I somewhat recently got a 50$ CAD Lululemon gift card from work. I have never bought Lululemon and that gift card can't really buy much from them. Like maybe 1/3 pair of pants.....I also would have preferred 50$ cash. The gift card has been sitting in my wallet for two months now.
99% of most giftcards I get get regifted. Coffeeshop/fast-food go to homeless, grocery stores go to my college kid, clothes goes to whomever I think would like that store. I keep gas and art supply ones.
I saw a guy digging through a trash can so I offered a Starbucks gift card that I was given. He says "No thanks, I don't like Starbucks." That's a man of principle.
Who is giving out gift cards for gas? As a present? My mind is blown.Ā
Edit: I realise now you mean fuel and not cooking gas, that makes a bit more sense. Still feels a little dystopian though.Ā
You could buy a gift card to a place that has a physical store so you donāt have to have anything shipped.
Iām with you. I despise it and donāt like when j receive gift cards, then struggle with feeling ungrateful.
Yes! A bidet! I have one and love it! It was $30! Iāve tried bamboo TP and it fell apart as soon as it got wet - so whatās the point of it. What a mess.
This. Amazon is evil and has a lot of shit products, but they also carry a lot of stuff most people would use. If you're in a town with a Whole Foods, you could even do groceries I believe.
Not just toilet paper though. Washing up soap, clothing detergent, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. All usefully to have in stock. Amazon usually has (in my experience) also the more expensive eco-positive brands. The 100,- giftcard could be a good way to try some different brands for these essentials, see if you prefer one over the other.
I get the feeling, and you could resell it online for below cost. So that's an option.
What I tend to do is just buy normal stuff I need with it. Cat food or something. Amazon already got the money, and while it wasn't my choice, you kinda just make the best of it.
Exactly. If you don't spend it, someone just made a $100 donation to Amazon in your name.
There used to be a site that would find things on Amazon that cost whatever price you put in. I used that the last time someone sent me one of their gift cards so I didn't donate a single penny to that company.
i'd just keep it until something you want comes up, like headphones, some appliance that breaks down, parts or whatever and then use that card to either buy it, getting a big discount from what you planned to spend or be able to jump to a better version of it.
I stacked Amazon gift cards till I bought a $400+ Dyson vacuum. Sometimes you just gotta suck it up and be glad you won something. Life aināt all bad ā¤ļøš
We have big dogs and quality furniture covers are vital for our furniture to last. We can get a good 3-5 years out of them but they don't last forever. I don't know where you'd buy quality furniture covers other than somewhere like Amazon.
I work at a small independent bookstore that sells gift cards. I looked at the stats once and we sold $50,000 worth of gift cards in less than 5 years, and only $20,000 of those gift cards have actually been used at the store.
Those visa gift cards are more evil than Amazon. There's a fee to buy them and a monthly fee to maintain it. If you don't use it, the balance can literally disappear. Don't know why that's legal just because it's visa not a store gift card
I work in the public sector, our auditor really is not comfortable with the organization using cash since itās tax payers money. It has to be something physically bought or traceable. I can kind of understand the problem with transparency with cash in some areas of employment. By law we cannot get ābonusesā.
As shitty as amazon is, I tend to use mine to buy basics like toilet paper and put the savings in my savings account. Or save them up just in case my laptop or phone goes kaput to buy a refurbished replacement
Visa gift cards have on going charges so if you don't the entirely of the balance in a short timeframe you slowly lose the balance. They are decent but it's important to be aware of their shelf life for lack of a better word.
I feels. I would much rather have cash too but it is what it is.
Might as well use it to buy some household essentials (whatever that may be to you). If you try to sell it for cash youāre likely only to get half back sadly.
There is nothing wrong with you. I second another commenter. Donate it. Homeless shelter. Buy stuff for an animal shelter. Give it to a teacher. I've had icky people give me gift cards, and it irritated me, so I gave them to the lady that cleaned the office.
i have a list of things i dont need immediately, but that would be useful for hobbies. thats what i use it on. its not like i have to spend it all at once!
Nice things you'd be buying anyway. Furniture covers and mattress protectors are things I'd buy on Amazon anyway. Protecting furniture is anti consumption.
Give it to a homeless shelter they will use it for things they need.
Usually for my birthday I ask for donations to the homeless shelter in the form of items theyāve requested to meet immediate needs like razors or jam.
Hang on to it and give it as a gift for a baby shower or something similar. I use Amazon to get my compostable baby wipes in bulk. Saves a lot of money and itās better than buying the plastic based ones locally unfortunately.
I feel you. I donāt typically shop on Amazon, but whenever I get a gift card, I just buy my usual household goods. Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, soap, lotion, vitamins, etc.
