In defense of the gift card
It’s no secret that gift-giving is hard. You rack your brain trying to come up with the perfect gift. Should you get them a sweater? A funny gag gift? A pony?
If you’re sick of stressing over what to buy your family and friends, we have a solution for you — gift cards.
Now hear us out. It’s time to bust some myths about gift cards.
We're putting our foot down— no more gift card slander on our watch!
Myth #1: Gift cards are thoughtless
Naysayers will claim that giving gift cards as gifts is a lazy, unsentimental option, but we disagree.
In fact, gifting someone a gift card can be an incredibly thoughtful gift. You’re acknowledging that you might not know exactly what would make the recipient happy, but you still want them to have something they’ll love — on you.
You care more about your gift recipient getting something that will make their life better than advertising how original and creative you are with your gift-giving. It’s about them, not you, and isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
*On cue, a Hallmark movie starts to play in the background*
Myth #2: Gift cards make the worst gifts
Think of all the times someone gifted you something that just wasn’t to your taste. It likely sat around collecting dust in your house until you could finally admit you were never going to use it. At that point, you probably either regifted the item to someone else (passing the cursed object down the line, perhaps?) or just donated or trashed it.
And people would have you believe that’s a preferable scenario to giving someone a gift card that will let them buy something they actually want? We don’t buy it (pun intended).
(yawn) These gift card myths are putting us to sleep...
Myth #3: Nobody uses gift cards
Now this one is simply ridiculous. While it is true that a lot of people have unused gift cards, even more people use their gift cards! If you give someone a gift card to a store they like, there’s no reason to think that the card won’t get put to good use.
Honestly, what’s more likely to get used — a gift card or the random item you pick out in a panic because you don’t know what to get someone? The answer’s pretty clear.
And with inflation still alarmingly high, a smart gift card can help your gift recipient absorb higher prices on the things they want. Budgets are tight, but gift cards loosen them up a little. Gift cards are more valuable than ever in an economy like this one. After all, they’re free money. Who wouldn’t like that?
Gift cards for the win
Don’t let the Scrooge in your life try to talk you out of giving gift cards this holiday season. Keep your head high and hand out those gift cards like you’re Oprah. Bonus: you won't get tangled up in wrapping paper and tape.
Day dreaming about all the gift cards Santa might bring this year