Gift cards remain a popular choice when it comes to gifting and don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
The Mercator Advisory Group forecasts $15 billion to be spent on prepaid cards in 2019.
Furthermore, gift cards remain among the topmost requested holiday item, more than a decade running. It’s again the No. 1 requested item in 2019, at 59%, according to the National Retail Foundation annual Holiday Consumer Survey. Sixty-seven percent of women surveyed said they wanted gift cards, while men were slightly less, with 50% asking for them.
Pros of gift cards are that the recipient can get something they will actually use and appreciate; they are compact if you have family traveling for the holidays and there’s the double-gift effect from the recipient receiving the gift card itself and then again when they spend it.
Cons of gift cards are that they can be viewed as impersonal and even though the card lets the recipient buy what they want, it has to be able to be used at a retailer they enjoy.
It can also cause the recipient to spend money of their own that they weren’t planning on if the gift card isn’t enough to cover the cost at that retailer.
So to make the most of your prepaid card gifting, take a look at what the top cards are for this year.
To identify the year’s best gift cards, WalletHub compared the cards affiliated with the country’s 100 largest retailers in five categories that speak to their appeal and overall value. Each gift card was scored on a 100-point scale, with 100 representing the best option.
The top ten were:
1.Target
2.Walmart
3.Sephora
4.eBay
5.Home Depot
6.Ikea
7.iTunes
8.Starbucks
9.Costco
10.Chick-Fil-A
Six of the top-ranked cards were among the most frequently searched for cards online. Those were Target (No. 4), Walmart (No. 3), Sephora (No. 10), eBay (No. 9), iTunes (No. 5)and Starbucks (No. 6). The other most searched cards were No. 1 Amazon, No. 2 Visa, No. 7 American Express and No. 8 Disney.
If the recipient doesn’t like the card, Costco and Walmart have the highest resale of cards, an average of about $84 for a $100 card.
Of course, WalletHub’s ranking only looks at 100 large retailers, not the many places you could get a card. But you might be able to compare those national retailers to smaller competitors.
Target’s top spot in the best gift card ranking might translate to a gift card to a boutique clothing or home goods store. (Clothes are the No. 2 most requested gift for 2019 in the NRF survey.)
Instead of Walmart, perhaps a grocery store gift card. Everybody’s got to eat, right?
Instead of getting books, music or DVDs with an Amazon gift card, perhaps your recipient would rather have a gift certificate to their local performing arts center or bookstore.
With the growing popularity of gift cards, as long as you put a bit of thought into which to pick, you’ll probably be making someone’s day merry and bright.