Gift cards suck, just give cash

Mashable’s series Don’t @ Me takes unpopular opinions and backs them up with… reasons. We all have our ways, but we may just convince you to change yours. And if not, chill.

Supply chain issues plaguing the lead up to the holiday season have payment services predicting that gift cards will make up a good portion of this year’s presents. Purchases of gift cards also saw a surge last year, as COVID-19 warded shoppers away from stores and apparently toward bad gift ideas.

The spirit of giving is nice and all, but this trend needs to die. Gift cards are just less useful money that expires, and it’s high time we stopped using them. Just hand over the cash.

Despite their popularity, gift cards are an inherently flawed proposition. The very nature of a freely given gift demands that it come with no strings attached, allowing your recipient to enjoy it as they see fit. But gift cards are tangled in strings, binding your giftee to a preselected vendor and imposing a deadline on their transaction.

A gift card’s value is also rarely utilised satisfactorily. Either your recipient purchases something within the card’s limit, leaving a few extra dollars for your sponsored corporation to claim, or they surpass the limit and have to supplement it with their own money, which is cash they otherwise wouldn’t have spent. Gift card users reportedly spend an average of 40 percent more than the value of the card, making it less of a gift and more of a subsidy.

And none of this is to mention the environmental impact of physical gift cards, billions of which are made from difficult-to-recycle PVC plastic.

Gift cards are a failure of society on all levels, a controlling evil, and must be abolished. Fortunately, we already know what should fill their absence: cold hard cash.

“But Amanda,” you may say, obstinately clutching your collection of $5 Starbucks cards to your chest. “Without gift cards cordoning off funds for frivolous spending, the gift will simply assimilate into my savings, or go toward dull, pedestrian expenses like the water bill!”

Firstly, don’t blame the versatility of cash for your inability to value yourself. Secondly, while gift cards do prompt people to buy items, this isn’t because these objects are desired, enjoyed, or even useful. Gift card purchases are driven purely by the wretched drive to use the allotted funds before they expire, lest the card lie forgotten until no longer viable. They’re a burden that must be addressed, or a disappointing mausoleum of joys never had. Either way, these cards come preloaded with stress.

In contrast, pure cash is eternal — or as close to eternal as we have on our current mortal plane. Cash can be spent immediately, or stashed for when you need it. It can buy you something small, or it can be put toward expensive items you’ve been saving for. It can purchase luxuries, or it can fund something essential. And if cash ever becomes worthless, then we’ll probably have bigger things to worry about than unused birthday presents.

A monetary gift makes no assumptions about a person’s desires, needs, or financial situation, entrusting the giftee to know where and how to apply the gift so it will most benefit them. Maybe they would enjoy the security of more wiggle room in their budget after paying the bills. Maybe they’d like to splurge a bit on groceries and get the fancy sausages. Maybe they do just want to spend it all at Bed Bath & Beyond. But that’s a decision they get to make.

The cash could even end up giving the giftee a boost when they need it. Imagine how soulbreaking it would be to receive a $30 Arby’s gift card when you’re $30 short on rent.

Of course, some well-meaning people still believe that cash isn’t an appropriate gift. It shows no thoughtfulness, personalisation, or consideration of what the individual giftee may enjoy. It’s a cold transaction rather than a loving celebration.

To this I say: Do Asian children not lose their tiny gourds when given red packets on Lunar New Year? Do newlyweds not appreciate extra funds to help them start their lives together? Slipping cash into a fancy envelope is more than enough to make it special, and has been for decades. And nobody presented with a few crisp $50 bills secretly wishes they’d been given a thoughtful gift card.

See also: Best gifts under $50: 70+ ideas for absolutely everyone

If you’re truly concerned you could simply decorate the envelope yourself. Adding a funny drawing or heartfelt message would mean worlds more than a plastic gift card grabbed during your weekly grocery run. While a gift card may inherently demonstrate some shallow thought, it’s only enough to highlight the inadequacy of your offering: “I wanted to get you a gift, but only have a vague idea of what you’d like. Still, I don’t trust you to spend the money yourself, so I will present you with something that is deeply unsatisfying to all parties involved.”

Gift cards are a restrictive mechanism that exists purely to facilitate halfhearted displays of consideration from the giver, regardless of the inconvenience to the recipient. The only feeble instance where a gift card may be acceptable is when both you and your recipient strongly believe in supporting a struggling small business, in which case you should probably just patronise it together.

I don’t begrudge anyone who has presented a retiring colleague with a gift card. You were merely obeying the nonsensical corporate conventions imposed upon all of us, as much a victim to the cogs of capitalism as anyone. But there is a better way forward, if we would all just have the courage to accept it. Just leave the money and go.