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> Personal financial columnists and comedians do not understand the jobs that gift cards do. They are not cash-but-worse-in-every-way. Closed loop cards allow a

> Personal financial columnists and comedians do not understand the jobs that gift cards do. They are not cash-but-worse-in-every-way. Closed loop cards allow a giver to personalize a gift to the recipient. A Barnes and Noble gift card to a favorite niece tells that niece that you remember she is a reader, unlike those uncreative family members who would just give her cash. The article doesn't actually explain the job being done by gift cards. The job is the one the giver is expected to perform: the ritual of gift giving. The gift card is hired by the giver for that job. But how did the giver get this job? Far more interesting than the mechanics of gift card management would be an exploration of this ritual. Where does it come from, and why has it morphed into the economically-essential activity that the former religious holiday of Christmas has become? Are gift cards the last stop before the holiday returns to its roots, or will the next phase become even less recognizable?

mc32 5y ago
The one advantage of cash and cash equivalents (open loop) over closed loop is that the recipient can decide what they want to spend their money on. Maybe I have enough books for now but do need a pair of shoes.
- pavel_lishin 5y ago
  Or maybe your niece is boycotting B&N for some reason, or knows a much better, cheaper bookstore to shop at.
  - handrous 5y ago
    One thing that drives me nuts, when I give in and produce a list of stuff I'd kinda sorta like for the various relatives requesting such and, inevitably, most of it's just books, is that no one will buy them used. I tell them to, over and over, but they won't do it. I'd rather receive the same number of books and know they spent less on them. Or 3x as many books for the same money. But no. They just won't do it. Then again, I think toys should be removed from their store packaging before being wrapped, but I always lose that struggle, too. People seem really stuck on only giving visibly-new things. I suspect there's some Fussellian class-analysis to be done on that behavior.
queuebert 5y ago
The next step would be buying religious benefits directly. I don't know, say, "indulgences", that one could purchase directly from a church. Cut out the middle men. /s
pavel_lishin 5y ago
> Closed loop cards allow a giver to personalize a gift to the recipient. So does a quick note written inside a card with some cash in it. A gift card is only better than cash when the giver can't or doesn't want to take the time to personalize a gift.
spekcular 5y ago
The job being done by gift cards is transferring money to your relatives with some protection against them spending it on drugs. (Source: a relative who used to give me gift cards.)
- brewdad 5y ago
  Given all the gift card scams on the internet, I would think it would be pretty straightforward to convert a gift card into drugs but at a net loss in value.
snarf21 5y ago
Gift cards are about signaling. People are very brand loyal. Cash isn't brand loyal despite its flexibility. Cash and a card to say "buy books" feels less personal than a B&N card for some reason. There is the other part where the gift card is reserved money. Cash gets put into a pocket and spent on gas. A gift card is reserved and people feel anticipation of what they could go buy on their next trip. There is also the open moment when people feel like "Target gift card, I love Target!!!" Also, do you mean the religious holiday that the church moved to the winter solstice because they couldn't get people to stop celebrating the solstice? Also, in the bible story of Christ, gift giving is the primary plot. A gift from God to save the sinners. You also have the Magi who travel far to bring gifts for Jesus. Gift giving is different than all-consuming commercialism and that has a bigger cause in our advertising controlled economy.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  > A gift card is reserved and people feel anticipation of what they could go buy on their next trip. Growing up in England, my aunt occasionally managed this with cash. She would give me Scottish banknotes at Christmas, which look different, but can be spent without much difficulty almost anywhere in Britain. (The aunt lives in England, so acquiring the Scottish banknotes probably took some effort.)
  - truculent 5y ago
    What a lovely idea.
  - madcaptenor 5y ago
    The US equivalent of this, I think, would be giving two-dollar bills. They exist and are legal tender but are rarely seen.
    - toast0 5y ago
      I heartily recommend ordering $2 bills from wherever you do your banking. It's way more amusing than it should be to flip through a strap of bills. Even if it's only $200.
oneoff786 5y ago
Gift giving on Christmas is derived from the wise men bringing gifts to the birth of jesus, and likely to earlier pagan rituals that predate Christmas. It is extremely unlikely that Christmas reverts to a banal religious thing. People like Christmas. Some countries, like Japan, have culturally assimilated it, without any of the religious tie ins.
sumtechguy 5y ago
Some of my family has reverted to just Christmas greeting cards. We were basically exchanging some amount of equal value cards. We decided to just skip that and get together and have a bit of food and company. For other parts of my family getting together and opening presents is part of the get together and has been a tradition in our family for 50+ years. We open our presents and then have a huge paper wad fight. It is kind of fun and trying to tailor the present to the person can be fun. But yeah if you are down to just exchanging gift cards. Just skip that part.
- shostack 5y ago
  Honestly I wish I could get some people to switch to greeting cards only. The whole equal value exchange is there, but so is the stress of needing to pick out gifts. Honestly, in this day and age I'd rather they give me the gift of less stress by not having to pick out a gift.
r00fus 5y ago
I bet you more money is exchanged on Lunar New Year Day than Christmas. It is significant beyond cultures to have a day of gift giving.

