If I give someone cash [1], then they might just spend it on their power bill or rent or groceries or just let it live in a bank account. This is “fine”, but it doesn’t really feel like a “gift”.
If I buy them a gift card to Best Buy or something, they’re kind of forced to buy themselves something fun. You can’t really pay your rent with a gift card, it can’t sit in a bank account, you’re kind of forced to get yourself something you’ll enjoy.
I am not saying it’s the best gift or anything, I just think “idiots” is harsh.
[1] and assuming that the person is in an economically alright position
Using the word idiots reveals GP's level of thinking. Gift cards are a less useful gift than cash. The first principals reasoning would say the more useful gift is worth more than three less useful gift but this is human psychology we're talking about so first principal reasoning isn't enough.
Gifts are about having thought about somebody, and cash is the equivalent of saying I couldn't be bothered. Hence, gift cards. I thought about you for half a second longer and gave you money to spend at a store off my choosing. Under that framing, calling people idiots because they give gift cards indicates an inability to grasp or accept that cultural norm.
So, it makes it easy when someone telegraphs their mental shortcomings to you.
>Hence, gift cards. I thought about you for half a second longer and gave you money to spend at a store off my choosing.
That half second costs me far more time and effort to keep track of a gift card, especially if a balance remains on it. Either get the actual gift you want to give the person, or give cash.
A gift card only benefits the merchant who gets to hold onto cash and earn interest.
I'm mildly annoyed by merchant-specific gift cards when I receive them. They're strictly worse than cash because rarely does the merchant have anything I want at a price that I consider reasonable.
I seriously dislike getting gift cards and rarely used them. It makes checking out take longer, and you need to remember you have them etc it’s just a worse experience.
Ideally you know the person well enough that you at least know "fun" stores they'll be shopping at anyway.
Or give something like an Amazon gift card which really is more or less like cash for most people. (Though Amazon knows this and their conversion rate is generally worse than most retailers who are more specialized.)
That said, I'm not a huge fan of gift cards. It's one more thing to keep track of but, hey, they're probably better than some gift you don't want and cash just isn't really acceptable in all cases.
It's somewhat of a cultural thing. Giving cash can seem tacky whereas if someone has just got a house, a gift card from a home improvement store or, if they're an outdoor sports type, somewhere like REI might seem somewhat more thoughtful even if you don't know exactly what they'd like.
right, giving your daughter an annual netflix subscription when she moves out is idiotic but giving her money she can spend on a party and get drunk is a next-level genius move!