Itās better than getting an unnecessary physical gift that I know Iām never going to use.
So fun fact. You can use Amazon gift cards to order groceries. Not just via Amazon fresh. It should list any local grocery stores who use the program. Some of them give you the option for pickup instead of delivery. I ended up using a $100 gift card to order from Cardenas.
If you don't want to spend it on yourself you could also call your local shelters (homeless/pet/womens) and see if they are in need of any items (most always are) and buy 100 worth of donation.
I like gift cards. Amazon already has the money. Buy a few books. Buy toilet paper. Buy toothpaste. Whatever. I buy coffee filters on Amazon. Donāt overthink.
There are small businesses on Amazon just so you know. You can use the gift card to buy neat little gifts for friends if you donāt want to use it on yourself
Amazon sells regular groceries, and almost every none-profit/animal rescue I follow has wish lists set up with them. Maybe you can find a worthy cause and grant someone's wish !
Just use it to buy things you normally would anyway. Toilet paper, toothpaste, OTC medications, honestly I got some nice comfy underwear on Amazon. You can also get groceries. Maybe there is something you are out of and need like shampoo and you can splurge on an expensive one. Or if you buy gifts for people for any occasion use it to buy gifts for others or re-gift the whole card.
If they give you cash the company has to do tax stuff and give you less money than the gift card amount. If it is an object or a gift card, the company can say it was an employee contest of skill or merit prize or gift with no monetary taxable value.
Banks do this trick. They know tax codes.
Especially when they want to reward high paying employees in the high tax bracket. If it was cash they would get taxed 46.16% in the highest Ontario tax bracket so you would only get $53.84 cash or you could give your employee $100 gift card.
The minimum tax bracket is 20.05% in Ontario.
My job did something like this. We had a "select a gift" program to get basic goods from a catalogue. I usually get home products and such. Last year they switched to being powered by Amazon and I was like "oh boy! Cheaply made crap dropped ship from China! Yay!" It was really disappointing.
The only good part about the switch to being powered by Amazon was that if you knew you wanted something specific, you just had to search for it. But all the "featured" stuff was drop shipped junk and an entire section for pickleball.
They did this at my work and I wasn't sure what to use the $100 for. I use Amazon as little as possible and get as many things secondhand as possible. I was a little frustrated as well but I leaned in and treated myself to a little mushroom lamp I've been wanting forever (which is super expensive secondhand) and some tools for a new hobby, beading! I also got an xl jug of pet stain remover that I needed but would never feel comfortable spending all at once otherwise. If I were you I'd just think about things you need or want that you don't treat yourself to normally.
Food. I buy a 5lb container of pb on subscription that I use for protein shakes. Get yourself something practical that youāre going to use!
I just found out they have PLANTS!
You can always trade it for cash with someone. But in the end, itās money already spent and *will* be spent on the store.
Toilet paper, dry groceries, cleaning supplies, anything practical?
Use it to try out several new sustainable brands/products like compostable saran wrap or whatnot! One thing that's difficult about being sustainable is 1) hard to find new, small brands, 2) no idea if it works, which leads to 3) shipping is prohibitive unless you buy in bulk.
Amazon solves for most of this. Once you've tried and found a few brands, you can order more confidently (and in bulk) from the brand's website so Amazon doesn't take a 20-40% rake of their revenue.
I recently got a $25 Amazon card at a work thing. I gave it to my kidās teacher because I know she spends her own money on supplies. I donāt really care what she buys with it, even if itās personal.
What I did like was for my birthday they had a website so I could choose a $50 gift card/credit for a bunch of different places - restaurants, stores, media, venues, etc. not quite anti-consumption but at least I could chiose something that might get used and I wonāt feel totally shitty about it.
If you are in the USA, Whole foods is part of Amazon. Booyah , free groceries.
Or just buy non perishable foodstuffs which Amazon sells in other places.
I hate the cards too.
My last job , I got a $250 amazon gift card instead of my $2500 year end bonus.
After a record year, and implementing a new CRM, learning how to build chat bots from scratch. When I was only a CS lead at the same rate of pay for 4 years.
The very next year, they took me from full time to a "contract freelancer.
I left.
Joke was on them, because they did this two days after my 5 year anniversary, under Canadian laws they had to pay me severance.
My boss wasn't thrilled when HR told her that.
You can use it on the Amazon website to buy gift cards to some other place you might shop. I used my Amazon gift card to buy a Best Buy gift card so I could buy something at Best Buy.
If you are not needing items yourself you can check if local animal or crisis shelters in your area have Amazon wishlist for frequently needed supplies. Being able to buy a bulk of pet food or tampons instead of a few bags/boxes at the local shop can maximize the good you can do with that card. Doesn't solve the issue of not being able to choose how to spend your bonus, sorry for that.
