4mo ago

Why on gods green earth do people buy gift cards?

Utterly stupid little things, its money that is less useful in EVERY situation and expires! Even at the store where you can use it, what do you do with the money that's leftover but too little to spend? Especially at expensive places, you could very well end up with 10-20$ OF YOUR OWN MONEY, that you can't even use!

I was given a dunkin giftcard for volunteering at a repair cafe. First of all I'm on a diet but secondly I stuffed it in my wallet so quickly I completely forgot about it. The day I remember and go through the trouble of attending such a wretched establishment I was told it expired after I finished giving my order! After such bother to try to use this cursed thing I refuse to return fruitless from my endeavors so I paid with my own cash.

It is now, sulking into my hashbrowns and Boston cream do I realize I am now poorer, fatter and fucking miserable. FUCK gift cards.

120 comments

Big disagree.
It is unlawful for a gift card to expire in the US. (Ask Simon Malls how badly they got fucked for this.)
There are tons of expensive restaurants my partner and I are simply not going to go to unless we're able to knock $100 of the bill.
Retired people are on a budget. Gift cards help them with that.
Often times people have niche hobbies wherein buying a present might have good intentions. but it'll be in vain. I'm a beer snob. Do not get me beer as a gift, ever. Gladly take a gift card to a good brewery. I'm a musician -- don't buy me gear. I work and tinker with networking. Don't buy me hardware. Give me gift cards.
They are low effort and high reward. They are excellent gifts, both to give and receive.
- Cash doesn't expire either
  You can knock $100 off a bill with cash
  Cash can help retired people
  You can buy stuff for niche hobbys with cash
  
  Gift cards are intentionally earmarked for a specific purpose. If you give me a gift card for a restaurant, I'll go to that restaurant, and not feel guilty about "this is too expensive". You've given me an experience I won't choose for myself, but may enjoy. It's memorable, and the experience is inherently connected to you even if you don't go with me. I won't buy myself a massage. But if you encourage me to do so with a gift card to a massage place you enjoy, I will enjoy the experience.
  That's the intent of gift giving. It's a way to strengthen a relationship by sharing items or experiences you think someone will enjoy. Cash can theoretically do that, but rarely does.
  
  Cash is sterile and impersonal. It shows minimal effort and interest.
  
  If you give me cash, I'm probably just going to be boring and invest it.
  Some people rarely prioritize fun things. Gift cards force them to.
- On the expiration thing, that is only for certain types of gift cards. It's kind of a confusing mess. I know this because I tried to look into it, and I do not recall the answers I found, because they were confusing. My company uses a vendor called Tango for our gift cards, and some of those definitely do expire. The only ones I can think of that I'm almost certain about are the VISA gift cards. I'm not defending it, I think it's utter tripe, but somehow they do it.
- It may be unlawful but I have over $100 in useless gift cards because the companies went out of business before I could use them. Cash is inherently superior. Although both cash and gift cards have the problem of being potentially tacky or offensive to give as a gift, depending on the context.
  
  Bankruptcy is the only legitimate loophole.
- These are all good points but the biggest reason I HATE gift cards is because they offer ZERO protection.
  Buy something with a credit card and you often get double warranty protection included. That something gets damaged or stolen? Also protected.
  Gift cards offer none of that. Neither does cash but at least I can use cash to pay off the credit card.
  I get that a gift card is more personable and it earmarks the funds for a particular store. If you like gift cards, then cheers and go about your merry way.
  I've emphatically told my loved ones that I never want a gift card. You want me to use the money somewhere specific? Just say so and I'll do it.
  But don't give me a script that I can only use in one place and might lose.

