Don’t Buy A Gift Card Until You Read This

I enjoy giving gift cards, especially to those hard to shop for people on my list. I, like nearly everyone else, have at least one person on my shopping list that I either don’t know what to buy or I can’t find what I think they would like. When that happens I consider their likes and then purchase a gift card I think they will enjoy using.

For example, I give my restaurant loving friends gift cards to their favorite restaurants; gas station gift cards to my teenage nieces and nephews who drive; shopping mall gift cards to my daughter; and massage gift certificates to my sister-in-law because I know she loves getting massages.

Although gift cards are great and I buy them frequently, there are a few things to be aware of. The main thing is to make sure the recipient knows the gift card is like carrying cash and needs to be safeguarded in the same way cash is. For the most part, lost or stolen gift cards cannot be replaced.

Another thing to be aware of is hidden fees, well not really hidden fees, but fees detailed in very small print – that size “one” font that’s nearly impossible to read!

One charge that will be apparent right away is a possible upfront processing fee to defray the cost of producing and distributing the gift cards. Most companies try to avoid charging an upfront fee. But some, like my local mall charges a small fee to purchase a gift card. It’s nominal, $1.50 per card.

Some companies and stores charge a non-use or dormancy fee on their gift cards. If a card is not used for a specified period of time, a small amount is deducted from the value of the card every month. For example, $1 or $2 may be deducted from the balance of a gift card every month if that gift card is not used within six months of purchase.

Another type of charge some gift cards have is a balance fee. If a gift card has a balance on it after a certain amount of time, typically six months after purchase, a small fee is deducted each month. The fee is small, not usually more than $1.50 or $2. This is similar to a dormancy fee, but the difference with a balance fee is that even if the card was used within the first 6 months (or whatever time frame is specified) a fee will be assessed each month for still having a balance on it. This is to encourage people to use their gift cards in a reasonable amount of time and not leave them sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.

If you purchase a gift card that has a balance or dormancy fee, try to purchase it as close to the time you are going to be giving it away as possible.

Also be aware that the gift card could have an expiration date. Most of the gift cards from large companies don’t have an expiration date or allow a lengthy amount of time before the card expires, such as five years. Shorter time periods to use gift cards and gift certificates, usually not less than 12 months but occasionally as little as 6 months, are more likely to be found with smaller companies and independent business owners.

I think it’s perfectly fine to give gift cards and gift certificates with an expiration date. Just make sure the recipient is aware of the expiration date. An expiration date shouldn’t cause you to not buy a gift card. After all, you don’t want people to hang on to the gift card and not use it.

And, remember that although gift cards may carry some fees, the majority of them will never be a problem if the card is used within six months, which most gift cards are. So feel free to give gift cards whenever you think it is an appropriate gift.

One interesting note: even though some gift cards have started adding fees to their gift cards such as dormancy fees, balance fees, or maintenance fees, some states are starting to pass legislation banning those fees as well as banning expiration dates. This is good news for consumers.

By: D Ruplinger

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

D Ruplinger is a featured writer for www.giftcardsforyou.com. For more information about gift cards and where to purchase gift cards visit www.giftcardsforyou.com.

Gift Card Hall Of Shame

It’s Christmas season again and retailers are really pushing gift cards and gift certificates this year. “Sales of the cards will grow more than six times faster than total holiday sales, to a record $24.8 billion,” the National Retail Federation says. But before you buy gift cards for everyone on your list you need to be aware of the risks.

Roger McClannen bought a $40.00 Simon Mall gift card for his mother a few years ago. “I thought it was a good idea because it was issued by Visa and could be used anywhere that Visa cards are accepted,” said McClannen. Two years later his mother had to go to a nursing home. “I found the card in with Mom’s other cards. I intended to take her shopping to use the card but never got around to it. When I finally called to check the value of the card, it had gone to zero. The card was worthless.” After 1 year, Simon Mall Giftcards (which cost $5.95 to purchase) are reduced in value by $2.50 each month.

But it wasn’t until McClannen had 142 digital print credits expire that he got mad and decided to get even. He added a Gift Card Hall of Shame to his Froomb.com Web site.

