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That people buy gift cards at all boggles my mind. You're buying a currency with less versatility (and hence value) for 1:1. Where I live, we have perfectly fin

That people buy gift cards at all boggles my mind. You're buying a currency with less versatility (and hence value) for 1:1. Where I live, we have perfectly fine government-issued bills to gift if that's your thing. Somehow, that's considered a bad present? Because it's lazy? Because it doesn't show your opinion on clothes brands? I don't get it, from the consumer's perspective. To the shop/mall it's a clear winner, since you know some receivers won't use their cards. It's a proper arbitrage to them.

nonrandomstring 4y ago
This is one more very good reason not to indulge the insanity that is a "cashless society". If you let go of those government issued bills be sure that in no time at all you'll have nothing but fragmented, private "smart" currencies each hobbled with its own insidious restrictions.
- tommiegannert 4y ago
  Maybe. It's easy enough to send money to someone using the phone these days, so I'm not sure cashless would lead to gift cards here in Switzerland (or my native Sweden.) But I agree it's not a very fun package to open when it's just a promise to use Twint/Swish to transfer money. Oh, maybe the real use for gift cards is that the receiver can't haggle. "I know you wanted to give me $200, but how about we make that an even $500 instead?" :)
- geysersam 4y ago
  This doesn't seem right. Cashless usually means electronic currency equivalent to physical currency. Card payments are not gift cards.
  - nonrandomstring 4y ago
    Whether the form is electronic or physical is irrelevant to my argument. If you read it again carefully you'll see that it's about state-backed versus private currencies. Don't let the technology dazzle you.
  - rzzzt 4y ago
    In a way they are, the difference is that they have the issuer network and banks' reputation behind it and so the number of shops that accept it is not a singleton set.
- amarant 4y ago
  I mean, I don't really see that happening. Sweden is for all intents and purposes cashless these days, and I don't think we have more giftcards now than we did in the 90s when cash was commonplace. To clarify about the cashlessness of Sweden: cash still exists, and you can still get government printed bills, but many places have stopped accepting them, and these days whenever someone has non-foreign cash it becomes the topic of discussion: "why the hell do you have those?" Honestly I don't know that they're useful for anything except donating to homeless(and even they usually have swish these days) or buying illegal drugs
  - grujicd 4y ago
    How do you give money to kids? Where I live if you're under 18 you can't get any kind of bank card.
    - amarant 4y ago
      I had a debit card when I was 14, but I think you can get one even sooner if your parents sign off in it. I think one of the reasons I didn't get a debit card sooner was because when I was a kid, cash was still relatively common (yes, I'm old - I remember using cash in Sweden!)
    - scarface74 4y ago
      My youngest (step)son had his own debit card through Bank of America when he was nine. We were on his account. He had his own login when he was 13.
    - vladvasiliu 4y ago
      In France, when I was a kid, there were some cards you could get that are usually for kids. They actually belong to the parents, and are attached to their accounts. I think it's also fairly limited in what amount you can pay, and doesn't draw from the main account but needs to be "topped-up". I've never had one, though, so I don't know the specifics. Apparently, BNP Paribas (one of the major local banks) now has a "teen offer", for people 12-17 yo. This seems to still be attached to the parents' account with the same bank, but the kids get to "manage" the account. https://mabanque.bnpparibas/fr/offre-ados https://mabanque.bnpparibas/fr/offre-ados
Jiro 4y ago
In order for a gift to serve its social function, it must be specifically matched to its recipient. Cash is not specifically matched to its recipient. (The exception is if there's some other social expectation that specifically says that the gift should be cash, like Jewish wedding gifts).
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  > In order for a gift to serve its social function, it must be specifically matched to its recipient. That's tricky though. Often enough, people really don't know or think enough to match properly, which causes the gift to end up being offloaded somewhere else later, and/or breeds silent resentment. It's not just when people don't know what the recipient is interested in, but importantly, when they think they know, but don't understand that you shouldn't buy something related to someone's interest/hobby if you yourself aren't comparably proficient in it. > Cash is not specifically matched to its recipient. In some sense, it's maximally matched to every recipient, by virtue of being universal. Question is, is the gift supposed to be about recipient, or about the gift-giver? Super specific gifts are often about the latter.
- machina_ex_deus 4y ago
  Isn't wedding gift being cash the standard thing? Do you bring gift items to weddings? I always thought the standard of bringing cash to help them pay back for the cost of the event was standard everywhere. This is a Jewish thing? It kind of explains why weddings in Israel are so expensive, I heard it's almost cheaper to buy flight tickets to buy wedding dress in another country.
  - wccrawford 4y ago
    It's not the standard here. In person and in media, there's a table full of wrapped gifts for the bride and groom. While I'm sure nobody would turn down cash, they wouldn't feel as appreciative of it as something that was bought with them in mind. Especially things that they'll still have 20 or 50 years later, and it brings back a memory of their wedding.
  - matkoniecz 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

nonrandomstring 4y ago

This is one more very good reason not to indulge the insanity that is a "cashless society". If you let go of those government issued bills be sure that in no time at all you'll have nothing but fragmented, private "smart" currencies each hobbled with its own insidious restrictions.