For reciprocal holidays like Christmas, giving cash maybe gets a little too close to exposing the pointlessness. I give you cash, then you give me cash, what are we doing here? And what if I gave you less than you gave me?
A gift card does indicate I thought a little bit about what the recipient might like, even if I know it would be impractical for me to make a choice on the recipient's behalf, or that my gift wouldn't be sufficient to cover a typical purchase in whole. (Thinking like gaming systems, expensive handbags etc)
All that said, I generally agree, I'm not crazy about gift cards.
- You are exactly right about this
- I give you cash, then you give me cash, what are we doing here?
  This is why I don't give people gifts and tell others not to give me gifts. Holidays arent about gifts. If I do get a gift, I give it back to them the next year. Bonus points for giving it back in the exact same gift bag. After a decade of this, people have finally stopped giving me gifts!
- For reciprocal holidays like Christmas, giving cash maybe gets a little too close to exposing the pointlessness. I give you cash, then you give me cash, what are we doing here? And what if I gave you less than you gave me?
  How does a gift card solve this though?
  I give you Starbucks™ cash and you give me Chipotle™ cash. What are we doing here? What if I gave you more Starbucks™ cash then you gave me Chipotle™ cash?
  It's literally just money with brand loyalty.

Where I live it's illegal to have them expire. They can:
Provide a spending limit for a vice
frees the user of the need to spend it responsibly
a safer way to spend money online and an alternative to a credit card.
I don't mind getting a steam gift card or an lcbo (liquor store) card, I know what liquor and games I like more than the people gifting. An Amazon gift card is much more annoying because it's an everything store, it's money that has to be used unethically. A costco giftcard is a nice hack to allow you to shop at the store without a membership, I used them like that until I reached a point where the membership paid for itself. I think they have a place, I also think they are often abused and should be regulated more than they currently are where I live. If they have an expiry they are a scam.
- The state I live in, they are also illegal to expire. The problem is that companies blatantly break the law with zero consequences.
  If you try to use an expired card, it will automatically decline, and an employee physically cannot override it. To use your money you have to go online and submit a complaint/ticket to customer support. Good fucking luck getting a response.
  The only way after that is to threaten to sue, or sue. Sueing can cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars, which is completely ridiculous and why nobody does it. Thats why even though many states outlaw expiring giftcards, most of them still have expiration dates in blatant violation.
  
  Got it. You need a gift card to a lawyer.

I think it’s because people think giving pure cash is thoughtless and basic. If you give a gift card for that persons favorite restaurant, then it feels more personable.
Obviously having cash is better for flexibility but people don’t care sometimes
- Think the FTC should get involved on this one. One gift cards should never expire. Two you should have the right to cash it out and every fucking penny off of that card. Third and last no fucking fees that eat away at the balance. If they did that then gift cards would be nice beyond that not buying those.
  
  One gift cards should never expire.
  ~~They don't. It's illegal.~~
  Two you should have the right to cash it out and every fucking penny off of that card.
  Money laundering.
  Third and last no fucking fees that eat away at the balance.
  ~~Also illegal.~~
- That's the fancy answer.
  My son receives gift cards from his friends for birthdays, and we buy them for other birthdays. I think they suck, but the truth is, we usually have no idea what to buy and this is socially acceptable to give.
- I think it’s because people think giving pure cash is thoughtless and basic.
  This idea needs to die. I'd rather have $10 cash that I can stash away to save up for something that I actually want than a $25 gift card that locks me in to a single store.
  I'm at a stage in my life where I can generally buy little things when I want to. But my wife and I don't make enough to regularly drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on non-essentials, and my other family members can't do more than $25 or maybe $50 for birthdays or Christmas.
  It took me years to convince my parents and wife to just give me cash. When I finally did, it enabled me to save up for a $1k guitar over several years.
  I'd much rather have one awesome gift every 5 years than a steady stream of $35 gift certificates to various stores and restaurants.
  Not giving someone what they're actually asking for is far less thoughtful than cash.
- Does anyone besides boomers think this?
- For me, I use gift cards I receive as a test of the person that gave it. Someone I consider a collegue but not friend giving me a gift card to a place I like instantly makes me think they value me more than I thought. Person I consider a friend gives me a gift card instead of a gift, depending on the occasion, makes me think they like me, but can't be bothered to put too much effort in, or are just doing because they feel obligated.