mc32 5y ago

The one advantage of cash and cash equivalents (open loop) over closed loop is that the recipient can decide what they want to spend their money on. Maybe I have enough books for now but do need a pair of shoes.

pavel_lishin 5y ago
Or maybe your niece is boycotting B&N for some reason, or knows a much better, cheaper bookstore to shop at.
- handrous 5y ago
  One thing that drives me nuts, when I give in and produce a list of stuff I'd kinda sorta like for the various relatives requesting such and, inevitably, most of it's just books, is that no one will buy them used. I tell them to, over and over, but they won't do it. I'd rather receive the same number of books and know they spent less on them. Or 3x as many books for the same money. But no. They just won't do it. Then again, I think toys should be removed from their store packaging before being wrapped, but I always lose that struggle, too. People seem really stuck on only giving visibly-new things. I suspect there's some Fussellian class-analysis to be done on that behavior.

queuebert 5y ago

The next step would be buying religious benefits directly. I don't know, say, "indulgences", that one could purchase directly from a church. Cut out the middle men. /s

pavel_lishin 5y ago

> Closed loop cards allow a giver to personalize a gift to the recipient. So does a quick note written inside a card with some cash in it. A gift card is only better than cash when the giver can't or doesn't want to take the time to personalize a gift.

spekcular 5y ago

The job being done by gift cards is transferring money to your relatives with some protection against them spending it on drugs. (Source: a relative who used to give me gift cards.)

brewdad 5y ago
Given all the gift card scams on the internet, I would think it would be pretty straightforward to convert a gift card into drugs but at a net loss in value.

snarf21 5y ago

Gift cards are about signaling. People are very brand loyal. Cash isn't brand loyal despite its flexibility. Cash and a card to say "buy books" feels less personal than a B&N card for some reason. There is the other part where the gift card is reserved money. Cash gets put into a pocket and spent on gas. A gift card is reserved and people feel anticipation of what they could go buy on their next trip. There is also the open moment when people feel like "Target gift card, I love Target!!!" Also, do you mean the religious holiday that the church moved to the winter solstice because they couldn't get people to stop celebrating the solstice? Also, in the bible story of Christ, gift giving is the primary plot. A gift from God to save the sinners. You also have the Magi who travel far to bring gifts for Jesus. Gift giving is different than all-consuming commercialism and that has a bigger cause in our advertising controlled economy.

Symbiote 5y ago
> A gift card is reserved and people feel anticipation of what they could go buy on their next trip. Growing up in England, my aunt occasionally managed this with cash. She would give me Scottish banknotes at Christmas, which look different, but can be spent without much difficulty almost anywhere in Britain. (The aunt lives in England, so acquiring the Scottish banknotes probably took some effort.)
- truculent 5y ago
  What a lovely idea.
- madcaptenor 5y ago
  The US equivalent of this, I think, would be giving two-dollar bills. They exist and are legal tender but are rarely seen.
  - toast0 5y ago
    I heartily recommend ordering $2 bills from wherever you do your banking. It's way more amusing than it should be to flip through a strap of bills. Even if it's only $200.

oneoff786 5y ago

Gift giving on Christmas is derived from the wise men bringing gifts to the birth of jesus, and likely to earlier pagan rituals that predate Christmas. It is extremely unlikely that Christmas reverts to a banal religious thing. People like Christmas. Some countries, like Japan, have culturally assimilated it, without any of the religious tie ins.

sumtechguy 5y ago

Some of my family has reverted to just Christmas greeting cards. We were basically exchanging some amount of equal value cards. We decided to just skip that and get together and have a bit of food and company. For other parts of my family getting together and opening presents is part of the get together and has been a tradition in our family for 50+ years. We open our presents and then have a huge paper wad fight. It is kind of fun and trying to tailor the present to the person can be fun. But yeah if you are down to just exchanging gift cards. Just skip that part.

shostack 5y ago
Honestly I wish I could get some people to switch to greeting cards only. The whole equal value exchange is there, but so is the stress of needing to pick out gifts. Honestly, in this day and age I'd rather they give me the gift of less stress by not having to pick out a gift.

r00fus 5y ago

I bet you more money is exchanged on Lunar New Year Day than Christmas. It is significant beyond cultures to have a day of gift giving.