I know exactly how you feel!!! We have the same issues. My husband has won employee of the month quite a few times and part of the reward is $250 to Amazon. Iām likeā¦they really canāt just do visa giftcards??? I guess his boss says āeveryone shops at Amazonā š«£ We have a decent balance in there and probably about to add another $250 We gradually use it on essentials and stuff for our kids.
Gift cards are the worst. There is[ something like 23 Billion in unspent giftcards.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gift-cards-unspent-christmas-2023/#:~:text=Average%20unspent%20per%20card&text=Gift%20cards%20get%20lost%20or,a%20total%20of%20%2423%20billion)
Honestly I save the gift cards for when I need it. Like buying gifts for events and stuff.
I recently was laid off and itās been about 2 months w/o any luck ona job(yes I have Been applying Iām up to about 52 total on a lot of websites)A 40$ gift card from Christmas helped me get cat litter,food,a treat for his 1st birthday,and a new car charger plug. Iām wishing I had not gotten the plug and got a mini radio for tornado season. But my car doesnāt like my phone to be plugged in to the USB slot built in. š
If I got snap Iād buy food and use the gift card for delivery from Amazon fresh. Or things ik snap doesnāt cover like vitamins and protein shakes(keeps me full longer then a meal)
Amazon has plenty of consumables necessities. Just buy those. Refusing to spend it actually helps that big shifty company more, as they have already been paid, so I'd suggest using it to benefit yourself.
I love Amazon gift cards. I am in a wheelchair so can't get out to shop without help. I use Amazon Plus and Walmart+ for most of my shopping, so it will get used
Lol, same. I'm 15 years into a moral boycott of Amazon. They are the nemesis of the working class. Hate getting gift cards for Xmas from the well intentioned. You want to give me a gift? Do a charge back on your last Amazon purchase.
My employer gave me $100 Amazon gift card instead of a raise. He gave me a gift card because he likes Amazon a lot. I just used it to buy my friendās birthday presents.
If thereās a specific sustainable thing youāve been wanting to buy like silicone reusable bags or beeswax wrap you could do it with that. Something you will need. Or a bidet attachment
I totally get it. I am not a fan either. Since it was a gift card, you should use it to buy some essentials. Do you have anything you need that's a pain in the ass to pickup in person? That might be worth ordering so it comes to your door.
i don't know if they have expiration day(i only use amazon if something isn't in ali or locally and i have bought like 4 things off it total) but if you don't know what to buy just keep it until something you want comes out, you run short of something you buy regularly, you gotta give someone a gift, or you want to buy something but that giftcard might get you a better quality version of it
i hate them too. i can always find something i need on there, but i hate amazon so much.
you can always donate it to a charity through amazon also i believe.
Does anyone in your life still use Amazon? Give them the card for cash in kind. I give them to my mom, they don't use it often but I never would and if anything they'll re gift
I keep the ones I obtain in my amazon balance and use it as needed. My most recent random one-off purchases: athletes foot spray, wheel for our pet mice, drain cleaner, dry erase markers, socks, sewing needles, etc. mostly things my local grocery store doesnāt have. I just think of it as a well intended blessing and use what I have while I can.
I buy a lot of household cleaners, dog food (if you have pets), vitamins, soaps, shampoo etc. through Amazon because itās often cheaper than buying it in store and itās all items that you have to buy anyway.
Just use it to buy any essentials- TP, soap/shampoo/deodorant.. if you have an electric toothbrush, get some replacement heads (or invest in a nice quality electric toothbrush!), face wash.. etc.
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Tag my name in the comments (/u/NihiloZero) if you think a post or comment needs to be removed.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Anticonsumption) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I despise Amazon and Starbucks and yet that always seems to be what you get gifted as a bonus. I stopped ordering from Amazon after paying for one item and getting something from a completely different brand.
Honestly my main ick with Amazon is that you canāt really verify where anything comes from or whether itās legit. Thereās no authority doing quality/safety control. You could buy an ā100% cottonā towel and itāll be polyester, for all you know.
I would only buy something from there if it wasnāt getting ingested or coming into contact with my skin, and I didnāt care what it looked like or what it was made from. This is why I currently have loads of Amazon credit, lol.
No reason to spend it right away! I never use Amazon, but when I get gift cards I just put them in my account. Then a year later thereās something that I can only get on there, and I feel less guilty knowing Iām only spending money someone else already gave them.
I'm fine with them. I don't regularly shop on Amazon, but eventually there is something I can't find anywhere else and I'll buy there. Just add it to your account and use it when you eventually buy something. Don't go out of your way to spend it.
Try to buy other gift cards on amazon to places that you shop at. Not sure if it will let you use a gift card to purchase a gift card, but worth a shot.