There are a few legitimate uses for gift cards.
You can get extra rewards by buying them and using them vs directly buying. Lots of stores give extra fuel or reward points for buying cards, or you could have better cash back rewards at store A and shift spending to there.
It's a way to give kids money in a more controlled way than a credit or debit card.
It allows someone without a Bank or credit card access a way to turn cash into digital currency.

It's the middle thing between not gifting something specific but also no just giving money. Sometimes you are not sure what exactly a person wants, but giving money directly might feel too unpersonal? Other than that, i completely agree with you that it sucks. Stores must love them though, they already have the money without having to provide a service / product and then many people will forget, the gift cards expire etc. I'm of the opinion that the cards shouldn't expire, or at least have a very high expiration date (like minimum 10 years).
- It's the middle thing between not gifting something specific but also no just giving money.
  It's literally just branded money.
- Just give money. Its bizarre and sick that you feel the need to have your gift blessed by a corporation. As if the 3 minutes spent buying the things to have some fraction taken by your corporate overlord somehow means you tried anymore than giving a stack of money.
  
  Except a lot of people won't take just money.
  It's psychological but it's true.

IIRC they can't legally expire in Canada, at least.
If you're giving a gift, it's more personal than cash because it displays a knowledge of what they like, but has some of the same flexibility.
Also, the codes are used as a non-physical way to transfer money sometimes. That's not really an intended use unless it's a devoted prepaid credit card, though.
- The only ones I've seen expire in the US are the VISA ones but those are basically debit cards.

I give giftcards to the bookstore to my niece and nephew because if I gave them straight cash they'd blow it on trinkets and junk they'd forget about in minutes.
- This is fair. Restricted cash for people who should have restricted cash. Or something to incentivise good habits.
  
  Yep, that's the right train of thought.
  I used to also dislike them, due to their limitations vs cash. But eventually realized that I liked having the excuse to go out of town to a fancy restaurant, or splurge on games I might otherwise decide I don't need right now.
  Strictly speaking, cash is better, yes. But gift cards can influence people to do things that might make them happier than typical rational or habitual decisions.

Personally, I'm terrible about actually spending money on myself. Mostly because right now money is pretty tight as a single income household. A giftcard forces me to spend money in a more careless manner than I otherwise would. A giftcard encourages me to splurge and order a thing on Amazon or buy a super sugary treat or something else that can bring me joy. If I'm given cash I just use that to smooth over the daily grind, so giftcards absolutely hit different

I agree, but I've gotten less annoyed by it over the years. When I was young it really didn't make sense to me. Money can do literally the same and is way more versatile.
However, now that I'm trying to survive this adulting thing it does start to make more sense, even if I still don't like it. If someone gives me money, it ends up on the big pile of money that's constantly flowing around. Give me 20 euros and it just adds 20 to the number in my bank account, which will eventually end up being used on groceries, bills, mortgage, etc. if you give someone money as a present you don't want this. You don't know what to give the other person ans you want them to choose something nice for themselves. But buying them part of their groceries or a part of their bills isn't exactly a fun gift. You want to "force" them to buy something nice, something that they want to spend money on instead of need to spend money on. A gift card does this.
Then again, giving me physical money would also do this. Or asking me to say when I bought something nice with it. When people gift me money I tend to tell them where it went and that works way better than gift cards imo.

