{"id":830,"date":"2015-12-11T07:00:32","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T15:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.checkworks.com\/blog\/?p=830"},"modified":"2019-06-25T14:29:27","modified_gmt":"2019-06-25T22:29:27","slug":"omg-another-unwanted-gift-card-you-shouldnt-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/omg-another-unwanted-gift-card-you-shouldnt-have\/","title":{"rendered":"OMG, Another Unwanted Gift Card\u2014You Shouldn&#8217;t Have!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-856 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.checkworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"The woman is glad to get a gift wow pop art comics retro style Halftone. Imitation of old illustrations. Emotion is the reaction of the holiday\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627-624x624.jpg 624w, https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/bigstock-Woman-Glad-Gift-Wow-Pop-Art-Co-87794627.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>By MJ Plaster<\/p>\n<p>When someone receives an unwanted gift card and says, \u201cOMG! You shouldn\u2019t have,\u201d it might be a Freudian slip. And if the person leans toward the sarcastic, the gift giver knows he\u2019s made a mistake and feels terrible. Don\u2019t let that happen to you.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Why People Give Gift Cards<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nLet\u2019s face it\u2014we give gift cards on holidays and birthdays because they\u2019re convenient, and they\u2019re easy to buy at the last minute. That\u2019s why 80 percent of holiday shoppers buy at least one gift card.<\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019re rushed and giving little thought to a gift, you tend to choose what you like to receive. I love Trader Joe\u2019s, but my oldest and dearest friend wouldn\u2019t be caught dead there. She would die of starvation if Whole Foods closed its doors. I\u2019m in a panic when I buy at the last minute, and Whole Foods isn\u2019t on my radar. It wouldn\u2019t occur to me to get her a Whole Foods card. It happens to all of us; the Golden Rule kicks in.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Golden Rule vs. Platinum Rule<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nThe Golden Rule teaches us to \u201cDo unto others as you would have them do unto you.\u201d The lesser-known Platinum Rule states, \u201cDo unto others as they would have you do unto them.\u201d Words have meaning, and there\u2019s a big difference in the two rules.<\/p>\n<p>When you have all the time in the world, you can think of a dozen appropriate gifts for friends and loved ones. When you\u2019re under pressure during the holidays, it\u2019s easy to think of what you would like to receive for a gift. Which describes you during the holidays?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>5 Problems With Gift Cards<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nFollow along as we count the ways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Choice<\/strong> \u2013 The top problem with gift cards is choosing the wrong one.<\/li>\n<li>Get out your magnifying glass to check the fine print for expiration dates. Will the recipient check the date, or will the gift card sit in the back of a drawer until spring-cleaning fever hits five years down the road?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Theft<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s difficult, if not impossible, to replace lost or stolen gift cards.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Loss<\/strong> \u2013 Same as above.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Balance<\/strong> \u2013 Suppose you buy a gift card for $20 to a clothing store. It\u2019s not enough to buy anything, so the recipient has to fork over additional money. If you give a larger sum, a small balance could be left after a purchase, often too little to buy anything.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Qui Bono?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nWho profits from gift cards?<\/p>\n<p>The retailer collects money up front. If there\u2019s an unused balance on the card, the retailer pockets free money. The New York Post reported that a recent study found that since 2008, $44 billion dollars have gone unspent. But that\u2019s only half the story.<\/p>\n<p>Retailers don\u2019t have to claim revenue until the money is spent. Sure, they hold a liability, but what are the chances that the full value will ever be spent? In the meantime, they\u2019ve earned tax-free income&#8211;$44 billion over the past few years.<\/p>\n<p>Someone else benefits from unwanted gift cards: me. I discovered \u201cdiscount gift cards\u201d a few years ago. There\u2019s a huge secondary market for unwanted gift cards. Twice a year, I buy gift cards for a clothing store at a 25 percent discount of the remaining value at the discount sites, and I use it when the 80 percent closeout sales hit. I win, but the person who received the gift loses because she had to sell it at a discount.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Check Your Premise<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n\u201cBut, it\u2019s so tacky to give money,\u201d you say.<\/p>\n<p>In Ayn Rand\u2019s tome <em>Atlas Shrugged<\/em>, one of the recurring themes was summarized in this quote:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cContradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you think that a gift card is the only \u201cclassy\u201d way to give money, check your premise. The answer is hidden in the quote\u2014literally as well as figuratively.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Write a Check, Give a Gift<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nMost everyone appreciates a gift of money including all the people who serve you year-round. They appreciate a tip at Christmastime or for any special occasion.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>CheckWorks Introduces Gift Checks<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nCheckWorks understands the problems associated with gift cards. Their employees have the same problem you do when they want to give money for special occasions. They put their heads together and came up with a solution: a new set of personal checks just for gift giving\u2014the Gift Checks set. A box of Gift Checks is only $9.99 with free shipping.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re normally a no-nonsense, blue-security-checks kind of person, you can keep a box of personal, gift checks on hand for just for gift giving. The Gift-Checks set includes three checks, each adorned with a pretty bow\u2014the perfect touch for a thoughtful gift:<\/p>\n<p>You don\u2019t have to hand them cold cash. When you give the gift of money, it\u2019s all in the presentation.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Tips for Giving a Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a beautiful check<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re old enough to write a check, you\u2019re old enough to know how to write in cursive and to use attractive penmanship. Dig deep and pull out those age-old skills.<\/li>\n<li>Skip the horrid money envelopes and place a check in a beautiful card. Add a nice decoration to the envelope.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So trade in those unwanted gift cards for a classy gift check, and you\u2019ll turn \u201cOMG, you shouldn\u2019t have\u201d into, \u201cHow considerate of you!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By MJ Plaster When someone receives an unwanted gift card and says, \u201cOMG! You shouldn\u2019t have,\u201d it might be a Freudian slip. And if the person leans toward the sarcastic, the gift giver knows he\u2019s made a mistake and feels terrible. Don\u2019t let that happen to you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1646,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830\/revisions\/1646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}