Why Gift Cards Are the Best Gift [Updated]

Gift cards have a bad reputation. They’re lazy gifts. They’re thoughtless. It’s offensive. Nobody wants a gift card when they could get a gift.

But that couldn’t be farther from the truth!

No matter who you’re shopping for – close friends and family or new acquaintances and colleagues – gift cards can be a great solution for just about every occasion. Whether you forgot about your coworker’s birthday until the last minute or boss’s day snuck up on you, whether you’re at a loss of what to get for your teenage daughter or need a stocking stuffer for a young boy, gift cards make for an appropriate gift.

We’ll be going over all of the reasons why gift cards make such amazing gifts, including:

• Surveys indicated people want gift cards
• Gift cards can be used for a variety of purposes
• Customizing and sending gift cards is easier than ever

So let’s jump in!

1. Most people would prefer to get a gift card than anything else.

Many people seem to have an assumption that nobody wants to receive a gift card… but do you? Would you be happy to unwrap a Barnes & Noble gift card so that you can pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read, or maybe a GameStop gift card so that you can grab that new game that was just released on your favorite platform? If you answered yes, then a majority of American adults agree with you.

According to a study by the National Retail Foundation (NRF), 54% of people say that gift cards are the gift they would most like to receive. That means even more Americans have gift cards somewhere else on their list.

Getting a gift card means getting the people on your list what they want!

2. Gift cards support local businesses and the economy.

Supporting small businesses goes way beyond heading out to the shops on Small Business Saturday. With over 32 million independent stores battling retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, and more, surviving the competitive market can be a challenge for smaller stores. Luckily, there’s something you can do about it.

When you give a gift card to a local business, they get that cash up front. That means your favorite coffee shop can put it toward paying their baristas today, or that indie comic shop can bring in speakers to get more people in the door.

How much of a difference can a few measly gift cards make? Glad you asked. Gift cards are actually a huge market. Gift cards currently make up over $390 billion of value in the American marketplace, and that number is projected to climb to almost 900 billion by 2030. Imagine how much good that could do for independent stores and your local community!

3. The recipient can save your gift for a rainy day.

Gift giving holidays are lots of fun, but it can leave people a little bummed out after they’re over. So instead of just staying blue after the friends and family have gone home, the party food has been eaten, and the gifts have been unwrapped, the recipient of the gift card has something fun to look forward to when they pick out their gift!

4. There are so many ways to send a gift card.

Gift cards have come a long way from the plastic stand at the grocery store. Today, you also have the option of sending a gift card by email or even by text when you ditch the plastic and choose a GiftYa egift card. You can also create a URL for the gift to share however you’d like.

Plus, you can send your gift instantly or schedule it to be delivered at a later date and time. That makes it perfect for last-minute gifts that just slipped your mind or getting all of your holiday gifts scheduled well in advance!

5. There are so many ways to use a gift card.

GiftYa digital gift cards are also convenient for recipients to use because they can be redeemed in a variety of ways.

🎁 Activate to a Visa or Mastercard so that when they make purchases from the qualifying brand, the balance is automatically used until it’s gone. No more forgetting your gift card at home when you go to the store!

🎁 Use as an egift card like any other gift code. Use it directly from email or the GiftYa mobile app.

🎁 Send to bank account using Zelle. New! Just another way for recipients to use their GiftYa.

🎁 Swap for another merchant in just a few clicks. If for any reason they don’t love the merchant you picked, they can switch it for any of the thousands of local and national brands in the catalog – like Apple, Victoria’s Secret/PINK, Barnes & Noble, Nintendo eShop, and Omaha Steaks.

🎁 Regift to pay it forward easily and securely online.

6. You can customize a gift card to give it a personal touch.

Think gift cards feel impersonal? Think again! It’s easy to create a custom plastic gift card with Gift Card Granny’s build a card feature. Choose Visa or Mastercard, then get designing! You can choose from expert-created designs or upload a photo of your own, and a message, and even add a note with your message handwritten by the Granny team. Visa and Mastercard gift cards are accepted where their corresponding credit cards are accepted, which means your recipient can use them just about anywhere.

Not sold on the physical option? GiftYa also allows you to create a unique unwrapping experience for the digital gift you send. If you don’t like the default wrapper on the card, change it for a pre-made design or get creative and add your own! GiftYas can be wrapped in a photo or short video clip of your choice. Your recipient will peel back the wrapper to reveal the gift you sent.

7. Wrapping a gift card in a creative way also makes it feel more personal.

Just like jokes, strong delivery can make a good gift. When giving a physical gift card, you don’t have to tuck it into a greeting card or just hand over the cardboard sleeve the gift card came in. Learning how to wrap gift cards in fun, creative ways will take the whole present to the next level.

Create a gift card bouquet or Christmas tree depending on the season. You can also experiment with creating a gift card and cash pizza, tuck it into a wallet, or even wrap it in a balloon (or hide it in a whole bunch of balloons).

Going the digital route? Try wrapping your gift card using a video with GiftYa. They’ll love seeing the live photo of you together, your dog being silly, or whatever other video clip you add for a truly unique presentation.

8. Gift cards can save you from paying by card when you don’t want to.

More shopping means more risk for your credit or debit card. November and December especially see more card swipes than the rest of the year combined thanks to holiday shopping. The holiday shopping season also sees a rise in card skimming.

Not only can legitimate websites and stores be compromised by skimmers, malware operations that create fraudulent Google or social media ads or mimic popular stores’ websites can also put shoppers at risk.

A few ways to guard against credit card skimming?

• Avoid clicking on sponsored ads and instead go directly to the known retailer website
• Use a password manager and multi-factor authentication
• Keep an eye on financial statements for anything that looks amiss

Also? Consider bypassing using your credit or debit card for holiday shopping when you purchase a Visa or Mastercard gift card for yourself through a known vendor like Gift Card Granny or GiftYa. That way, your credit card itself will never be at risk, and the damage criminals can do is minimized.

9. Using gift cards can help chronic overspenders budget effectively.

Gift cards can also be a powerful budgeting tool, whether you want to make sure you don’t over do it on the charcuterie ingredients at the grocery store or ensure your teen doesn’t put $1,000 in junk on your Target card. Just buy a gift card for the maximum amount you’re willing to spend and leave your other cards at home. Budget maintained ✔️

10. Gift cards guarantee they’ll get something they love.

Some people are just tough to shop for. Maybe they’re someone who has everything. Maybe you just don’t know a lot about their interests. Whatever the case may be, a gift card puts the choice in their hands.

With a traditional gift card, you still run the risk of getting them a gift card for a brand they don’t love. Luckily with GiftYa, you don’t have to worry about that anymore! Because recipients can exchange their balance for any of the thousands of local and national vendors in the catalog in just a few clicks, you can rest assured they’ll end up with something the absolutely love. Plus, they also have the option of paying it forward and regifting their balance if they’d like. The choice is totally up to them.

Those are our top reasons why gift cards are the best gift!

Keeping all of this in mind, we think that it’s pretty clear that gift cards are some of the best gifts you can buy. After all, it’s what people want! And no wonder. Being able to choose when and what to buy, enjoying a fun wrapper, and supporting local business are just a few of the reasons we love gift cards so much – and why we sell them!

So no matter who you’re shopping for or what the occasion is, we hope you’ll consider giving a GiftYa! Drop us a line with any questions – we’re happy to help :)