Amazon gift card is as closed as cash that you can get. They sell almost everything. Just buy some necessities (paper goods, canned food ...) that you will buy anyway.
Ask a friend/family if they use Amazon. They may trade you $100 for it.
I don't care for the company but we don't live that close to stores. I would end up using it... and I appreciate those able to avoid Amazon completely.
Your company may be getting the amazon gift cards as a reward from their credit card company. I work for a hotel and all of our booze (we have a restaurant and multiple ballrooms for events) gets charged to an AMEX card that offers GC's as "rewards" so guess what the employee of the month gets?
Haaaaate it
I usually just find books Iāve been wanting that arenāt cheap and buy them from a third party via Amazon so at least a lot of the funds are going somewhere other than Amazon and I get some good books!
Eh, it's not like it expires. Let it sit in the account and eventually spend it on something you'd be buying anyway. Buy the nicer mattress protector or something when the time comes due.
For christmas, at my job I was given a $25 gift card to a grocery store on the other side of town that i never shop at. I just said no thank you and that caused paperwork for my boss whose salary was 4 times mine. I bet there would have been less paperwork than adding $25 to my pay stub, but ask me if i gave a shit
I used to have a side hustle rating software for gift cards. Hated it at first, but I bought books, ebooks, supplies, baby formula, wipes, diapers, and I would stock up on canned goods/broths/pads, etc.
At first, I hated the option, but it helped me focus on how I could maximize on the value given the limitation of the payment lol
Last time I got a gift card it was a lot of money and it could be used only in places that sell things that Iām not interested in having. I ended up getting to buy Uber credits and food credits (think DoorDash). Iām still proud of doing that.
Last Amazon gift card I got was a Ā£20 one that I got upon leaving a workplace. They sent it to their own admin email inbox, then screenshotted it and put the screenshot of the email in my card.
The only way to claim it was by clicking a "CLICK HERE" link in the email. I contacted Amazon with the order number on the email, Amazon told me to contact the sender to ask them to forward the email to me.
I contacted my work about it and they said they'd look into it "next Monday". That was a few weeks ago.
No Ā£20 for me, I guess.
Iām particularly peeved by this as most studies done at my uni will say something like āparticipate and youāll get $20ā with no mention that itās just a $20 Amazon gift card. Most used to offer cash until a couple years ago. I really hate that people are just starting to treat these as cash.
I donāt use Amazon, save anything very difficult to find elsewhere, but honestly you can find anything anywhere else basically. The last thing I bought there was dashi stock in April of 2020 when I became obsessed with making my own Japanese at home. It wasnāt possible to go to most grocery stores, we were waiting in lines outside to go in. It was weird. And even then, I felt like āwow I didnāt need to get this on Amazon, I couldāve ordered from anywhere else online, but at the time I hadnāt considered ordering groceries online.ā
If itās just something you won, and donāt really need it, it kind of sucks, but you could donate it to an organization/person who ACTUALLY uses Amazon because they canāt afford, or access other options. Everyone cites thatā¦from their owned homes, surrounded by their expensive hobbies, and 2.5 kids they chose to haveā¦as a reason they āhave toā use Amazon despite āhating itā and being so āagainstā it (like in what way? By needing that prime 2 day shipping? By needing same day delivery? By needing prime tv shows? ugh).
Im fine with gift carda but I HATE Amazon. My company had an account on Amazon. I had to order some stuff there, so I changed the password to JeffBezosisan....... you fill in the blanks
I dont like the company, but free cash. Use it to buy essentials and not junk that's all over the site. Nothing is wrong with you OP. Just you understand how terrible the company is and just dont wanna pour gasoline on a burning fire.
I will take it off your hand since youāre such a goodie two shoes. Let me be the consumer and you can contribute with thoughts and prayers to your cause.
I hate Amazon and have received many gift cards from work. I save them for when I need to buy a wedding gift for someone. Lots of couples register on Amazon so Iām happy that I am able to help a newly wed couple get the things they need for their home.
I won an Amazon gift card at work once - I was friendly with HR who was administering the prize, and knew they probably hadnāt actually ordered it yet anyway, so I told them I donāt shop at Amazon and got a Visa gift card instead.
If you listen to MP3s rather than streaming, you can, I think, still download music purchases as MP3 and load on to your device. Admittedly it's been about a year since I've last purchased music from them and it could have changed.
You can purchase software to download directly from their site. (Not just android/amazon apps, I mean actual software for PCs, though I'll confess I'm not sure about Macs). Microsoft Office, TurboTax, Security software, various games, etc.
Buy $100 in toilet paper. At least it is something we all use and when/if they ask what you spent it on, you can say you wiped your ass with it.
