Would you give a kid a gift certificate?
Find a Conversation
| Sat, 11-20-2004 - 9:48am |
In the attempt to keep YOUR gift giving costs under control at holiday time, would you give a kid (yours or someone else's) a gift certificate as their whole gift? ....Or do you think kids should have something more than that to open up and see under the tree? (or do YOU want to see more under the tree?)
Do you think a kid would appreciate a $25.00 gift certificate to a toy/media store, or do you think that they are going to be disappointed? (disappointed it wasn't an immediate gift? Disappointed it wasn't for more money? Do you think you should give tiny kids more than a gift cert?) How important is the store or mall the gift cert came from?
Do you think that a kid would be able to handle dealing with a very large gift cert in place of a tree full of gifts? Do you think parents should be in charge of a kid's large gift cert?
Do you still think a gift cert is still a distateful gift in general?
Littlesbigs

I think there are times when a giftcard is the best possible present. I give gift cards to Barnes & Noble to my children's teachers, for example, because teachers are always reading and buying books, and they seem to appreciate it much more than tschotschkes or things to eat.
My kids LOVE getting giftcards, especially to bookstores. It gives them all the fun of shopping, which they don't usually get with me, and they get to pick out just what they want. It's a nice gift for grandparents to give, since they can't spend long hours trudging around shopping. DH and I give giftcards to Gap and Old Navy to his teenaged nieces and nephews (WHY are we still giving these kids presents is another issue!) since we would never buy the "right" stuff but we know they'd shop at those stores. There's no point at all in giving a giftcard if it won't be used.
I would not give one to my own child, at least not at their current ages (12, almost-10, and 4) because we know what they want. And they are young enough to still want to unwrap presents and know that someone picked it out just for them.
Kelly
I probably wouldn't give a gift certificate to a child of my own (if I had one). But for nieces, nephews, kids of friends, etc. I think they're great for around age 10 or older. I still have a memory of how cool I felt when I got to go to McDonalds and use the gift certificates someone gave me for Christmas one year, and that was about 25 years ago!
If it's a child you live close to, you can make it more special by including a homemade coupon for a "date" when you will take the child to the store to pick out their gift (instead of their parents taking them). That way they will have a memory of a special experience with you in addition to the new toy, book, or whatever.
You can also wrap up the gift certificate creatively so that it's still something fun to unwrap under the tree, not just an envelope. Maybe put the certificate in a small wrapped box, put the small box in a bigger box, wrap that and put it in a still bigger box and wrap that. My family used to do all kinds of trick wrapping, trying to keep gifts from being easily found out.
That is exactly how I received my first gift certificate when I was little.....wrapped up in several different boxes! I really enjoyed "spending" those McDonald's dollars later that week.
Now that I am grown, I almost always get gift certificates when I buy a gift. I live very far away from friends and family, so even though we are emotionally close, I have no idea what they might need/want/use in their homes or wardrobes. Plus, I hate the thought of wasting my money on useless gifts. I want them to have exactly what they want.
A great website is www.giftcertificates.com. You can buy GCs from tons of stores, or you can get a super-GC and the recipient can choose their own store. Pretty cool.
By the way, I think gift certificates are good for kids because they can learn about spending money with a limit!
I agree with all that is said but I even say age 7 & up for Gift Certificates, probably because I know my 7 year old would *love* to go shopping with his very own money type of thing and buy whatever he could afford with it.
He would get it (but then again he likes money in general - not for spending type thing but loves those state quarters and is good in math, money is just math to him, so he likes looking at all the prices and calculating stuff out, although Mr. Precise, when something is $9.99 and I just say "that's $10" he tells me I'm wrong and it's $9.99!! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)....Hmmm....then again maybe that's a bad idea, I'd never get out of the store with him doing all this math stuff to calculate it all out.
I don't think my 4 year old would appreciate it very much, he would want something physical to play with, have right then and there under the tree.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis
LOL about the McDonald's g/c! I still remember when I was 19, and in college (the first time, lol), my aunt gave me a $5 book of McD's gift certificates. That was one of the best gifts I received that year-free dinner! Can't beat that.
I think it depends on the kid as to whether I'd give a g/c as a gift. For my older nephews, I don't have a problem with it. It's a lot easier than trying to find The Perfect Gift, and I know they'll love the card (mainly because I ask them where they want it from, lol). I also have given our kids g/c's because they enjoy spending the money on whatever they want. It also forces them to really really think about what it is that they want, because they know that what they have is what they have. It's interesting to see what they buy, that's for sure.
I like gift cards, sort of. There comes a point where it's hard for me to spend them (especially in barnes & noble)because I look at it as 'free money'. "Well, I can buy THIS book, or I can buy THIS one. Which one would I rather get for 'free'? And which one can I get at my library for free???? AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!" (really, this is truly what happens. Drives DH nuts, ROFL!!!)
So, yes, I'm all for gift cards, especially now, when I'm back in school and don't have lots of free time for searching out that 'perfect' something.
Lisa :)