My mom used to save gift cards and use them for "special things", to get something she really wanted but was a splurge for her. When she died, she had probably like $800-900 in gift cards waiting to be spent, and they'd lost like a third of their value. They were part of my mom's estate, so they went to my sister (the executrix). When my sister died, I found those exact same gift cards, still unspent, only this time they'd lost all their value. Plus she has a bunch of gift cards of her own that she'd been saving that had lost a bunch of value as well.
I know I'm fortunate that I don't need to scrape money, and that not everyone can afford to do this. But after losing out on a bunch of money, this is what I do: when someone gives me a gift card, I spend it immediately and enthusiastically tell the giver what I got - or, in some cases, supposedly got: occasionally I'll use the card to buy a gift for someone else, or I'll just buy gas or groceries. But I use it on something I want or need, even if it's just in the vaguest way. That avoids losing the value of the money, which I absolutely hate.
But I take the birthday or holiday or thank-you or thinking-of-you card that the gift card came in, and I'll tuck in the same amount of cash as was on the gift card. I have a little stash of cards in my desk (and my heir knows to check those cards), all with some amount of money in them. And when I'm feeling down, or really need a treat, or just need to remember that I'm loved, I go pull out the cards and read through some of them. And if I'm still feeling bad, I may pull out some money from the card and go buy myself something - an ice cream or a nice dinner or a pair of socks - it doesn't matter. To me, it's that person giving me a giant hug on a day that I really need it, whether that person is even still around - to me, that's an immensely valuable gift, and something that I always treasure.
Also, to keep each gift giving, I usually sneak back a couple weeks later and put the same amount of money back into the envelope: just because I spent that specific money doesn't mean my mom or grandma loved me any less, and sometimes I need to be reminded of that.

I buy gift cards for the discounts. Usually you can get a gift card from anywhere between 3% and 20% off. Over the last 5 years, this has saved me $1000s on house renovations alone.
- I have a credit card that gives 6% cash back on grocery stores. Gift Cards are supposed to be excluded from that, but it still works at some stores. I used to buy Amazon gift cards, effectively making Amazon 6% cheaper.
  There's some psychological stuff to consider, though. Did I spend more on Amazon because there was a gift card balance? I like to tell myself no, but I probably did.
- This is honestly the only reason to buy a gift card especially at Costco. They often sell gift cards for 20% off their face value.

I like gift cards. A lot of the stuff I want to buy I know what I want but family would not. So they buy a gift cards to the place I want to buy stuff, I buy the correct stuff, and show off what I got. So they give me like Penzeys gift cards, and I get the cinnamon I need! Or other spices.
- But what about the alternative? Cash? You can buy anything you want with that, even pay rent!
  
  Then I'd use it for boring things only, which would make the gift givers annoyed as those aren't a gift. If they wanted to help me with that stuff, they do pay cash. Which is why they give gift cards, so I'll treat myself.

When I was a kid I remember my grandparents would just put $50-$100 in a card and call it a day. I loved the gift of just money because the possibilities of what I could buy myself were endless. It made more sense for my grandparents too as they had no idea what kids my age wanted anyway and I would've likely been disappointed if they tried to buy me what they thought I wanted.
For whatever reason now though, it's seen as lazy or uncaring if you just gift money. I would argue that this is some bs corporations have created to get us to feel obligated to buy an actual item. In my mind though, money is the best gift.
On a related note, my parents bought us a $100 giftcard one year and when we went to us it we discovered that there was a slip of paper covering the barcode. That slip of paper had a photocopy of another barcode on it, so when my parents put money on the card, it actually went on a different card. Pretty common scam we found out. When we called the stores help line, they said they could not help us. So yeah fuck giftcards. The companies themselves won't even take steps to ensure they are secure. As long as they still got their money, they don't care if scammers got to use the giftcard instead.
- I'm glad I'm Chinese where gifting cash is normal 😹

only time I ever bought gift cards was when I worked at restaurant. each Christmas theyd give us employees 20% off gift cards. id buy a bunch of them (usually like 500$ worth). then when a customer paid in cash, I'd pay with my gift card, and pocket the change. I always told the customer what I was doing and made sure it was ok with them, it was a chain so most people were just kinda thrilled they could help me beat the system.