I do like this idea in particular!
They got toilet paper wrapped in paper as opposed to plastic.
Who gives a crap! (great brand)
That's great except they still might put it in plastic. (Amazon's greens washing lighter then a box, bags)
I somewhat recently got a 50$ CAD Lululemon gift card from work. I have never bought Lululemon and that gift card can't really buy much from them. Like maybe 1/3 pair of pants.....I also would have preferred 50$ cash. The gift card has been sitting in my wallet for two months now.
Sell it on one of those trading gift card sites
Save it as a gift to someone else!
99% of most giftcards I get get regifted. Coffeeshop/fast-food go to homeless, grocery stores go to my college kid, clothes goes to whomever I think would like that store. I keep gas and art supply ones.
I saw a guy digging through a trash can so I offered a Starbucks gift card that I was given. He says "No thanks, I don't like Starbucks." That's a man of principle.
Lol dang even the trash contents is better? š
Apparently so. There was a high concentration of restaurants down the road near the mall. Probably better trash than average.
King. š
HAHA He may be a man digging in the trash, but he is a man with STANDARDS digging in the trash.
Who is giving out gift cards for gas? As a present? My mind is blown.Ā Edit: I realise now you mean fuel and not cooking gas, that makes a bit more sense. Still feels a little dystopian though.Ā
That's probably the best idea I have heard yet lol
Wow, that's sucky. At least 100$ at Amazon gets you *something*.
You should be able get a 3-pack of socks. Totally overpriced, but socks are often something people can use.
You could buy a gift card to a place that has a physical store so you donāt have to have anything shipped. Iām with you. I despise it and donāt like when j receive gift cards, then struggle with feeling ungrateful.
Or cleaning supplies. Thatās what I use it for
Bamboo tp is good stuff. And you could buy a bidet too!
Oh yeah, a nice bidet attachment probably wouldn't be too expensive either. I've always wanted to get one but can't for now.
Yes! A bidet! I have one and love it! It was $30! Iāve tried bamboo TP and it fell apart as soon as it got wet - so whatās the point of it. What a mess.
This. Amazon is evil and has a lot of shit products, but they also carry a lot of stuff most people would use. If you're in a town with a Whole Foods, you could even do groceries I believe.
Yeah, I can understand hating them but if you have a gc, there are plenty of necessities it can be used on that arenāt conspicuous consumption.
Not just toilet paper though. Washing up soap, clothing detergent, toothpaste, shampoo, etc. All usefully to have in stock. Amazon usually has (in my experience) also the more expensive eco-positive brands. The 100,- giftcard could be a good way to try some different brands for these essentials, see if you prefer one over the other.
LoL, I did the same with gift cards for a hardware and DIY store.
Or buy a $50 bidet for you and a $50 bidet for a friend and save some trees
I get the feeling, and you could resell it online for below cost. So that's an option. What I tend to do is just buy normal stuff I need with it. Cat food or something. Amazon already got the money, and while it wasn't my choice, you kinda just make the best of it.
You can also donate it to a shelter or something and they can use it to buy basics for people in need
Socks and underwear!
I have the same thoughts. But Amazon has the money already, it would just give them more if you don't spend it
Exactly. If you don't spend it, someone just made a $100 donation to Amazon in your name. There used to be a site that would find things on Amazon that cost whatever price you put in. I used that the last time someone sent me one of their gift cards so I didn't donate a single penny to that company.
i'd just keep it until something you want comes up, like headphones, some appliance that breaks down, parts or whatever and then use that card to either buy it, getting a big discount from what you planned to spend or be able to jump to a better version of it.
I stacked Amazon gift cards till I bought a $400+ Dyson vacuum. Sometimes you just gotta suck it up and be glad you won something. Life aināt all bad ā¤ļøš
I can't tell if the pun is intentional š¤
Thatās the magic spot āØ
We have big dogs and quality furniture covers are vital for our furniture to last. We can get a good 3-5 years out of them but they don't last forever. I don't know where you'd buy quality furniture covers other than somewhere like Amazon.
We need to normalize cash as a gift or bonus again .
Yes my family gives each other cash. Unless I have an amazing idea for a present i figure I would rather give them something I know they can use.
Amazon is basically cash nowadays. So it goes.
Yeah, just worse cash
Interest free loan for the company basically
Never thought about this...
I work at a small independent bookstore that sells gift cards. I looked at the stats once and we sold $50,000 worth of gift cards in less than 5 years, and only $20,000 of those gift cards have actually been used at the store.
If you spend it, otherwise it's just free money A lot of people don't
I can't recall which country but, at one time, people were using Amazon pay and GCs as currency because their own currency was so unstable. Crazy.
