Info-Authority: Gift Certificates

A gift certificate is a form of money redeemable only at certain locations specified according to the terms of purchase. Gift certificates have a long history, having evolved from the practice of passing out scrip during the industrial revolution. Scrip was a widely used form of payment for services rendered that was not legal currency and could only be exchanged for goods at special company stores. Scrip was commonly used for payroll in logging and mining camps and other large communal workplaces, and allowed companies to make huge profits on marked up goods while helping to ensure the employee's dependency on the company itself. Today, scrip is no longer passed out for payment, but rather as gifts. The principle, however, remains much the same.

Using a Gift Certificate

Gift certificates themselves have taken the shape of gift cards, which are often still frequently referred to as gift certificates by force of habit. In card form, gift certificates are made of plastic. They are made in the same size and shape as credit cards in order to facilitate reading by credit card scanners. Some gift certificates possess a fixed amount at purchase, while others can have loaded in an amount specified by the customer. These can usually be “refilled” as the customer desires. All certificates made in card form, whether they are loaded before or after purchase, require a special electronic activation process in order to be useable; this protects against potential theft.

One issue surrounding gift certificates is the tendency for businesses to assign gift certificates an unexpected expiration date. The expiration period is usually specified at purchase, but with such fine print and vagueness that many customers are simply unaware of it, and are later unable to redeem their gift certificates, essentially defaulting the money to the retailer. This process is rarely a moneymaker for companies, as most states do not allow the retailer to retain the profit but rather require it to be turned over to the state treasury as abandoned property. However, some companies assign a “soft” expiration date, in which a gift certificate becomes progressively less valuable as time passes. This is considered by many to be an unfair and exploitative practice.

Implications of a Gift Certificate

Gift certificates are a curious cultural institution in that they possess little purpose in and of themselves. An individual having paid for a gift certificate has essentially traded currency with a universal application for that with a highly limited application, with no profit being made on his part. Gift certificates thus exist purely as a means for a person to demonstrate to another that he or she is aware of that person's commercial preferences—a strange service that could perhaps only be construed as desirable in a society as intensely capitalistic as the modern United States.

By Matthew Ingalls




	Gift Certificates A gift certificate is a form of money redeemable only at certain locations specified according to the terms of purchase. Gift certificates have a long history, having evolved from the practice of passing out scrip during the industrial revolution. Scrip was a widely used form of payment for services rendered that was not legal currency and could only be exchanged for goods at special company stores. Scrip was commonly used for payroll in logging and mining camps and other large communal workplaces, and allowed companies to make huge profits on marked up goods while helping to ensure the employee's dependency on the company itself. Today, scrip is no longer passed out for payment, but rather as gifts. The principle, however, remains much the same. Using a Gift Certificate Gift certificates themselves have taken the shape of gift cards, which are often still frequently referred to as gift certificates by force of habit. In card form, gift certificates are made of plastic. They are made in the same size and shape as credit cards in order to facilitate reading by credit card scanners. Some gift certificates possess a fixed amount at purchase, while others can have loaded in an amount specified by the customer. These can usually be “refilled” as the customer desires. All certificates made in card form, whether they are loaded before or after purchase, require a special electronic activation process in order to be useable; this protects against potential theft. One issue surrounding gift certificates is the tendency for businesses to assign gift certificates an unexpected expiration date. The expiration period is usually specified at purchase, but with such fine print and vagueness that many customers are simply unaware of it, and are later unable to redeem their gift certificates, essentially defaulting the money to the retailer. This process is rarely a moneymaker for companies, as most states do not allow the retailer to retain the profit but rather require it to be turned over to the state treasury as abandoned property. However, some companies assign a “soft” expiration date, in which a gift certificate becomes progressively less valuable as time passes. This is considered by many to be an unfair and exploitative practice. Implications of a Gift Certificate Gift certificates are a curious cultural institution in that they possess little purpose in and of themselves. An individual having paid for a gift certificate has essentially traded currency with a universal application for that with a highly limited application, with no profit being made on his part. Gift certificates thus exist purely as a means for a person to demonstrate to another that he or she is aware of that person's commercial preferences—a strange service that could perhaps only be construed as desirable in a society as intensely capitalistic as the modern United States. By Matthew Ingalls Related Links: Wikipedia - Scrip Wikipedia article on scrip / gift certificates.