Pre-Paid Gift Card

[VEX]

Its my dad birthday and my brother and I always struggle.

So I've had an idea.

If we get him a prepaid gift card backed by Visa or Barclaycard, then he can buy what ever he wants and we can top it up over the year for him.

We are not big value givers and a family so we are only talking £100 or so every 6months.

Any ideas on where to look?

[malks222]

could you consider just setting him up with a ‘revolut’ card? simple to transfer money to, check balances etc….. works basically like a bank card, all controlled via the app.

[Greshamst]

Crazy idea here, but have you ever considered just giving him cash?

Might be the simple solution to your problems…

[steveo3002]

they get stuck in a drawer and forgot about /lost

cash is always nice..

[chip*]

One4all card?
We buy them for the school prefects, as they can be used across most High Street stores and more, but I am unsure if you top up though.

Personally, my preference is always cash.

[anonymous-user]

steveo3002 said:

they get stuck in a drawer and forgot about /lost

cash is always nice..

100% this, plus it is really annoying when you finally dig them out, go to the shop you never normally shop at, find something you don't really want just to use it, only to be told "This card expired last year"

Shops love gift cards, I wonder what percentage of them are never redeemed.

[VEX]

That's why I dont want an out and out gift card.

A pre-paid debit card would be better, There are a couple of things he likes to buy, football tickets for example, but he doesnt go often enough for a season ticket.

[steveo3002]

whats wrong with cash?

why are folk so upset about giving cash? never goes out of date (sort of) can save or spend it how he chooses , add some if need be

[VEX]

Because some of the stuff he wants / buys is on-line subscriptions for his Ancestry / Family Tree research.

And it just easier to buy his footy tickets on-line rather than travel 10miles in to town to get them. He is retired so its not like he passes every day or even once a week.

[Jamescrs]

I have been given the One4all type cards in the past and I have found them awkward to use in some stores, I recall trying to use one in a Sainsburys and it caused some head scratching by the staff to the point where personally i'd rather just not be given one.

I was once given an Amazon gift card as well which for whatever reason was not activated properly and when I contacted Amazon they told me to go back to the store, which is great but it was a gift and I didn't want the person who had given it to me to feel bad so i wrote it off, which annoyed me not because of the value particularly but I just hated it was money wasted.

I'm not a fan of gift cards personally, would rather people just didn't bother and just sent a birthday card as I also think they are very impersonal.

[Greshamst]

VEX said:

Because some of the stuff he wants / buys is on-line subscriptions for his Ancestry / Family Tree research.

And it just easier to buy his footy tickets on-line rather than travel 10miles in to town to get them. He is retired so its not like he passes every day or even once a week.

I know it’s not very sentimental, but just send him a card saying “I’ve transferred £50 into your bank account so you can buy yourself some football tickets”.

Why make things harder than they need to be?

[Simpo Two]

VEX said:

Its my dad birthday....

...we are only talking £100 or so every 6months.

I'm not sure if having two birthdays a year is good or bad

Your solution sounds a bit like book tokens. Have you considered asking him what he would actually like for his birthday?



ETA Why is this in Finance? Maybe we need a forum for birthday presents.

[Seanseansean]

VEX said:

Because some of the stuff he wants / buys is on-line subscriptions for his Ancestry / Family Tree research.

And it just easier to buy his footy tickets on-line rather than travel 10miles in to town to get them. He is retired so its not like he passes every day or even once a week.

Crazy idea.
Give him cash, if he wants to buy something online. He can put it into his account at the bank or even any post office, even the small ones at your local corner shop.