Different Types of Gift Cards: Check Them Out Now

Want to surprise your loved ones and make them happy and cheerful? Send a gift card to them and they will be thrilled to receive it. Amid this pandemic, we are all separated from our friends and families, we can’t meet them in person but surely we can send them gifts to make their day. One should prefer eGift card over physical gifts as there is a chance of transmission of the virus during these crucial times. 

The process of sending a gift card is very simple. One has to select a gift card selling website, load money in the card, add a personalized message and send it to the respective person via email or a text message. Your recipient will redeem the gift card at a store for which you have sent the gift card. 

There are different types of gift cards available. You need to know about them to select the right one for your recipient. 

Read on to know the types.

Single store gift cards

As the name suggests, these cards can be used at a single store only. So, if you know the likes of the recipient, where they usually do the shopping and which stores they visit often, you can go with this card option. Let’s say your recipient is a coffee lover and visits Starbucks often or loves to do online shopping on Amazon frequently, you can send them a Starbucks gift card or from Amazon.

Your recipients can spend the gift card money at the respective stores by entering the card number mentioned on the gift card. These cards don’t have any activation fees associated with them so you don’t have to spend anything extra on them. 

Make sure you check the validity period of the gift card mentioned on the website from where you purchase the gift card. Usually, the period needs to be more than 6 months so your recipient gets enough time to use the money. 

The only cons of these gift cards is that you have to be very specific about the stores. Once the gift card has been purchased for a specific store, the recipient has no choice, they have to shop there even if they don’t want to, and so this card option doesn’t provide flexibility. 

Multi-store gift cards

A flexible option for your recipient – this gift card provides a wide range of different stores to shop from. Multi-store gift cards include different stores which are listed on the website from which you purchase the card. Check out the different stores included and select one that comprises the stores that your recipient would like to shop from. 

The recipient can spend the money at different stores too as it is not mandatory to spend it on a single store. For example, your recipient can shop at a fashion store, eat at a restaurant, go for a haircut at a salon – all using the multi-store gift card (provided you have sent them enough money :)) Isn’t this great?

Look for the terms and conditions mentioned on the gift card selling website for this type of card and also have a look at the validity period. 

Visa/MasterCard gift cards

We all use visa and mastercard gift cards in our day-to-day lives and do a lot of shopping with them. These payment cards are accepted on almost every store online or offline. These gift cards can be redeemed on any store that accepts Visa and MasterCard so there are a wide range of options to choose from for your recipient. 

These cards do have an expiration date so if the money is not used before the expiration period, it will get wasted. Though one can extend the validity of the card, it may cost some extra bucks. There is also an activation fee for these cards so you need to pay some extra amount while purchasing them. 

Physical gift cards

Want to make the gift card experience more alluring for your recipient? Better, send a physical gift card which will totally surprise them when they receive it at their doorstep in person. All the process of buying and sending the gift card will be similar to the egift card. It is not advisable to go with physical cards amid this pandemic so prefer egift cards over them. 

Want to purchase a gift card for your loved ones?

You can select a store, load money in the card and send it to your recipient via email or a text message. Just spend some time looking at the various options on the website, pick a suitable one and send an eGift card to your loved ones today!