To Give or Not to Give a Gift Card: When Is It Acceptable?
There once was a time when gift cards were frowned upon and deemed thoughtless, lazy, impersonal, even tacky. To give a prepaid certificate instead of a tangible object beautifully wrapped up in box and red ribbon? Unheard of.
As we move further into the 2020s—a time when the gifting world has become oversaturated and new interests are being discovered by the day (we're looking at you, pickleball!)—the task of shopping for those hard-to-please loved ones is trickier than ever. Throw in the combination of our busy lives and a December full of back-to-back parties to the mix, who even has the time anymore?
Maybe over-thinking and spending hours scrolling through the internet and driving store to store, searching for "The One," isn't the way to go about gifting anymore? (After all, new surveys do reveal that Gen Z prefer gift cards over investment presents). Maybe bestowing a gift certificate related to your giftee's interests and hobbies is the preferred method, after all? Think about it: For the recipient, a gift card is the perfect present because they get to choose what they want and when they want it; while for the buyer, it's a hassle-free way to send your love to a family member or friend.
Now, with the festive season finally upon us, we ponder: Is a gift card finally the answer to all our gifting dilemmas? We tapped etiquette expert Myka Meier to settle the debate once and for all.
Are gift cards an acceptable present?
Gift cards are slowly but surely losing their reputation as being lazy presents, and according to Meier, giving a gift certificate is acceptable for most occasions these days. "Ten years ago it wasn't so much," she says, "but now it's very commonplace."
There are a few caveats, though.
Firstly, it all comes down to the presentation. "Never just give a gift card," Meier says. "It's about the delivery and matching it with the formality of the occasion, and that would determine if it's appropriate or not." She recommends giving one with a card, floral arrangement, or bottle of champagne with a card and handwritten note.
Equally as important: Ensuring the gift card is from a place or site you know your giftee likes. "Make sure that wherever you're gifting the person, you know for a fact they like that store," she adds. "Or if it's a restaurant, make sure it's convenient for that one that they like. To choose your favorite place isn't necessarily the greatest option. It's somewhere they regularly shop."
Meier also notes that with clothing stores, especially, a gift card might actually be the preferred present option. "Clothing can be offensive if you pick the wrong sizing," she explains, so if you just buy a gift card and package it with a bouquet of flowers and handwritten note, you can't go wrong.
As for weddings? Meier recommends avoiding weddings altogether. "I would never just give a gift card or even put it in an envelope," she explains. "I want [to give] something more intimate, unless it was a gift card on the registry."
Let's talk gift card minimum.
It's all dependent on who your recipient is and the amount you're comfortable giving. You might want to give $50 to a colleague for Secret Santa, while $200 to your sister. But as Meier points out, if you do choose to go the gift card route, "you want to make sure the amount you're giving is appropriate for the store you're giving them the gift card to."
"If you're giving a gift card to Williams Sonoma, for example, then $50 can buy quite a few things," Meier continues. "But if you are giving them a $50 gift card to Bergdorf Goodman, you're probably not going to allow them to buy anything."
This becomes especially important if you'r buying a gift card to a restaurant. "That's one thing that I've seen before where people give gift cards to restaurants, but it's not even enough for cocktails at some restaurants in New York," says Meier. "It holds [the recipient] captive to use the $50 gift card at a restaurant where the minimum bill for a meal is going to be $200. So that would be an example of what you wouldn't want to do."
Should I disclose the amount to the giftee?
Absolutely—but in a discreet way. "It's an inconvenience for somebody to have to go through the process of calling the number to see what's on the gift card," says Meier. "If you were gifting cash in an envelope, people would see how much you gifted them. You want to give some indication of what the amount is."
So what would Meier recommend? Jotting the amount on the back of the card or the paper slip some gift cards come with.
Meier says another way you can go about is by specifying the experience instead of the amount. She uses the example of buying a gift card from a spa: "You might say, 'This is a gift card to your favorite studio for a full 2-hour massage, fully covered with gratuity, instead of saying, 'This is for $300.'"
The key here is being subtle.
Cash vs gift cards: What's more thoughtful?
Cash is king, or so they say—so one could make the argument that giving money is more thoughtful than a gift card, right? Not to mention, according to a 2021 report from Credit Summit summarized by CNN Business, almost two-thirds of Americans had a whopping $21 billion of unused gift cards.
But there is also something to be said about being given a gift a loved one invested in. Anyone can gift cash, but it's also important to remember it's not always appropriate to give every person on your list money. Giving cash to a relative might be warmly welcomed and well received, but Meier advises steering clear of gifting it to some people, like a colleague or a child's teacher: "They could lose their job for that, but they can receive a gift card."
If you do prefer to gift cash to your recipient, Meier recommends doing it in the form a gift card, like a Visa or American Express, because it is something tangible.
What about e-gift cards?
It's 2023. We get it, people are going to want to take the easy way out and email a gift card, otherwise known as an e-gift card. But just because we live in a modern world, doesn't mean it's totally OK.
"If you're buying a gift card, you need to add some level of thought and effort," says Meier. "It could look like you just really didn't care enough to go through the motions to give [a gift] and it also could get lost in their junk mail."
There is, however, another side of the argument: If you choose to ship out a physical gift card, you run a higher risk of losing it in the mail and losing the money you spent on it altogether. It's a lose-lose for both parties.
"That's the bonus of email," says Meier, "but it seems less thoughtful."
The Bottom Line
A gift card can be thoughtless and impersonal if you're going about it the wrong way. While a physical item is always preferred, the key to making a gift card a worthwhile holiday present is by keeping your loved one's interests, hobbies, and tastes in mind—in addition to how you deliver it.
"Generally speaking, gift cards are fine to give as a gift," says Meier. "If you know somebody loves a store or restaurant, there's nothing wrong with giving a gift card. It's not as personal, but it still is, at the end of the day, perfectly acceptable."
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