Depending on where you live, gift cards legally can’t expire. They only become worthless if the company goes out of business.
The rest of what you said I agree with
- I've heard that too, but employees can't override rejection of expired cards, so to use your rightfully owned cash, you have to fight with the company via online customer service and maybe even threaten to sue.
  Because of that, even in countries and states where cards don't expire, they essentially do.
  
  Can’t argue with any of that

Because someone conviced people that giving money as a present is a no no, but a "gift card" isn't, I'd rather you give me $20 cash over a $30 gift card for one specific set of stores that you'd never goto.
- This

My favorite gift is a Steam Gift Card.

Volunteering?
There's a good chance got them because dunkin donated them or because the cafe didn't want to give cash for fear it could be construed as pay.
The point of gift cards is that they're: a. Not money (when using money might have some sort of disadvantage for either side). b. Have restrictions that the person who gave it to you might want to impose. c. Are usually cheaper than paying money directly to the vendor.
And frankly, no one forced you to try and use them. They were given as a gesture of appreciation, and you could have given them to someone who would have been happy to have them, or just politely refuse to accept them. Also, not checking the expiration date is on you.

I need them to pay the IRS so they won't arrest me for a mistake on my taxes.

I got a Dunkin Donuts card a few years ago too. The nearest location to me is about 600 miles away. Awesome.

I fully agree. My christmas bonus at work is in one of those visa gift cards and I wish they'd just direct deposit it (but I'm sure my boss gets some kind of deal from visa so they're cheaper or something due to his business acct, that has to be why.)
That said though, if you have $20 left over but need like $30 for the purchase, you tell the cashier "hey I have $20 on this I want to use up, then I have cash/card for the remainder." They'll let you.
- I mean, they have to.
  Here they usually give you the reminder in cash if you but something for less, say you have a 50 dollar gift card and buy something for 45, you get 5 bucks
  
  That's cool! Nowhere near me does cash back on them, you just have to say "I have fourteen cents on this card and the rest will be on my debit" or whatever haha. I wish we did the cash back around here!

They could be purchased en mass at a discount. The corporate gift card as a gift, might only cost 70%, and have a rebate if it's never used. Depending on your jurisdiction it may not count as income either, reducing HR burden. So it makes financial sense.
They're often sold at a discount to retail customers, to lock them in, a bet that they won't actually use it versus utility somebody gets from a discount. Just like mailing coupon/rebates
It is one of the more practical off-ramps for crypto, you can buy gift cards with crypto, then use those gift cards for real world needs.
In the domain of gifts, if somebody has a spending problem, or a dependency problem, and you want to make sure they buy something in a certain vertical, locked in money as a gift card to make sense. If you give a drunk $50, they're going to buy alcohol. If you give them a $50 gift card to bed bath & beyond, they might actually use it to improve their house
It can also be a form of virtue signaling, a $50 gift card to the air and space museum, or the science museum... Is both a gift of money, but an excuse to go to a new place and do a new thing.
- I'm surprised this comment is at the bottom... It's the correct answer. Companies can offer or donate gift cards to employees (like during a team event). But if they offer cash, that works like a bonus and it's legally trickier.
  
  I posted early, so i get sorted to the bottom by new. I had too much text so many people won't read it. If I wanted lots of karma I'd have a one or two sentence pithy zinger.
  I tried to be accurate and complete, yet I still got downvoted! haha, that's lemmy for you.

To show they know you, at least a bit. Cash can obviously used by everyone about anywhere, but for that reason it can be given to someone you don't know at all and they'll like it.
A gift card shows that the giver at least believes they know the gifted well enough to know where they like to spend money. They just don't know them well enough to know they would like "this specific thing" and know they don't already one one.
- I got a gift card to a steak restaurant as a thank you for a huge favour. It was the last place I'd go for a meal. I'd rather have had a book token - I could have bought half a dozen books, and instead it was a not very enjoyable meal for two.
  
  Ok

Gift cards are cheaper than cash. Many places will give you a bonus gift card for purchasing a large gift card, or give you one at higher-than-cash value for trade-ins.

