Thanks to all who voted in last week’s poll. As this press release shows, people waste time and money buying gifts that are ultimately returned or stuffed in a closet. I don’t want to sound greedy here because I truly appreciate the effort made by thoughtful gift-givers. It’s just that in this economy, when people are stretched for both time and money, I hate to see either resource go to waste.

What a Waste

We waste time and money several ways, such as:
- Time spent shopping for gifts that are ultimately returned
- Time spent standing in return lines
- Time spent looking for replacement items that may or may not cost the same amount
- Time spent online calling or cybershopping to find the given item in a better size or style
- Money spent but never recouped when a gift is returned without a receipt
- Money put on store credit that may never get used
- Money spent on shipping that isn’t refunded when an online purchase is returned

And the BIGGEST sin of all (in my opinion)

- Time and Money spent on gifts that are kept but will knowingly never be used.

I’m guilty of all of these crimes. Gift cards aren’t the perfect solution because a poorly selected gift card can be just as wasteful. But if you follow my 5 Steps to Better Gift Card Giving, you’re sure to save yourself time and money on the giving end and I’m betting that the recipient will do the same.

A Toast

So, here’s to gift cards, my friends. May we give them. May we receive them. May they afford us the chance to buy the things we really want or need without wasting so much time and money.

Jamba Juice is doing it right this holiday season. At participating locations, you can buy a $25 gift card and get a free smoothie. If you’re a Jamba Juice regular, buy the gift card for yourself and start slurping! If you’re going to give a Jamba Juice gift card, then this next offer is even better.

Gift with Purchase

As Kevin B at the San Ramon Jamba Juice explains, for $15, you get a 22 oz. Tumbler and a $5 Jamba Juice gift card. I love ths promotion because it follows my 5 Steps to Better Gift Card Giving. The gift card can be used at a variety of locations, is in a usable amount ($5 is plenty for Jamba Juice), and the recipient gets to “open something.” This would make a great gift for teachers, office staff, and others you want to give a small token to this holiday season.

Add a Personal Scoop

Make it even more personal by putting a list of your favorite smoothies or the “secret Jamba Juice menu” inside the tumbler. Have fun with it.

Savvy shoppers save money with gift card offers

With each holiday, I see an increasing number of bonus gift card offers. They go something like this: Buy a gift card for a specified dollar amount and get a lesser gift card for free. Savvy shoppers can take advantage of these incentives to save a few pennies.

For Example:

For example, my local Safeway is offering a $10 coupon on my next shopping trip if I buy $100 or more in Visa Gift Cards. Now, Visa gift cards typically have an activation fee. But if the activation fee is less than ten dollars, then I could earn a few bucks just by buying the gift card. But do I need a Visa gift card? Sure. Here is how you pocket a few dollars without buying unnecessarily.

Take Advantage:

• Buy a Visa gift card for your personal shopping–an upcoming vacation or just daily expenses. You’re spending the money anyway. Putting your money on the gift card first simply allows you to get the bonus groceries.
• Buy a Visa gift card to put kids on a budget. Got kids going off to college, in need of spending money, or wanting to do a little back to school shopping?  With a Visa gift card, they can shop anywhere they want, but have to stay within the limit of the funds on the gift card.
• Plan ahead and buy gifts early. Think about upcoming birthdays, weddings, or even holiday shopping. If you’re going to spend the money in the near future, might as well save on groceries while you’re at it.

Expiration Dates?

One word of caution is to check the expiration dates. Thanks to gift card laws changing in August, the gift card you buy will be good for at least five years so you don’t have to worry about shopping too early. But the bonus gift card (in this case coupon), is likely only to be good for a specified period of time. So check restrictions before you buy.

Think Ahead

If you’re buying more than one gift card, you might need to do it in separate transactions so you can get the bonus for each gift card purchased–rather than one bonus for the total number of gift cards you buy. Check with the cashier to see if there is limit so you don’t over strategize.

