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

"she’s not got much money so I can’t expect much"

Yet here you are still moaning about the kindness and generosity shown 🙄

@Coconutter24i know, I posted that and realised it was completely pointless!

Ahh I see lol. I was confused as to the benefit of it

I don't know what you mean - do I have people who love me? Yes of course I do - do I want them to buy me gifts - no I don't. I buy me the best stuff to suit me - I don't need other people to try to guess what I want, they get it wrong and that does not bring me joy and it's a waste of their time and money. Gift vouchers are a poor form of cash - why the hell would I need someone to give me that - my friend who does it says I get to buy something guilt free - but I don't feel the guilt - I buy what I want/need. I have told her this but she doesn't listen! I don't understand grown women exchanging gifts - it feels so juvenile. Buy your own stuff!

These cards have at least 12 months on them so just save it until you out and about next time.
I think you are upset because you made an effort for her birthday whereas your gift feels so thoughtless but if she has real money problems you should let it go - it’s probably a very difficult time for your sister.

I don’t think this post is real - the eyesore bit gave it away. Too much

Be thankful that this very very minor thing is what you are worrying about in life. Mind blowing

£10 is fine for a gift but YANBU about the One4All card, I have found them almost impossible to spend online as you can’t use them for part payment. You can use for part payment in a shop. There are lots of brands pictured on the card OP but there are even more brands you can use if you look on the One4All website. I have just used one in store at Boots, if nothing else you could use it for basics such as toothpaste/ deodorant if you have a Boots store near by.

I hate one4all vouchers. The balance seems to start depleting from the day of purchase, and anywhere that has their own vouchers doesn't take them. I dont think you are ungrateful or annoyed about the value, just the mode of giving.

What an odd post.

It's as though you want to slam your sister for being too stingy, but you're shying away from that and blame the retailers instead.

Personally, I think gift cards are usually a bad idea, except to total strangers.

Thank you for saying what I was thinking!

I think YANBU OP

I don’t like All4One type gift cards as you can’t use the towards the price of something, the thing you’re buying has to be exactly the amount of the voucher or less.

So what you end up doing is buying something that costs less than the voucher and never spending the remainder - thus the company that sells these vouchers makes that bit extra money!

Wrong thread

I agree really, it’s not that you can’t do anything at all with it, I just think it’s a bit thoughtless. If people are struggling financially (and I get that - I’m not that well off myself) I think a better idea is something like a bottle of wine, some nice chocolates, a nice notebook, etc. If you look for things that are on offer you can usually find something that is normally more expensive so appears to be a nicer present. Even home baking would be a more thoughtful gift.

A chore and an eyesore. Jesus. I hope I never meet you. Your poor sibling.

It depends on the type of gift card.

One4all cards can’t be used as part payment online so YANBU, it’s hard to find something under/exactly £10 so some of it ends up being wasted, I had the same issue.

YABU about all gift cards though. I would really appreciate a £10 gift card for somewhere I use regularly EG. Amazon.

It’s the sort of thing you’d use to put towards something I suppose and the one4all one sounds pretty good because at least it isn’t for one store you’re not keen on or only a select few. You can use those for your food shopping even. I’d also be inclined to use it in Waterstones if it were me.

Oh I didn’t realise this, that makes it sound quite useless! It says you can use them in Sainsbury’s and Tesco, I guess you could buy a tenner worth of stuff and use that then check the rest of your shopping out after.

OP, please message me and I'll send you an envelope with a stamp on to post it to me, so it's not an eyesore any more.

I didn’t know either and I have gifted them to people in the past, I wouldn’t now but they don’t make it obvious.

If you are buying something in person you can use it towards the total amount just not online, doesn’t help if you’re not going near one of the shops although I’m sure most people would before it expired (I didn’t realise they could be used in some supermarkets).

Boots accepts them so order a new lipstick on line or some nice soap?

Just keep it in your bag for the next time you’re in the city and it’ll come off something you want.

Most paperback books are 7.99 so you can buy a book.

Those type of vouchers are very difficult to spend. If you don't spend them quickly enough they start to rapidly reduce in value and you can't use them as part-payment online. If my sibling bought one for me with their last tenner I'd be really frustrated too since I'd feel I needed to spend it otherwise the sibling has wasted their money, but practically speaking spending it is itself a huge pain.

OP - the trick is to go online and buy a real voucher with it (e.g., M&S) then you can hang onto it until you want to buy something, they last years. Also, if you buy a real gift voucher with it you can use this gift voucher to part pay for something online if you want to put it towards a more expensive item.

Give your head a wobble please….. you could always use the gift card as part payment for something or just not use it at all.