More on Gift Cards

James Hanley on Dec 29th 2008

Following up on the interesting discussion of what is the best form of gift, here is a snippet from Marginal Revolution about the resale value of gift cards. 

On the secondary market, a $100 Brooks Brothers gift card is worth $90 but a $100 Home Depot card is worth $95.

The percentages that this reseller pays the original recipient for various types of cards is very interesting. They’ll pay 80% of the original value for Target and WalMart cards, only 65% for Abercrombie & Fitch and Barnes & Noble (and Borders), and only 55% for Eddie Bauer.

In summary, a gift card to WalMart is a better gift than a gift card to Eddie Bauer. The depressing part is that bookstore gift cards are so heavily discounted.

 

Filed in The Basement

5 Responses to “More on Gift Cards”

  1. # Mark Olsonon 29 Dec 2008 at 2:16 pm

    What/where is this secondary market?

  2. # Mark Olsonon 29 Dec 2008 at 2:18 pm

    Sorry, you linked it, I hadn’t noticed where it went.

  3. # Stones Cry Out - If they keep silent… » Things Heard: e47v2on 30 Dec 2008 at 9:34 am

    [...] Depressing for him, opportunity for the rest of us. [...]

  4. # Eric Alan Isaacsonon 30 Dec 2008 at 6:09 pm

    “In summary, a gift card to WalMart is a better gift than a gift card to Eddie Bauer.”

    And cash is better than either.

  5. # James Hanleyon 30 Dec 2008 at 7:22 pm

    E. A. Isaacson,

    Check out the discussion on that point between DAR and myself on the original post. The pros and cons of cash are hashed out, I think, quite thoroughly.

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