Gift card packaging used to be non-existent–just a stack of gift cards at the checkout counter. But with sneaky people doing stupid things, gift card manufacturers have had to get increasingly clever in packaging gift cards in ways that deter theft. I watched the above story on gift card fraud and wanted to share a few more words of caution. The news piece accurately says to inspect any gift card before purchase, but doesn’t really say what to look for. Here is my advice:

What to look for:

• On paper packaging such as what is shown in the American Express example above, check for the paper to be ripped, torn, glued, or otherwise disturbed in some way. Are any corners lifted or bent? Does the gift card holder feel thicker than the one next to it?
• On plastic packaging, like the two-part plastic gift card that the cashier has to break in the middle in order to swipe the magnetic stripe, check that the plastic is unbroken and the stripe hasn’t been tampered with in any way.
• Check the PIN scratch-off area. One way to steal the value of your gift card is for the thief to use the gift card online without actually taking the plastic. But it can’t be done without the PIN number. So be sure all scratch-off areas on the back of the gift card are in tact.
• Watch the cashier’s handling of the gift card the entire time and ask to have the card as soon as it is activated–just to be sure there’s no swapping. Sometimes gift card errors occur accidentally. For example, if two gift cards are stuck together, the cashier might activate one and hand you the other.
• Keep the activation receipt. If anything does happen, this record will help you prove your side of the story. Give the receipt to the recipient as well so he or she can offer proof of the card’s value in case there is a question.
• Pick from the middle of the stack. Gift card fraud has to be premeditated. The thief has to get the card data, lie in wait for you to activate the card, then use the card’s value before you do. Cards on the front of the stack are more likely to be the ones criminals are waiting for you to activate.

It’s a shame we even have to have this conversation. Gift card fraud is nothing compared to credit card fraud in which thousands of dollars can be spent before you even notice it, but I can’t afford to lose even 20 dollars, nor do I want to give someone a gift only to discover the balance is zero. 

So my advice is not to be paranoid, but to simply be cautious.

With the kids home for summer, my once quiet work-from-home mornings have turned into a swirl of Legos, Wii games, flying Nerf balls, flying Legos, and a constant barrage of tattle-taling (You don’t want to know about my new threat, ominously called, “The Tattle-Tale Treatment.”). I can barely remember what day of the week it is, much less get anything done. And just when I feel guilty about that, I remember that it’s summer–my kids are old enough to remember the days we share, and young enough to still want to share them with me. What a treasure.

Another Treasure

So today, I shook my head in shame and then threw my arms into a double fist pump when I found an unused movie theater gift card tacked to the bulletin board in my office. ME, the one who spends her days obsessing about gift cards, forgot I had one. Unacceptable!

Then the self-loathing mixed with euphoria turned to anxiety as I wondered if the unused gift card would still be usable. On the back of the gift card, I found a web address on which to check the balance. Thankfully, I still had $21 to spend at the movies. (Back to the fist pumping!)

No More Worries

The good news – as of August 22, 2010, gift card laws are changing in a way that you’re less likely to feel anxious about unused gift cards. The new law says that gift cards can’t expire in less than five years and you can’t be dinged a non-use fee for at least a year. Most importantly, in my opinion, terms such as these must be clearly specified on the card before purchase. No more wondering.

So if I ever find another unused gift card in my possession, I won’t have to worry or wonder about whether or not I can still use it.

Now, my friends…Shrek 3, Toy Story 3, or Karate Kid? Any help here?

Sorry happy girl, Visa gift card not accepted.

One of the reasons I love gift cards is because they’re convenient. But twice this week, a Visa gift card experience was anything but convenient. And that’s not okay. We need to talk.

First, my girlfriend went to Lucky Supermarket to do her regular shopping and to buy a $100 Visa gift card. But when she got to the register, the cashier told her she had to pay for the Visa gift card with cash. Drats! Though the policy is designed to prevent fraud, it turned my friend’s convenient errand into a big hassle. She had to get back in the car and drag her kids to the bank. When she stopped at Walgreen’s on the way back to Lucky, however, she discovered that she could buy a Visa gift card there without cash. So she did. That’s lost business for Lucky and lost time for Suzanne.

Second, my daughter tried to use a Visa gift card yesterday at Costco. She’d been saving and saving for an iPod Touch and finally hit her mark when we saw the coveted item on sale. But her “money” included a Visa gift card. When we got to the register, however, the Costco cashier told us that only AMEX gift cards are good at Costco. Drats! I’d been the tough guy for months making her earn this extravagance. I didn’t have the heart to pull the ripcord on her big moment. So I bought the Visa gift card from her so she could complete the purchase using my debit card.

So Visa, I get that it’s not really you. Store policies made life for two busy moms a little difficult. But the situation involves you. I’ll be hesitant to give or use a Visa gift card if the experience can’t be made more predictable. So help me help you. Where and how can Visa gift cards be purchased? And where can they be redeemed predictably?

Let’s talk…