I could give them cash, but heck, I don’t have much faith in that either.
The Salvation Army asks that you donate your gift cards or the remnants to them, just send in the card.
I’m going to use my last Christmas gift card this evening, at the Outback in Delray Beach. IMHO, one can’t go wrong when giving gift cards.
Same here. I can actually use them for what I want.
Plus, like a typical guy, I can do all my Christmas shopping in 15 minutes on December 24. :-)
Now if you give cash, can you just offset against the cash they were gonna give you, and call it even? :-)
My husband’s family is obsessed, shall we say, with giving gift cards and cash instead of gifts. His sister also gets upset if I give a real gift without a gift receipt. I agree with your implication: what’s the point?
That’s what I do already. :O)
A good thing to remember. Gift cards don’t seem to be the way to go anymore, if they ever were.
And the card reads, “To a great pal, and more!”
This sounds like the plot to the “Producers.”
"And more!"
Yes, you were to give me ten and I was to give you fifteen, so I’ll just give you five.
And before long, we’ll just have spreadsheets with all Christmas party attendees to hand out at the door so you can keep up with who owes who what. ;o)
I buy my son gift cards at McDonalds and Pizza Hut. It’s where he and his friends prefer to eat anyway, and I suppose those will be among the last businesses in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy.
i love to give and receive gift cards... i like receiving them for bookstores and Cost Plus and Crate and Barrel... my husband often receives them from Amazon and StarBucks from employers... which he usually gives to me... last Christmas my boys each received $90.00 worth of gift cards to Big 5 Sporting Goods... they loved it and used them toward baseball accessories... i give the kids in our family WalMart gift cards...
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