Cash Vs Gift Cards – Which Is A Better Last Minute Gift?
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Are you panicking about last-minute gifts?
While both gift cards and cash may seem like a cop-out, they make popular Christmas presents, especially for someone you know who already has everything.
Is one really better than the other? Let’s take a look.
Pros and Cons of Giving Gift Cards
What are the pros and cons of giving gift cards?
First, giving a gift card can help ensure that the person receiving it spends it on themselves. The problem with cash is that it can easily get swallowed up with spending on bills, other family members or essentials.
With lots of sales right after Christmas, they might even be able to bag themselves a bargain and get extra value.
For this to work though, you have to know the recipient pretty well. It has to be a gift card for a brand that they really love because there’s a reason there are over £300 million gift cards (source) that expire each year; they simply don’t get used.
While experience gifts are a lovely idea in theory, these can present the recipient with problems. For example, some experience gift cards can only be used at certain times or days, especially if they have been purchased as part of a special offer.
There could also be the need to find someone to look after the children or the organisation of transport to get there. This added mental load and cost can certainly taint the gift and you may find it doesn’t end up getting used unless it’s something that has specifically been requested.
Another option could be the ‘One for All’ type gift vouchers that can be spent at many shops, but of course, these could end up getting spent on someone else or not getting used at all.
I was also gifted some of these types of vouchers in the past and only one voucher could be used per transaction, which was frustrating.
One final thing to consider is whether the retailer in question could be about to go bust. A recent example would be that of Joules who went to administration just weeks before Christmas.
Thankfully they were saved by a buyout from clothing retailer Next, but gift vouchers may not have been accepted had this not happened.
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Pros and Cons of Giving Cash
One of the biggest negatives about giving cash is that people seem to think it’s impersonal, as though you couldn’t be bothered to think of what to get and went with the easiest option there was.
The other main drawback, and one I did mention above, is that it is easy for cash to just be spent on other things. Bills, food, school uniform, car repairs etc, rather than its intended purpose of allowing the recipient to treat themselves to something that they really want.
But, with the current cost of living crisis, is that really such a bad thing?
We don’t always know someone else’s exact circumstances and that Christmas cash could mean they don’t have to choose between eating and heating for a few weeks.
It could pay for new school shoes and give someone a few less sleepless nights.
And while I’m sure we’d all like to think we’d know if someone around us was struggling that much, often people are too proud or embarrassed to say so.
Another benefit of giving cash is that it can be spent anywhere. When we buy gift cards we tend to opt for high street chains, where we can easily pick up the vouchers from the supermarket without even needing to enter the store in question.
Cash might be spent at local businesses, shops, cafes and restaurants which in turn will benefit the local economy. While you could buy vouchers for specific small businesses there is always the chance they could close down so cash, once again, gives plenty of choices.
Finally, for those trying to be more minimalist cash can be spent on experiences rather than more stuff. Anything from plane tickets to art classes could be on the cards!
Which Should You Choose – Cash or Gift Cards?
Overall, it might seem like I’ve been pretty negative about gift vouchers here. I certainly think there are more cons than pros, especially at the moment when the financial climate in the U.K. is so unsteady.
If you absolutely do want to buy gift vouchers over cash, my recommendation would be to buy them for one of the big supermarkets.
These are unlikely to go under in the coming weeks or months meaning that won’t be an issue. If the recipient is struggling then it means they can choose to spend it on food and other essential items if they need to.
As most supermarkets sell clothes and shoes, these common needs are covered too.
Finally, it gives the option to use the gift voucher towards their weekly shop and then use the cash they’ve saved on something that they actually really want or need.
Everyone’s a winner.