“I purchased a block of 500 digital photo prints from Dotphoto.com because they were cheaper if I bought them in bulk – they were 9 cents each instead of 15 cents. I must not’ve read the fine print closely enough when I bought them because I found out later that they have to be redeemed  within one year or they expire. At the end of the year I still had 142 print credits I hadn’t used.” There went another $12.78 down the drain.

“So I put up a page called the Gift Card Hall of Shame. The purpose of Froomb.com is to save people money, so it fit in with the rest of the site.”

The Gift Card Hall of Shame has three sections:
1. The Bad Guys. The list includes Amazon, Simon Malls (which owns the Mall of America), CompUSA, Dotphoto and many more. It lists the terms of each card and provides a link that can be used to tell each store how you feel about their gift card policy.
2. The Good Guys. This section lists stores that have consumer-friendly gift card policies. These stores’ gift cards have no expiration date and they charge no dormancy fees (the $2.50 per month that McClannen’s card lost was a dormancy fee). There is a link to each store’s gift card page to make them easy to find.
3. Innocent Until Proven Guilty. These businesses don’t state whether or not their gift cards expire or lose value. Froomb assumes that these stores are among the Good Guys, but lists them separately until this can be verified.
“Gift cards can be great time-savers but if you want to make sure that the recipient gets the full value of your gift, make sure you only buy gift cards from the right people.”

After much arguing with a Dotphoto.com customer service rep, Dotphoto finally agreed to return McClannen’s digital photo credits. “But the credits expire in 90 days,” he said. “I guess I’d better take lots of Christmas photos.”

By: Froomb

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

bio: Roger McClannen runs the froomb.com web site which is a directory of deal-of-the-day web sites (like Woot). His other web site is starcityemporium.com which is the world’s larget shopping mall.

Gift Card

While online and retail holiday shopping sales have met or exceeded expectations for most retailers in 2005, there is another “rush” for all retailers to prepare for: gift card redemption.

According to Hitwise, an online intelligence service, the market share of U.S. Internet searches containing the words “gift card” was up 32% for the week ending December 10, 2005 as compared to the previous week. In fact, the National Retail Federation expects gift card sales to increase 6.6% this holiday season to 18.48 billion dollars, with consumers spending an average of $88 dollars on gift cards or 15.6% of their holiday shopping budget.

Gift certificates have always been a popular gift choice for the hard to please recipient or even for the lazy shopper. For the gift giver, it allows a quick purchase at whatever store or online merchant they select, with a dollar amount that fits their budget. For the recipient, they can select what they want from a particular merchant and for the most part use the card at their convenience.

But for some, giving a gift card is a cop-out, reasoning it is too impersonal and opting to hand pick a gift and selecting something special and unique for a loved one or friend. However, for some, the gift card is the ideal gift choice, with family or friends even suggesting the store or online merchant they prefer.

For the merchants, it has extended the holiday shopping season because they cannot record the sale until the recipient uses the gift card to make a purchase. This holds down sales figures in November and December, but provides a boost in January when most cards are redeemed. An additional boost is provided by the fact that most of the shoppers who redeem their gift cards typically spend 15% to 50% more than the face value of the card when they select their holiday gift.

There are some downsides to gift cards. Some retailers clear unused gift cards off the books by subtracting off of the face value of the card, an inactivity fee (usually $2.50 per month) after a certain amount of time. Some gift cards have an expiration date and others come with special conditions or restrictions. However, consumer outrage has prompted many states across the country to introduce legislation limiting or banning the fees. Additionally, there is no federal law on gift cards but, two Republican congressmen, Joe Barton of Texas and Charlie Bass of New Hampshire, have requested that the Federal Trade Commission investigate the way retailers conduct their gift card programs.

Is giving a gift card too impersonal? Is it the best gift choice? That question is up for debate and is a personal preference. But with annual gift card sales projected to reach 90 billion dollars by 2007 (Ernst & Young 2005), the gift card is here to stay.

By: Robert Benson

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Robert Benson operates www.ezshoppinghere.com a web site devoted to helping shoppers find unique gifts in unique places with a wide assortment of merchandise to choose from including three stooges collectibles, home decor, apparel, novelties, pet supplies and more.