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

£10 might have been a lot to that person. Gifts, by definition, are:

Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation

That means, if we give, we do not expect to receive. If we do, we didn't give a gift to anyone but ourselves.

No matter the monetary value, someone took time out of their day to show they were thinking of you.

I don't know what is wrong with the world. Very selfish, entitled attitudes around gift giving and misplaced expectations.

OP - YABU, IMO.

I wouldn't mind a £10 gift voucher as long as it was somewhere I would choose to shop (book shop, M&S, supermarket etc). I've heard those one 4 all are a pain though. In theory, you could say let's not bother with presents anymore now we're older and just send birthday cards.

The OPs voucher can be spent in Waterstones or the shop formerly known as WH Smith, the latter is showing plenty of paperbacks for £5 so you could get a couple of those or likely a nice cookbook for £10.

A lot of M&S groceries are very well priced, £10 could pay for a few things, freeing up £10 of grocery money to spend anywhere.

Obviously the OP needs to travel, but she hasn't said she never leaves her rural area, she must go to places where they have shops sometimes.

Brilliant post, made me laugh.
I like the jigsaw idea. @😀

I think you're being silly and a bit spoilt.

£10 will get you a nice treat, there's nothing wrong with it. There are lots of shops you can order online with it. A book from Waterstones, some chocs from M&S, a bubble bath from Argos?

Generally, I think OP is being a bit ungrateful about £10.

However, as a gift giver, her sister should have made enough effort to get her a voucher for somewhere she knows the OP likes.

use it online for bubble bath or make up. Why do you have to go out to the shops?

”eyesore” on your coffee table!!

This has given me such a laugh 🤣

You’re coming across as ungrateful and mean.

Use it, don’t use it. But no need to feel so resentful about it.

I didn’t get anything from my sister this year and the year before she bought me a self help book lol. I don’t mind though. I’ve been telling her not to bother for years and she finally listened. I usually spend a lot on her as she’s a single mother and rarely gets presents from anyone.

I don't think you've worded this all that well..

Ten quid these days does not go very far, and ten quid in the form of a voucher that is notoriously difficult to use on line, accepted at not that many places you may want to shop... is a pain in the arse more than it is a gift. If that were my sister, I'd rather just have a nice card and she keep the tenner (or she just give me a bloody tenner!).

Can you offer it back to her and say it just isn't valid at the shops you'd visit, online and you'd rather she have it back than it go to waste? I think a lot of people get these vouchers not realising how bloody impossible they can be to spend if you really only shop online and don't buy the sorts of things the places that do accept them, sell.

Going against the grain here but I've voted you are not being unreasonable. I have a relative who is in the exact same financial position as me (not well off) and she always sends me a £10 Next voucher, whereas I always send her £20 as, after delivery costs, there is not much you can buy for about 6 quid from Next. I've got so fed up of it that I've told her we should just send cards on birthdays etc as everyone is hard up these days.

I think your rather ungrateful

Lots of scammed sell gift cards that then don't work so OP may struggle to find a buyer

This👆

I would hate a bath bomb. Surely you can just stick it in your purse and use it next time you’re in town?

Bring it to boots and buy your shampoo or shower gel

Good Lord! The ingratitude.

Because if she uses it online she'll almost certainly have to pay postage. Unless you know somewhere that accepts the voucher that will deliver a tenners worth of bubble bath etc and neither charge for postage or hide the cost of delivery in the items she buys?

£10 gift voucher is fine. Any One For All voucher is a pita.

Bloody hell. So ungrateful.

First world problems. Seriously, listen to yourself.

My uncle gives a £10 one4all gift card every bday and Christmas . I dont mind at all as I just use to top up on things like shampoo / shower gel at boots

On another note I had a £15 gift card for Harvey Nicks once now that was bloody useless you can’t get anything worth having at that amount. I ended up putting a lot extra to get something I could have bought in Boots. A Boots gift card would have been more appropriate

I think you sound ungrateful but equally I hate One4All gift cards with a vengeance.