To think a £10 gift card is pointless

[AcornConker]

I’ve been given a £10 gift card for my birthday by my sibling. It’s a bit upsetting as I took her on a day out to York for her birthday and spent quite a bit treating her but she’s not got much money so I can’t expect much.

But I’m finding it impossible to use. It’s a One4All gift card and none of the online retailers that accept it interest me. I live rurally and to go into a city or town centre where I could use it would cost me a lot in public transport costs. If it was £20+ it may have been worth it but £10 seems a comical amount and I almost wish she hadn’t bothered. It’s become a chore and a bit of an eyesore sat on my coffee table.

I’ve also recently come into financial difficulty myself and the pressure to use the gift card before it expires is putting pressure on me as to buy anything these days for £10 is impossible and I’ll have to put in my own money as well which I can’t do. I can’t even buy a bloody book with it.

AIBU to think that voucher gifts for an adult should be £20 minimum. If giving less then just give cash! Also for the value of £10 I’d have much rather have had a nice bath bomb or something like that, I feel I’ve been given a chore instead

How miserable, post it to the food bank if you really can't use it or keep it in your bag until next time you are in town anyway.

There’s a one 4 all app. You can upload the card on there and spend it that way.. I get it, those cards are a pain. I normally have to go out my way to use them - primark, marks and boots all take them.

Depending on where you can spend it you could get a book or a couple of coffees or a cake when you're next near a shop or even some shampoo. Can it go towards a supermarket shop or meal? I get it when siblings don't make much effort but you've said she doesn't have much money so YABU. There will be someone who can use it.

Put it in a cupboard and stop looking at it

How ungrateful can you be!
You have said that your sibling doesn't have much money. I would be grateful.
If this is genuine then you are fucking harsh.

If you, or anyone else, really can't use a gift card could you post it to, say, a women's refuge - they could buy toiletries with it, for example - they are always in need of toiletries. One4All can definitely be used in Boots.

I have no idea what your last sentence is trying to say, sorry. We're not talking about me.

But if you want to, I've been on the bones of my backside and used £1.50 worth of Clubcard vouchers to make a meal, stayed up into the early hours of the morning completing surveys to scrape together enough to order a meal on uber eats with the points I gained. So I'm more than aware of what having nothing looks like.

Of course if I have nothing and have a £10 gift card I genuinely couldn't use it would be disappointing, but this is not one of those situations. If she's not got money for food, she could use this £10 on 2 meal deals in boots next time she's in town and be 2 lunches better off than she was (for example).

Alternatively, if the idea of having a gift card you can't use & can't remove from your coffee table, is so stressful - yes, throw it in the bin to relieve the stress. If you can't use it, holding onto it isn't helping is it.

But you’re not £10 up unless you can spend it easily. It doesn’t sound like OP is near to any of the places she can spend it. If you have to order online you can discount £3-4 on delivery charges in most places. So then your left with job of finding something that you want for £6-7 instead.

Yes, you can wait to spend it till you’re next passing a shop but if that’s not for another 3, 6, 9….however many months it’s not a gift your going to be excited about.

Throwing it away is incredibly wasteful and yes you can always find something to spend it on and there have been some reasonable suggestions. But realistically a birthday present is supposed to be a treat to the recipient and how many people that think she’s ungrateful would be happy if someone bought them essential toiletries, a kids toy to save them buying one next time their child gets invited to a party or a pair of pants etc for their next birthday.

This has got me worried now. Just bought my sister (who is well paid) a £10 Amazon voucher for her birthday. It's all I can afford as I'm already on the bones of my arse. In fact, the purchase of said voucher means I've just reached the limit on my overdraft. Oh well...my motto is half an apple is better than no apple..

Can I have it please 🤣🤣

What a lovely idea 💡

You could re gift it to your sibling at Christmas 😅

Yabu dont confuse money with love

I'd bet that that gift card is a re-gift. Workplaces use shite like One4All.

I didn't say she was £10 up. I said if she can't use it she's no worse off...

And no, she's not necessarily near them in her house. Clearly it's not worth making a special trip for, no. But I can't buy the idea that in 18 months she won't be in the proximity of somewhere she could spend it.

And even if she isn't and she doesn't use it, it's no different to someone buying you a jumper for xmas and you don't like it & don't wear it. Mildly disappointing perhaps but hardly stressful. You'd donate it, bin it or shelve it and not give it a second thought.

You're being unrasonable moaning about receiving anything at all from your financially struggling sibling.

You are not being unreasonable about complaining about getting a gift card that can't be spent just anywhere.

So it’s not so bizarre to be disappointed to get a gift card that you either can’t use (online you cant top up with a different payment card so £10 needs to pay for your item and shipping) or you have to spend money (for bus fare to get to town in your example) to use.

Well if you can’t think how to spend it and it is an eyesore sitting on your coffee table then you need to get a bit creative.

give it away to a friend

leave it in a bus shelter for someone else to find and enjoy

offer it to a food bank / church

cut it up and turn it into a simple jigsaw

put it in a time capsule with a note explaining why

send it to David Attenborough and say Happy Birthday

Keep in your car to scrape off windscreen frost when the winter comes

return it to your sister with a full explanation

frame it and hang it on your wall as a symbol of the unfairness of someone trying to do a kind thing for you

glue a magnet on the back and use it as a fridge magnet

Brilliant 👏

I feel for you, not because of the amount, but because the One4All cards are more pain than they are worth to redeem

You should be able to use it to buy a gift card o line for one of the shops, I have done that before. Then not as much of a rush to spend it. I've done that with one of their gift cards before

I appreciate funds are tight for you OP, but are you really saying you won't go into a town centre for 18 months. Keep it for something you genuinely need in the future. If not, you can use somewhere like Boots for a treat, toiletries, healthcare, meal deal or snacks.

I'm always grateful for a gift, that is the way I was brought up

You can use it online- do you not do any online shopping at all?

It can be used in loads of shops.

Next time you do some online shopping get £10 off.

Jesus. How ungrateful.