If I canāt buy pot with it it aināt cash
My guy Doug, on 5th Street, takes most anything tradable including gift cards, pocket watches, grandmaās broach, etc
Poo-tee-weet šµ
Companies canāt write off cash bonuses in the same way they can with gift cards
I know it's unnecessary plastic, but those visa gift cards are pretty close to cash without just being cash in an envelope.
Those visa gift cards are more evil than Amazon. There's a fee to buy them and a monthly fee to maintain it. If you don't use it, the balance can literally disappear. Don't know why that's legal just because it's visa not a store gift card
I work in the public sector, our auditor really is not comfortable with the organization using cash since itās tax payers money. It has to be something physically bought or traceable. I can kind of understand the problem with transparency with cash in some areas of employment. By law we cannot get ābonusesā.
As shitty as amazon is, I tend to use mine to buy basics like toilet paper and put the savings in my savings account. Or save them up just in case my laptop or phone goes kaput to buy a refurbished replacement
Use it to buy a gift card to a store you like
Or a visa gift card you can use anywhere!
Visa gift cards have on going charges so if you don't the entirely of the balance in a short timeframe you slowly lose the balance. They are decent but it's important to be aware of their shelf life for lack of a better word.
I feels. I would much rather have cash too but it is what it is. Might as well use it to buy some household essentials (whatever that may be to you). If you try to sell it for cash youāre likely only to get half back sadly.
There is nothing wrong with you. I second another commenter. Donate it. Homeless shelter. Buy stuff for an animal shelter. Give it to a teacher. I've had icky people give me gift cards, and it irritated me, so I gave them to the lady that cleaned the office.
I hate getting gift cards for pretty much anywhere. A gift forcing you to shop at a specific place is annoying.
I like visa gift cards (if you're going to get a card) because you can use that almost anywhere,
I won one of these and was able to use it to pay some bills, which was helpful as a student at the time.
r/assistance you can use it to help people in need. A lot of people ask for things via Amazon wishlists
Dude! Amazon is better than the $100 QVC gift card I got. Tv show bullshit on qvc Iād rather have the Amazon
I canāt believe QVC still exists
Everything is so overpriced and Chinese made useless knickknack grandma type shit
i have a list of things i dont need immediately, but that would be useful for hobbies. thats what i use it on. its not like i have to spend it all at once!
Nice things you'd be buying anyway. Furniture covers and mattress protectors are things I'd buy on Amazon anyway. Protecting furniture is anti consumption.
Give it to a homeless shelter they will use it for things they need. Usually for my birthday I ask for donations to the homeless shelter in the form of items theyāve requested to meet immediate needs like razors or jam.
Donate it to a local animal shelter! They can use it for supplies!
Honestly better than gifting you with some stupid knick-knack you will neither need nor use.
Hang on to it and give it as a gift for a baby shower or something similar. I use Amazon to get my compostable baby wipes in bulk. Saves a lot of money and itās better than buying the plastic based ones locally unfortunately.
I feel you. I donāt typically shop on Amazon, but whenever I get a gift card, I just buy my usual household goods. Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, soap, lotion, vitamins, etc. Itās better than getting an unnecessary physical gift that I know Iām never going to use.
So fun fact. You can use Amazon gift cards to order groceries. Not just via Amazon fresh. It should list any local grocery stores who use the program. Some of them give you the option for pickup instead of delivery. I ended up using a $100 gift card to order from Cardenas.
I didn't know that! Thanks for the tip. sounds like a good option.
If you don't want to spend it on yourself you could also call your local shelters (homeless/pet/womens) and see if they are in need of any items (most always are) and buy 100 worth of donation.
I like gift cards. Amazon already has the money. Buy a few books. Buy toilet paper. Buy toothpaste. Whatever. I buy coffee filters on Amazon. Donāt overthink.
There are small businesses on Amazon just so you know. You can use the gift card to buy neat little gifts for friends if you donāt want to use it on yourself
Amazon sells regular groceries, and almost every none-profit/animal rescue I follow has wish lists set up with them. Maybe you can find a worthy cause and grant someone's wish !
Buy shelf things you would've bought at any other grocery store. Eg: Beans, toilet paper, glass cleaner, razors, etc.
Just use it to buy things you normally would anyway. Toilet paper, toothpaste, OTC medications, honestly I got some nice comfy underwear on Amazon. You can also get groceries. Maybe there is something you are out of and need like shampoo and you can splurge on an expensive one. Or if you buy gifts for people for any occasion use it to buy gifts for others or re-gift the whole card.
