When the holiday season arrives and gifts are exchanged within families and friend groups, gift cards cause trouble. Gift cards are the perfect gift, yet people don’t know the art of giving them. Every year, thousands of people commit gift card abuse.

Gift cards are extremely thoughtful because they are nice enough to give the receiver the option to get whatever they choose within the amount on the card. The problem lies within the amount of the gift card and where the gift card is to. In some cases, the gift card is to a place that the person does not like, or it does not offer the appropriate amount for the person to spend. If you give somebody a $20.00 gift card to Footlocker, what are they going to buy? They can only buy something by taking money out of their own pocket and using it with the gift card. That gift card is basically just forcing someone to spend money on their own gift. That is not how you do it.

Something more appropriate would be either a gift card worth more or a gift card to somewhere like Dunkin Donuts, where they cannot only use the gift card without their own money, but they can also get many uses out of it. Gift cards are fantastic, but only when used correctly, and too often they are not. It is the worst feeling to get a gift card for some place you either do not like to shop at, or a gift card that can only used by you spending more money.

As for a suitable gift, a $25.00 gift card to a movie theatre is an awesome choice. This amount of money can get you into two movies, and might even leave a few dollars for a snack. Not only is it great for the person receiving the gift card, but it is also perfect for the person buying it because it is not too expensive and you know the person will enjoy and use it. However, if you bought a $25.00 gift card to Staples for a kid, it leaves them with a most-likely-to-be re-gifted gift.

The point is, please do some research before you go buy a gift card for someone and really put some thought into it. Together, we can put an end to gift card abuse.