BY Austin Hill
LifeAtStart.com Reporter
My birthday is sort of coming up, and as per usual, my eager grandmother contacts me about my present. And, as per usual, she asks me what store I want my gift card for. So, that got me thinking; Why in the world would I ever want a gift card?
I mean, I’m not going to complain about free money, but why not just give free money instead? It is almost shamed to give money as a gift on birthdays or holidays, as it exudes no thought was put into the present. But how is a gift card any less thoughtless? They are both flat, rectangular, and used to buy things at a store- so what makes a gift card any more acceptable? And since when was thought more important than the actual value of the gift? If I kept every useless thing because of the thought that mattered, I would be climbing through a wasteland to lead A&E’s camera crew through my house for an episode of Hoarders.
Take for instance ebay a few days after Christmas. You will come across tons of items labeled “unwanted gift” selling for a fraction of retail because they were not useful whatsoever to the recipient. You can even buy gift cards for a slashed price, making them an instant depreciation of the money invested into them.
But when have you ever seen a 20 dollar bill on ebay after Christmas for a bargain? Probably never because everyone openly accepts money and you don’t use ebay.
How did we even fall into this gift card scam? What came about that made it a splendid idea to gift someone money minus the freedom? Do you think Donald Trump seduced his wife because he has an assortment of gift cards?
If that isn’t enough to make you reconsider your last minute present, according to the New York Post, 44 billion dollars worth of gift cards has gone unredeemed since the year 2008. So, instead of just throwing your money away, feel free to locate my email address below,
So grandma, I appreciate the fact that my name rolls around in your head when summer approaches, but for all parties involved, hard cash is just the superior option. At least that doesn’t have an expiration date.