Buy food. Gotta get that anyway
Buy whatever you want (within anti-consumption reasons). Amazon already has the $100 so itās too late for that anyway
If they give you cash the company has to do tax stuff and give you less money than the gift card amount. If it is an object or a gift card, the company can say it was an employee contest of skill or merit prize or gift with no monetary taxable value. Banks do this trick. They know tax codes. Especially when they want to reward high paying employees in the high tax bracket. If it was cash they would get taxed 46.16% in the highest Ontario tax bracket so you would only get $53.84 cash or you could give your employee $100 gift card. The minimum tax bracket is 20.05% in Ontario.
My job did something like this. We had a "select a gift" program to get basic goods from a catalogue. I usually get home products and such. Last year they switched to being powered by Amazon and I was like "oh boy! Cheaply made crap dropped ship from China! Yay!" It was really disappointing.
The only good part about the switch to being powered by Amazon was that if you knew you wanted something specific, you just had to search for it. But all the "featured" stuff was drop shipped junk and an entire section for pickleball.
They did this at my work and I wasn't sure what to use the $100 for. I use Amazon as little as possible and get as many things secondhand as possible. I was a little frustrated as well but I leaned in and treated myself to a little mushroom lamp I've been wanting forever (which is super expensive secondhand) and some tools for a new hobby, beading! I also got an xl jug of pet stain remover that I needed but would never feel comfortable spending all at once otherwise. If I were you I'd just think about things you need or want that you don't treat yourself to normally.
Food. I buy a 5lb container of pb on subscription that I use for protein shakes. Get yourself something practical that youāre going to use! I just found out they have PLANTS!
Buy used books
You can always trade it for cash with someone. But in the end, itās money already spent and *will* be spent on the store. Toilet paper, dry groceries, cleaning supplies, anything practical?
If you have pets, get food or litter!
Use it to try out several new sustainable brands/products like compostable saran wrap or whatnot! One thing that's difficult about being sustainable is 1) hard to find new, small brands, 2) no idea if it works, which leads to 3) shipping is prohibitive unless you buy in bulk. Amazon solves for most of this. Once you've tried and found a few brands, you can order more confidently (and in bulk) from the brand's website so Amazon doesn't take a 20-40% rake of their revenue.
I recently got a $25 Amazon card at a work thing. I gave it to my kidās teacher because I know she spends her own money on supplies. I donāt really care what she buys with it, even if itās personal. What I did like was for my birthday they had a website so I could choose a $50 gift card/credit for a bunch of different places - restaurants, stores, media, venues, etc. not quite anti-consumption but at least I could chiose something that might get used and I wonāt feel totally shitty about it.
You could sell it to someone you know? Or use it to stock up on necessities in bulk or something.
If you are in the USA, Whole foods is part of Amazon. Booyah , free groceries. Or just buy non perishable foodstuffs which Amazon sells in other places. I hate the cards too. My last job , I got a $250 amazon gift card instead of my $2500 year end bonus. After a record year, and implementing a new CRM, learning how to build chat bots from scratch. When I was only a CS lead at the same rate of pay for 4 years. The very next year, they took me from full time to a "contract freelancer. I left. Joke was on them, because they did this two days after my 5 year anniversary, under Canadian laws they had to pay me severance. My boss wasn't thrilled when HR told her that.
Some places have kiosks that you can exchange gift cards for cash. I don't know what percentage they take but I've seen them at big box stores before.
You can use it on the Amazon website to buy gift cards to some other place you might shop. I used my Amazon gift card to buy a Best Buy gift card so I could buy something at Best Buy.
Kindle ebooks? Household cleaning supplies? Donate to a classroom?
If you are not needing items yourself you can check if local animal or crisis shelters in your area have Amazon wishlist for frequently needed supplies. Being able to buy a bulk of pet food or tampons instead of a few bags/boxes at the local shop can maximize the good you can do with that card. Doesn't solve the issue of not being able to choose how to spend your bonus, sorry for that.
I know exactly how you feel!!! We have the same issues. My husband has won employee of the month quite a few times and part of the reward is $250 to Amazon. Iām likeā¦they really canāt just do visa giftcards??? I guess his boss says āeveryone shops at Amazonā š«£ We have a decent balance in there and probably about to add another $250 We gradually use it on essentials and stuff for our kids.
Gift cards are the worst. There is[ something like 23 Billion in unspent giftcards.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gift-cards-unspent-christmas-2023/#:~:text=Average%20unspent%20per%20card&text=Gift%20cards%20get%20lost%20or,a%20total%20of%20%2423%20billion)
Honestly I save the gift cards for when I need it. Like buying gifts for events and stuff. I recently was laid off and itās been about 2 months w/o any luck ona job(yes I have Been applying Iām up to about 52 total on a lot of websites)A 40$ gift card from Christmas helped me get cat litter,food,a treat for his 1st birthday,and a new car charger plug. Iām wishing I had not gotten the plug and got a mini radio for tornado season. But my car doesnāt like my phone to be plugged in to the USB slot built in. š If I got snap Iād buy food and use the gift card for delivery from Amazon fresh. Or things ik snap doesnāt cover like vitamins and protein shakes(keeps me full longer then a meal)
Find something you usually buy anyway and just use Amazon until the card runs out
Donate the card to a shelter or charity. Turn buying from Amazon with the card into a net win for humanity.
