"During the holidays, we have a lot of parents and grandparents who want to buy games as gifts, but they aren't quite sure which title would be the right one," said Dan DeMatteo, chief executive officer for GameStop. "By selecting a gift card, Gamestop can be assured that they will get the money no matter what, because giftcards are a scam, and they have the added bonus of knowing that they supported a company that can't just make a donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation because it's right."
Up to $100,000. That's pretty pathetic. I hope everyone realizes just how little money that is for a large corporation AND that Gamestop is using this to try and make more money. They should remove the limit.
You know, this kid actually achieves something through the act of creation that will be seen by thousands of people -- and a bunch of you douches can only make fun of her and the fact that she's dying.
You're simply pathetic. There is nothing funny about your comments - they're not witty, nor intelligent. You have achieved so little in your life that you have to pick on a 12yo dying girl to feel some level of achievement? wtf!
@jayntampa: Yeah. Pretty much. I can't say I agree with the kind of behavior, but people will do anything to seem cool on the internet. They'll then deny that's what they were doing, but everyone knows it. It's too bad, but that's how people are.
That's... absolutely adorable. I can't say I'm going to buy one for someone, gift cards after all are an evil practice. But the gesture is nice nonetheless.
@Killer Toilet: I meant gift cards in general. There's just a way of locking in your money to a specific store, and many stores bank on most of that gift card money never being used. It's usually just giving a store your money for nothing but a piece of plastic.
This is old news by now. There are some recent consumer protection stuff going about making it that gift cards no long expire. Like TheJinManCan said, they won't.
Still, it's the act of locking money to a store that feels rather silly to me. Remember when your grandma used to put 20 bucks in that little envelope with the Christmas card? That 20 bucks could be used for anything that 20 bucks could be spent on. Meanwhile a gift card is locked to a specific store and interest. There's rarely any incentive that makes a gift card advantageous to the receiver, and they're not at all a thoughtful gift.
@Psudonym: Don't know where you live, but the local government here banned stores from expiring gift cards (unless they're for a specific item) and can't charge handling fees (unless the gift card is for multiple stores, ie. a gift card for a shopping mall). One of the few things the local government got right...
@Psudonym: Your cited article suggests as many as 10% will not be used. You said "most," and that implies more than 50%. That is what I meant by hyperbolic. It is clear that you do not care for gift cards, but you are also mistaken to suggest that it is a thoughtless gift in all cases. In fact, it is certainly more thoughtful than your idea of placing a $20 bill in an envelope.
You'd be surprised. I used to work at Tower Records some years ago, and employees could buy items at 10% above store costs. Music CDs were like $5-7 in costs, games were $30-35.
@Grumpz®: Internet Guardian Angel®: A gift card isn't actually going to cost them $5. If you bought $5 in candy, it probably cost the store $2 for that candy.
@Woz: It really is the fact that it is a gift card which is big business for retailers for lots of reasons.
1) There are tons of accounting tricks you can play with them. When do you account for the income for tax purposes, when someone buys the card, or when they use them?
2) People don't just spend the amount on the card. You will spend more than 5$.
3)Interest free loans. They basically have your money, can do what they want with it, and you get the money back (your 5$) when you use the card. (Though this doesn't apply here since it looks to be "free" to the buyer.)
4)Lots of people simply don't use them. And in the case of bankruptcy they can also be devalued as it is just unsecured debt (I think Sharper Image did this/threatened to do this).
Kudos to Target for being creative in a bad economy.
If you don't know what they want, I would say buy a game from a physical store that you know they have nearby, and include a gift receipt. That way, they have the game that day of they want it, or they can take it back and it will essentially function as a gift card.
For me, there are only 2 or 3 people who would actually get me gifts that cost that much. For them I have a wishlist on Amazon which I will update if an occasion is approaching. I try to have enough stuff on there so they can pick and choose and still feel like they are surprising me. They've told me that they like it that way because they prefer it to wasting money on something I won't use.
I'd like gift cards, if they weren't in increments of 25, since the average game is around 60$, 50$ gets you just short, and 75 overshoots it leaving you with extra gift-cash I suppose. What's truly annoying is getting a gift card for a restaurant, also in an odd increment. Say 25$, when an average meal ranges from 7-10$(for me at least) depending on drink purchase, and occasionally over for some of the pricier stuff, leaving you with odds and ends.
I wish someone would get me a giftcard or cash. When you become "an adult" you have to buy your own gifts. I get my "Christmas presents" about a month before Christmas. Been playing them since Black Friday.
I have to admit that shopping for someone like myself would be a little stressful. My mom was going to get me GTAIV on PC (I had mentioned wanting it) but got worried because the system specs didn't specifically list vista support.
Console gamers would not be as hard to shop for, unless they're as freakishly political about their games as I am. If somebody got me guitar hero, a game I'm pretty activily against, I'd be a bit bothered.
11/25/09
"During the holidays, we have a lot of parents and grandparents who want to buy games as gifts, but they aren't quite sure which title would be the right one," said Dan DeMatteo, chief executive officer for GameStop. "By selecting a gift card, Gamestop can be assured that they will get the money no matter what, because giftcards are a scam, and they have the added bonus of knowing that they supported a company that can't just make a donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation because it's right."
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
It speaks so well of the gamer community.
11/25/09
11/25/09
You're simply pathetic. There is nothing funny about your comments - they're not witty, nor intelligent. You have achieved so little in your life that you have to pick on a 12yo dying girl to feel some level of achievement? wtf!
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
11/25/09
#speakup
11/25/09
But it's still better to see the game in your hands by someone else than buying it with fake money...
11/25/09
11/25/09
This is old news by now. There are some recent consumer protection stuff going about making it that gift cards no long expire. Like TheJinManCan said, they won't.
Still, it's the act of locking money to a store that feels rather silly to me. Remember when your grandma used to put 20 bucks in that little envelope with the Christmas card? That 20 bucks could be used for anything that 20 bucks could be spent on. Meanwhile a gift card is locked to a specific store and interest. There's rarely any incentive that makes a gift card advantageous to the receiver, and they're not at all a thoughtful gift.
#speakup
11/25/09
11/25/09
#speakup
04/17/09
04/16/09
04/16/09
You'd be surprised. I used to work at Tower Records some years ago, and employees could buy items at 10% above store costs. Music CDs were like $5-7 in costs, games were $30-35.
04/16/09
04/16/09
1) There are tons of accounting tricks you can play with them. When do you account for the income for tax purposes, when someone buys the card, or when they use them?
2) People don't just spend the amount on the card. You will spend more than 5$.
3)Interest free loans. They basically have your money, can do what they want with it, and you get the money back (your 5$) when you use the card. (Though this doesn't apply here since it looks to be "free" to the buyer.)
4)Lots of people simply don't use them. And in the case of bankruptcy they can also be devalued as it is just unsecured debt (I think Sharper Image did this/threatened to do this).
Kudos to Target for being creative in a bad economy.
12/30/08
For me, there are only 2 or 3 people who would actually get me gifts that cost that much. For them I have a wishlist on Amazon which I will update if an occasion is approaching. I try to have enough stuff on there so they can pick and choose and still feel like they are surprising me. They've told me that they like it that way because they prefer it to wasting money on something I won't use.
12/24/08
12/24/08
12/24/08
Console gamers would not be as hard to shop for, unless they're as freakishly political about their games as I am. If somebody got me guitar hero, a game I'm pretty activily against, I'd be a bit bothered.
12/24/08
If they made Steam gift cards, that would be perfect!