Gift cards - they suck, folks. I don't get the point of gift cards as a standalone gift for someone. Like, if someone gets me a $25 gift card and I get them a $25 gift card then what the fuck was the point?? We're comfortably sitting at a net zero exchange, we could've just kept our cash and been better off. All we've done at that point is limit where we can spend our money to a single location. If you bought one of those Visa Vanilla cards, congratulations you just paid an activation fee to give them money, but wooptiedoo they can spend it whereverrrrrr. W H Y?
To make matters worse, there were about $3 B I L L I O N in unused gift cards last year. That's recorded as breakage revenue after enough time has lapsed to get the liability off the balance sheet too. That's free fucking revenue that no one provided services or goods for. W H Y A R E W E D O I N G T H I S?
WHAT'S THE FUCKING POINT? THEY'RE JUST SO VAPID AND MEANINGLESS, I CAN'T FUCKING STAND IT. OH MY GOD.
THIS. IT JUST FEELS SO HOLLOW AND DEVOID OF MEANING.
The belated corporate gift of writing off the gift card liability on their balance sheet, I guess. They're literally just a fucking scam to leech unused money out of people too embarrassed or forgetful to use two payment methods for one transaction if their gift card balance doesn't cover the full cost of the transaction. You see it all the time and I know we have been there too. At least if someone gives me cash I can stash it away for a rainy date or a date or y'know something meaningful or useful.