Community Chat

[Tinkrbl44]

@cuddlesmama

Hmm.   The only gift cards I've bought in the past couple years were Ulta and a couple grocery store cards ... and none of them had an additional fee attached to it.

[Plaid Pants2]

@Tinkrbl44

Regular store gift cards such as Ulta, etc. don't have added fees attached to them.

It gift cards that have the MasterCard or Visa logo on the gift card that have the added fees.

[Sooner]

I bought Visa gift cards at the bank and at CVS and I think they were all $4.  I give that because people can spend them anywhere and some people I'm not sure what they want.  They were all $25 cards.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

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@aoldgirl wrote:

Maybe I'm old fashion, but, why not just send money?  

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@aoldgirlFor one thing, it's very unsafe to send cash through the mail.  A dishonest letter carrier could steal it or someone can rob a mailbox.  In the event that it would happen, it's just gone.  With a gift card, assuming the purchaser keeps the receipt with the card number on it, if it gets lost or stolen with money still on it, it can be replaced.

[newagain888888]

Then, as @Deeva noted, store issued cards become worthless if that store closes. I had several high amount gift cards from Linens N’ Things that were worth no more than the plastic itself when that store folded. The cards were so decoratively pretty, I kept them in my wallet long after the loss hoping that somehow they might be good again one day. Nope. The cash value was gone forever.

[meallen616]

WOW, I remember when the fee was 5.00!

[Krimpette]

I usually stick to Amazon gift cards, or Target or Kohl's.   No fees on any of them.

[songbird]

Just being picky, picky for using the the word there instead of their.  

[Tribesters]

I don’t buy them because of the fee. At least that fee is paid up front. DH received a gift card last year for $100. It wasn’t a store card but some sort of MasterCard/Visa card. He went to use it & it was declined. When we checked into it the card had been purchased several months before Xmas. The fine print said there was a monthly fee every month. So by the time he went to use it in February it was down to around $70. I called & complained. I went to NYS attorney general website & it said it was illegal to do this to gift cards in NY state. The company pretty much refused to do anything about it. So read the fine print before you buy gift cards...