
Square eGift Cards - zhkirill
https://giveandgetlocal.com/
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mattegan
Can someone help me understand something regarding gift cards as a way to
support businesses during this shutdown?

Gift cards are basically outstanding liabilities, right? If they're not
accounted for correctly, when large amounts of people are able to redeem them
again, they're left with no money to pay those expenses in the future.
Obviously, things aren't as bad if ratio of gift cards to cash spending is
somewhat reasonable when the business reopens.

Seems unless you can commit people to not redeeming the cards, you're
essentially time-delaying the reduction in revenue.

Also, it's my understanding that gift cards are pretty difficult to account
for normally (requiring looking at historical redemption data to prevent
liabilities from growing indefinitely on the balance sheet). Some of these
places are going to be accepting gift cards for the first time in their
history. Is there any room here for a guide to help these places navigate the
accounting of them?

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brunoTbear
Here's an article from The Atlantic about this question:
[https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/08/where...](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/08/where-
do-all-unused-gift-cards-go/596860/)

US Law requires a minimum 5 year expiry on gift cards
[https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/statutes/c...](https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/statutes/credit-
card-accountability-responsibility-and-disclosure-act-2009-credit-card-
act/credit-card-pub-l-111-24_0.pdf)

Starbucks is particularly fortunate to be based on Washington
[https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/15/these-3-companies-...](https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/07/15/these-3-companies-
earned-99-million-from-unused-gi.aspx)

~~~
kevindong
For what's it's worth, gift cards issued through Square cannot expire. Albeit
the merchant can unofficially decline.

> Do gift cards expire?

> Nope, gift cards from Square don’t expire.

[https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5433-gift-cards-
faqs](https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5433-gift-cards-faqs)

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shaneprrlt
I hope they leave this up after the crisis because this is actually just a way
better tool to find local restaurants than googling "restaurants near me".

~~~
echelon
Yeah, this is seriously cool. It seems to correlate with all the independent,
hipster-type places I like.

After seeing the local restaurants and shops I remembered how much I like/miss
these places.

~~~
freedrock87
This is just a listing of restaurants that use Square register.

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bigwheeler
Thanks so much for creating this! I’m going to buy one from every single one
in my ZIP Code. Hopefully if enough people use this, it will help all of these
super small businesses get through this.

~~~
dhosek
Out of curiosity, I entered my zip code and discovered a large number of
businesses I wasn't aware of... Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any
additional information about these businesses beyond what's in the two or
three images for the gift cards.

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sf_rob
It really doesn't make it clear how this works, and I can't find a consumer
facing help article. Does this just email me a code or what?

~~~
bigwheeler
Yes, I just ordered a bunch of them. Got several emails.

~~~
sf_rob
Thanks, love this!

Feature request: Shopping cart for bulk checkout.

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itake
I have thought about purchasing ecards at my local stores, but how will I know
if they will still be around long enough for me to use it?

~~~
wenc
> how will I know if they will still be around long enough for me to use it?

Treat it like a donation. I know not all can afford to do this, but many of us
can.

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d3ad1ysp0rk
Neat - our business is the only one that apparently uses Square gift cards in
the entire town :)
[https://giveandgetlocal.com/?address=Carrabassett%20Valley%2...](https://giveandgetlocal.com/?address=Carrabassett%20Valley%2C%20ME%2C%20USA)

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testerino11111
Toast did the same thing. It's a great way to support your local restaurants
if you have the spare cash right now.

[https://rallyforrestaurants.com/](https://rallyforrestaurants.com/)

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talkingtab
I suppose that attempting to profit from the crisis is to be expected, but
what about square kicking in? Like reducing the amount they take from the
transaction by half and adding it to what goes to the business?

~~~
JaggedJax
I don't want to speculate about Square's intentions and know nothing of their
margins, but Square seems to primarily be a processor for in-person
transactions which are the most affected ones right now. I imagine that
Square's business may be way down right now as well and thus have a hard time
offering discounts.

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deca6cda37d0
Why US only?

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ChrisArchitect
downvote. Only USA? What, Square? You don't have any retailers outside of the
States?

