This is not the year for gift cards or easy returns.
Tis the season to be buying gifts... but buyer beware. Remember that a few major retailers have filed bankruptcy, or either are going out of business or are in danger of going out of business because festive season sales are expected to be down. This impacts you and I in two ways. First, gift cards are probably not the best gift idea right now. There have been retailers recently who stopped accepting gift cards as they went out of business. Yes, I know we have a tendency to think of those cards as cash... but they are not cash, they are credit, and credit can be lost when a company goes belly-up. So imagine your little niece/nephew going in to buy their new video game, only to be told that their gift card is worth nothing. This is not going to make you look good and it may break their hearts.
Similarly, the second part is returns. Some folks I've known will buy something that they know the other person likely may not/does not want, on the assumption, "Well, they can always take it back." Well, if the retailer goes bust, maybe not.
I think this is the year to take a little more care on those gifts. Take the extra time to find out what folks really want. Or give cash. My two cents.
There is a strong argument that gift cards are not the best gift anyway, with a substantial amount of people never cashing them in, and most that do generally having to spend more than the value of the card. No wonder Consumer Reports calls gift cards "the gift that keeps on taking."
If you receive a gift card then you may want to use it as soon as possible. Retail bankruptcy filings tend to peak in January, so there's little time after December gift exchanges. You can also consider selling cards to services like GiftCardRescue.com. And if you do have to buy someone a gift card, look into guaranteed solutions, like Leverage.
Similarly, the second part is returns. Some folks I've known will buy something that they know the other person likely may not/does not want, on the assumption, "Well, they can always take it back." Well, if the retailer goes bust, maybe not.
I think this is the year to take a little more care on those gifts. Take the extra time to find out what folks really want. Or give cash. My two cents.
There is a strong argument that gift cards are not the best gift anyway, with a substantial amount of people never cashing them in, and most that do generally having to spend more than the value of the card. No wonder Consumer Reports calls gift cards "the gift that keeps on taking."
If you receive a gift card then you may want to use it as soon as possible. Retail bankruptcy filings tend to peak in January, so there's little time after December gift exchanges. You can also consider selling cards to services like GiftCardRescue.com. And if you do have to buy someone a gift card, look into guaranteed solutions, like Leverage.