Gift Cards Worthless
Remember that gift card you received for Christmas last year? You may want to rush out and use it. If you have considered buying a gift card for someone, you might want to think twice.
Sharper Image Corp SHRPQ.PK filed for bankruptcy protection in February of 2008 and put itself up for sale in April. After announcing the bankruptcy filing, they stopped honoring gift cards. Customers were stuck with cards that had $50 and up on the cards and they could not use them. Sharper Image eventually modified their policy to require that any purchases using a gift card require purchase to be at least twice the value of the gift card.
Well isn't that nice. You get a $250 gift card and all you have to do is spend $500 to use it. Clearly that wasn't the spirit in which the card was purchased. So why do we care about the Sharper Image gift card policy? Many stores such as Kroger and Sears want you to give them your Tax Rebate checks. To entice you, they are offering to give you a 10% boost when you purchase a gift card.
Would you risk putting $1200 on a gift card for Sears or any other retailer when you can't be sure they will honor it? Now they have your money and they will require you to spend it ALL with them. What happens if they change the rules of the gift card and now require you to spend more than the value of the card? There is also the possibility that if you don't spend it soon enough the card administrator will begin to charge you a monthly "maintenance fee" which will rob you of your money slowly. If the retailer goes bankrupt before you can use the full $1200 you could be out your entire rebate.
If you really want to increase the purchasing power of your tax rebate, do not buy a gift card. Instead, go to www.iejustlisted.net and start looking for your next home. Your $1200 investment in a home will return benefits long into the future.