A credit card is a card to say “these people will pay you and I’ll owe them money”

With a gift card, you’re choosing items that have already been paid for, the company already got the money and you’re just picking out what you want to buy with it

  • Michal
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    13 hours ago

    I guess it’s easier to write off if you’re employer as you can get an invoice for giftcard. Also sometimes shops will offer you a gift card uf you’re returning something outside of the customary time period of 30 days, but it’s better than not being able to return.

    What’s vile is gift cards with expiry date which I cant believe is legal, even in the EU!

  • bklyn@piefed.social
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    17 hours ago

    Gift cards say, “I could have just given you cash, but I wasn’t considerate enough to also give the freedom to buy what you want. I have therefore restricted you to store of my choosing, for if I cared at all about you, I’d actually have been able to buy a suitable gift myself.”

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        They’re also great for the people in your life who you know are too practical to buy themselves something nice with gifted cash

        • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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          7 hours ago

          can confirm. every time i get a gift card I’m as annoyed that I can’t use it for rent as I am excited to be “forced” to get myself a goddamn fancy coffee or whatever

          that being said when I was truly desperate in college I did used to sell them online using various exchanges. i usually got $0.70 on the dollar which wasn’t terrible

  • melfie@lemy.lol
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    1 day ago

    It’s considered tacky to just give people cash, but that would honestly be a better practice.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      If you can pay your statement balance on time, then there is no “+ extra money”.

      ~That is often much easier said than done.~

      • Michal
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        13 hours ago

        It’s easy, my bank automatically pays off my cc monthly from my current account. Isn’t it standard?

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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          6 hours ago

          I guess it depends on what you call it. I’ve seen creditors that have autopay features that can draft it from your bank accounts each month. Usually those are for your minimum payment, which usually stretch out your balance for up to 30 years (to maximize interest charges).

          I personally don’t like autopay. It’s an old habit from back when I would overdraft my checking on the regular because I always spent more than I made. Nowadays, I think it’s because I like the responsibility/control of paying my bills manually, and on my terms.

      • TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        If you pay your bills on time, you can take advantage of that. You can think of it as a tiny discount, but the credit card company thinks of you as dead weight.

        However, those companies also have clever mathematicians who have figured out how much to give you back and how much interest to demand from the people who don’t pay their bills on time. The house always wins.

        • dogdeanafternoon@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          The house wins as a whole, sure.

          But on an individual level, if you are smart about it you’ll spend less than you would with other payment methods.