Be careful of giving 'gift cards' this year . . .

Originally posted by Rockpuck
I bought a tree in Siberia, but after a dispute with Russian authorities as to whether or not I had the legal rights to any squirrels that may reside in said tree.

You are not the only one. Lots of people decided to keep electric lights in the closet this season and decorate the Christmas tree the cheaper and natural way.

reply to post by stander


Makes the room more lively and festive with the lil squirrels running around. Especially if you put lil elf suits and dresses on them! .. and train them to sing! .. or was that a chipmunk? .. Whatever.

Bottom line, if you get a gift card for a Siberian Tree, make sure you know your land usage rights, mineral rights, and rights to game!

Wow, I guess as usual, im in the minority.

I love gift cards!

All the places I buy gift cards from dont have fees or expirations. And I havent heard of any of my normal stores going under. *crossing fingers*

reply to post by greeneyedleo

I love gift cards too.
This one is from Siberia & Tunguska. They make chainsaws.

in our family we *ALWAYS* have a list at my parents house with everyones name and what they have requested as presents.

if for some reason we cant pick one of the items from their list we give them cash so they can spend it anywhere anytime they choose.

and you still dont know what your getting for xmas, since you supplied a whole bunch of ideas.

the best gift of all is to just have a sensible xmas with the family around and have a chat and some laughs over a drink or three.

Originally posted by nixie_nox


The greatest option of all? offer to donate to a charity of that persons choice. Or buy a tree in siberia or something.

That reminds me. I got everyone at ATS a Christmas gift. A donation in each of your names to "The Human Fund." Money for people!

I think that the Op is talking about people buying gift cards with credit cards that means that, this gift cards are not actually backed by anything but credit, that's a problem as is not actually cash involved.

If the person that bought the gift card decides to default on the credit card that he used to pay for the gift card we have a mess on toxic debt that will accumulate with useless gift cards that are still honored by the stores but they are losing anyway.

This whole toxic debt is the result of a nation living on revolving debt and credit.

So stores will actually look like making sells to later comeback to record loses.

Holy crap!!

Financial Times

The new General Counsel’s Opinion No. 8 addresses the issue of whether the funds underlying stored value cards and other nontraditional access mechanisms qualify as "deposits" as defined in the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
Under the new opinion, the funds will be “deposits” to the extent that the funds have been placed at an insured depository institution. Consequently, the funds will be subject to assessments. Also, the funds will be insured (up to the insurance limit).
In applying the insurance limit to a pooled custodial account, the FDIC will recognize the holders of the stored value cards (or other access mechanisms) as the owners of the deposits if the FDIC’s standard requirements for “pass-through” insurance coverage have been satisfied. Otherwise, the card distributor or other named accountholder will be recognized as the owner.

Freaking GIFT CARDS are now insured as deposits by the FDIC - up to the $250k limit!!!!
Seriously. Here is the Fed's definition of "stored value cards" and here is the report from the Fed. The important bit is down towards the bottom of the page where they say "Under the new opinion, all funds underlying stored value products will be treated as "deposits" to the extent that the funds have been placed at an insured depository institution."

So when retailers go bust, the FDIC will be there to cover any funds in gift cards and such because it's assumed that the retailer deposited the money you paid for the gift card into an insured bank. In other words - you buy your Mom a $50 gift card to Bath & Body Works, B&BW deposits that $50 into their bank account, and as such the gift card funds are insured.

No more need to be careful of giving gift cards this year.

Who's paying for this additional FDIC coverage, you may be asking?
Thanks to the bailout, it sure ain't banks. I guess that leaves only one group of people on the hook. You guess who that is.

[edit on 11/13/2008 by anachryon]

reply to post by Enigma Publius


I understand that. Not everyone is in that situation. I have seen towns that Wal-Mart have taken over and that is people's only option.

But not everyone is in that position. And you do have access to the net

A lot of retailers this year are going to be giving free shipping, I can gaurentee. And many will give free shipping over a certain amount. Even a smaller retailer is better then a big gun.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
reply to post by Enigma Publius

 

I think Walmart is one of the reasons that the economy doesn't do so well. The last thing we need is for everyone to spend at a store that uses child labor and imports cheap products from China.

I'd give you 1000000 stars if I could for that. I cringed when I read someone's advice to buy walmart gift cards. I feel like dying now.

One of the secret scams behind gift cards is the nickle and dime "change " that is left over from the purchases. The stores eventually get it back. Think of a company as large as Walmart.....that "change" adds up very fast. And when was the last time you bought anything from there that was Made In America ? Sam Walton's dream died when he did.