tommiegannert 4y ago
Maybe. It's easy enough to send money to someone using the phone these days, so I'm not sure cashless would lead to gift cards here in Switzerland (or my native Sweden.) But I agree it's not a very fun package to open when it's just a promise to use Twint/Swish to transfer money. Oh, maybe the real use for gift cards is that the receiver can't haggle. "I know you wanted to give me $200, but how about we make that an even $500 instead?" :)
geysersam 4y ago
This doesn't seem right. Cashless usually means electronic currency equivalent to physical currency. Card payments are not gift cards.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  Whether the form is electronic or physical is irrelevant to my argument. If you read it again carefully you'll see that it's about state-backed versus private currencies. Don't let the technology dazzle you.
- rzzzt 4y ago
  In a way they are, the difference is that they have the issuer network and banks' reputation behind it and so the number of shops that accept it is not a singleton set.
amarant 4y ago
I mean, I don't really see that happening. Sweden is for all intents and purposes cashless these days, and I don't think we have more giftcards now than we did in the 90s when cash was commonplace. To clarify about the cashlessness of Sweden: cash still exists, and you can still get government printed bills, but many places have stopped accepting them, and these days whenever someone has non-foreign cash it becomes the topic of discussion: "why the hell do you have those?" Honestly I don't know that they're useful for anything except donating to homeless(and even they usually have swish these days) or buying illegal drugs
- grujicd 4y ago
  How do you give money to kids? Where I live if you're under 18 you can't get any kind of bank card.
  - amarant 4y ago
    I had a debit card when I was 14, but I think you can get one even sooner if your parents sign off in it. I think one of the reasons I didn't get a debit card sooner was because when I was a kid, cash was still relatively common (yes, I'm old - I remember using cash in Sweden!)
  - scarface74 4y ago
    My youngest (step)son had his own debit card through Bank of America when he was nine. We were on his account. He had his own login when he was 13.
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    In France, when I was a kid, there were some cards you could get that are usually for kids. They actually belong to the parents, and are attached to their accounts. I think it's also fairly limited in what amount you can pay, and doesn't draw from the main account but needs to be "topped-up". I've never had one, though, so I don't know the specifics. Apparently, BNP Paribas (one of the major local banks) now has a "teen offer", for people 12-17 yo. This seems to still be attached to the parents' account with the same bank, but the kids get to "manage" the account. https://mabanque.bnpparibas/fr/offre-ados https://mabanque.bnpparibas/fr/offre-ados

Jiro 4y ago

In order for a gift to serve its social function, it must be specifically matched to its recipient. Cash is not specifically matched to its recipient. (The exception is if there's some other social expectation that specifically says that the gift should be cash, like Jewish wedding gifts).

TeMPOraL 4y ago
> In order for a gift to serve its social function, it must be specifically matched to its recipient. That's tricky though. Often enough, people really don't know or think enough to match properly, which causes the gift to end up being offloaded somewhere else later, and/or breeds silent resentment. It's not just when people don't know what the recipient is interested in, but importantly, when they think they know, but don't understand that you shouldn't buy something related to someone's interest/hobby if you yourself aren't comparably proficient in it. > Cash is not specifically matched to its recipient. In some sense, it's maximally matched to every recipient, by virtue of being universal. Question is, is the gift supposed to be about recipient, or about the gift-giver? Super specific gifts are often about the latter.
machina_ex_deus 4y ago
Isn't wedding gift being cash the standard thing? Do you bring gift items to weddings? I always thought the standard of bringing cash to help them pay back for the cost of the event was standard everywhere. This is a Jewish thing? It kind of explains why weddings in Israel are so expensive, I heard it's almost cheaper to buy flight tickets to buy wedding dress in another country.
- wccrawford 4y ago
  It's not the standard here. In person and in media, there's a table full of wrapped gifts for the bride and groom. While I'm sure nobody would turn down cash, they wouldn't feel as appreciative of it as something that was bought with them in mind. Especially things that they'll still have 20 or 50 years later, and it brings back a memory of their wedding.
- matkoniecz 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]