I was given a dunkin giftcard
Dunkin gift cards expire? That's news to me, it's been a while since I've encountered expiring gift cards. Not sure that's even legal but maybe they expire in your particular state?
To answer your main question I buy gift cards with discounts/cash back all the time. It basically makes them cheaper than using cash. For example my credit card has 5% cash back for grocery stores so that gives me 5% cash back on gift cards purchased there.
Also a lot of credit card and stores do gift card sales where they'll do 10%-20% discount, or throw in a free gift card with a purchase.

It comes down to discomfort in giving people cash gifts. Agree that it’s stupid.
I will go a step further and say that in most cases, gift giving just destroys value. Exception for little kids, who derive a modicum of enjoyment from whatever plastic crap you give them.

[off topic]
A while back I gave my friend $50 for his birthday. I got fifty 'gold' dollars at the bank and gave them in a drawstring purse [the kind Robin Hood or Conan the Barbarian would carry]
He really enjoyed it.

In my opinion, gift cards are good gifts when the giver has some idea of what they want to give, but not enough information to make a proper purchase. For example:
for an "event" (eg skydiving, a meal at a fancy restaurant, canoeing trip, etc) where the gifter doesn't know dates when the recipient is free.
for a specific product which the giver knows fairly little, and the receiver has strong opinions on (eg. Money to spend on PC parts without making any product decisions for them)
for an item of a "set", where the gifter doesn't know for sure which items are already owned (eg. A board game expansion, a collectible Lego set, a book from a series)
However i do think that often gift cards are used as excuses to be lazy.
- Just give cash with a note saying "money for the ski trip" or sth.

I can think of a couple of uses from the top off my head.
For parents. This is a way to control what kind of products your children could get, giving them a limited sense of control.
There are people that are not very generous when it comes to giving away something. Like those who won't give money to beggars because they believe beggars will spend it in drugs. But in this situation they think they keep some control on the money they give away.
In both cases, if the person is smart enough, they will find out how to make cash from the gift card anyway. However, they'd be really gifted salespersons if they can get the whole value back.

We have family on otherside of country, sending cash via mail is risky, so we sometimes default to a gift card for something in their local area.
Typically only promotional/giveaway gift cards expire here in Canada.
- I've done this same thing. My dad lived on the other side of the country and it was a way for me to "take him out to eat" at a restaurant that he loved but was too expe dive for his tastes. Another time, I bought him a round of golf at a nice golf course that he would not treat himself to. He did not "believe" in gift cards wither, but on both occasions he mentioned that it was as if I took him to eat/golf and it was a nice gift for the guy who has everything.
  
  We had something similar. Dad went out for a dinner, then later you get to have a phonecall about the restaurant food and experience. A way to share, rather than a gift they probably didn't need.

As an alternative to using a credit card online is a good idea, as good an idea as any for security and anti-tracking if nothing else. But only if you remember to use them.
One other thing is, (and I'm not positive this is true), but people on disability can't have over a certain amount of cash. Giving a gift card makes sense in that instance because it no longer counts as cash at that point.

Gift cards are great for the company they're tied to because they basically just made a sale of that amount and now it's up to the receiver to take the initiative to actually get anything from the company. Plus with inflation the value of the card always decreases. Plus you'll usually end up buying a little more than the amount on the gift card just to use it all up.
I think cash is usually a better gift, with one exception: a gift card can be a way to give someone permission to get something from a store that they would really like but usually not actually spend their own money there.
For me, I buy gift cards at a discount when I know I'm going to buy at a given store anyways. Might as well get $20 off of whatever.
- It’s not just a sale. Gift card money is invested and the company makes returns off of it, and all they have to do is provide you the base value of the gift card in coffee or whatever at some later date. Plus, if your purchases don’t add to a whole number, millions of gift cards with like 30 cents left over in each of them is a ton of free money for the company. Gift cards are a huge scam
  
  Gift card money is invested same as sales, it rings up the same. This stuff gets sloshed together in the overall balance sheet. It amounts to probabilistic overpaying, where one person might spend their whole card immediately (no overpaying), another takes their time using it (overpaid at the rate of inflation), and another forgets about it, loses it, or just never spends all of it (overpayment by the amount left on the card).
  You could also think of it as zero-interest debt issued by the purchaser to the store, payable in future purchase credits with the onus on the lender of the debt to collect later. As you note, the store can invest the money immediately so it is guaranteed profit.

This won't answer your question directly, but I know in some jurisdictions gift cards or prepaid lunch cards are taxed differently than income and that's why employers often resort to these instead of actual salary raises

For a lot of online transactions, this is usually the only way people can get access.
There are a lot of people out there who don't have credit cards or bank accounts, so they can't buy anything online. A gift card to an online store may be the cheapest or only way they can pay.
- For those without a bank account but need to buy something online, yeah the gift card is a good idea.
  I’d still give them the cash and let them buy the gift card they want.

I don’t know what to get you and prefer something better targeted than cash. Tell me what you want, what you really really want, and you might get that instead
— if you complain again, I’m writing you a check: tell me how inconvenient that is
- A check is more convenient than cash. I can deposit it with my phone.
  
  That seems surprisingly rare. My bank’s app has been letting me do that for longer than I can remember, but people are still surprised that you can do that. Even my teens, who have only ever had online banking, don’t know how to deposit a check through their app

Every few years I find a drawer of expired gift cards and throw them out. One time I kept a one hundred pound gift card in my wallet for months on end, keeping it alive with balance checks in the store but never using it. My partner noticed this and said “just give it to me”, and promptly lost it forever in one of her handbags.

The only reason I buy them is cash back / rewards credit cards. Say I know I want to spend $225 on something on amazon? I whip out my visa dividends, MC world elite or Amex Cobalt at the grocery store for 3-5% cash back or rewards card while purchasing groceries, and add a custom amount $200 gift card to the tally. So now I got $10 back on it in rewards that I can spend elsewhere. The CC issuer, Amazon and the grocery store are none the wiser.
- Just an FYI, the grocery store doesn't know (or care).
  But both Amazon and the CC company absolutely know, they just don't care, it's factored into their profit margins.
- ...why not just use the CC on Amazon?
  
  Could be they want to hit a certain category (groceries) on the card. Maybe they are also trying to meet minimum spend on a new card.
  For those who shop a lot on Amazon, the Chase Amazon Visa is probably worth it since it always gets 5-6%, but if you don't have that card, using gift cards to hit a grocery category seems reasonable. Slightly more hassle, but at least you can split purchases on Amazon.
  
  As the other commenter mentioned, only cards I have give grocery cash back / rewards at 5% rate and that doesn't apply to Amazon purchases (which is 1%). AMEX Cobalt for example is a paid card, C$12/mo, but with grocery and amazon gift card purchases the rewards pay for the monthly fee.

Good establishments don't have their gift cards expire.
Gift cards are great if the recipient often shops at a given store, but the giver isn't sure what they want.
Let's say I've got a friend who loves board games. I don't want to get them a board game, because A. They might already have it, or B. Someone else might get them the same one. A gift card to a game store would be the perfect gift for them.
I think the problem in your case was that a Dunkin gift card wasn't a great gift for you specifically, but the giver was trying, so don't be too hard on them.

When I had Netflix I registered it with a gift card.

Since ,my company are such sticklers about not going over our daily meal limit while on travel, and have as yet ignored our requests to just do per diem or use the total from the trip, I often purchase gift cards to fill out an underspent day on travel. An Apple Card or something for some restaurant where my wife likes to get lunch.

My dad gave me an Apple gift card of something like 200$ last year.
I don't buy Apple product. I would have taken the money but eh

Wolves of Glendale have a song for this - Just Give Me Cash

Sometimes people like it when others make choices for them.

120 comments