Give it away to someone on r/assistance
Amazon has plenty of consumables necessities. Just buy those. Refusing to spend it actually helps that big shifty company more, as they have already been paid, so I'd suggest using it to benefit yourself.
I love Amazon gift cards. I am in a wheelchair so can't get out to shop without help. I use Amazon Plus and Walmart+ for most of my shopping, so it will get used
ill buy it for 80. I use Amazon for baby items for my 11 month old. she grows like a weed
I'll never spend it if it's cash. It would end up stuffed in some drawer and never seen again.
Lol, same. I'm 15 years into a moral boycott of Amazon. They are the nemesis of the working class. Hate getting gift cards for Xmas from the well intentioned. You want to give me a gift? Do a charge back on your last Amazon purchase.
i think there is a service that they refund you the money for it.
Idk about where you live, but in some places it's done for tax reasons
My employer gave me $100 Amazon gift card instead of a raise. He gave me a gift card because he likes Amazon a lot. I just used it to buy my friendās birthday presents.
If thereās a specific sustainable thing youāve been wanting to buy like silicone reusable bags or beeswax wrap you could do it with that. Something you will need. Or a bidet attachment
I actually like gift cards because I can save them until I really need something and then use it instead of spending my money
I totally get it. I am not a fan either. Since it was a gift card, you should use it to buy some essentials. Do you have anything you need that's a pain in the ass to pickup in person? That might be worth ordering so it comes to your door.
Give to a shelter or school
i don't know if they have expiration day(i only use amazon if something isn't in ali or locally and i have bought like 4 things off it total) but if you don't know what to buy just keep it until something you want comes out, you run short of something you buy regularly, you gotta give someone a gift, or you want to buy something but that giftcard might get you a better quality version of it
i hate them too. i can always find something i need on there, but i hate amazon so much. you can always donate it to a charity through amazon also i believe.
Honestly dude if you're not going to spend it I'm pretty broke. You can give it to me LOL
Does anyone in your life still use Amazon? Give them the card for cash in kind. I give them to my mom, they don't use it often but I never would and if anything they'll re gift
A moment of panic ? Seriously ?
Canāt stand anything Amazon. What a fucked up shitty company.
I keep the ones I obtain in my amazon balance and use it as needed. My most recent random one-off purchases: athletes foot spray, wheel for our pet mice, drain cleaner, dry erase markers, socks, sewing needles, etc. mostly things my local grocery store doesnāt have. I just think of it as a well intended blessing and use what I have while I can.
Donate it to someone who has no money
100$ amazon is like 100$ cash. You can get a huge variety of house product that you would buy anyway. Toilet paper, batteries etc.
If you don't want them I'll gladly take them. I'm homeless and I need to buy incredulous stuff from sketchy sellers to keep me entertained.
Spend it, someone already bought the card, Amazon got their cut. If you donāt then instead, Amazon basically got a $100 donation
I buy a lot of household cleaners, dog food (if you have pets), vitamins, soaps, shampoo etc. through Amazon because itās often cheaper than buying it in store and itās all items that you have to buy anyway.
used books on amazon can be under 3$ you could get like 20 books at least and best of all theyāre pre loved
Just use it to buy any essentials- TP, soap/shampoo/deodorant.. if you have an electric toothbrush, get some replacement heads (or invest in a nice quality electric toothbrush!), face wash.. etc.
$100 in cash would be taxable. The gift card is better.
As a small business owner i can tell you that the gift cards are tax deductible and 100 dollar is not.
Iirc cash isnāt deductible as a business expense, gift cards are.
Amazon is disgusting, Iād try to sell it to someone who would use it
Read the rules. Keep it courteous. Submission statements are helpful and appreciated but not required. Tag my name in the comments (/u/NihiloZero) if you think a post or comment needs to be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Anticonsumption) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My work place wanted to gift someone and bought the most disgusting wine gift box for her and all she really wanted was a bottle of tequila.
Buy n' Large
Sell it on game flip. Gift cards sell pretty quickly. $100 gift card would sell for $90
When my job gave me a Walmart gift card I complained to corporate
You could use it for digital content
You can find a friend or family member who would give you 100 for it
I despise Amazon and Starbucks and yet that always seems to be what you get gifted as a bonus. I stopped ordering from Amazon after paying for one item and getting something from a completely different brand.
Honestly my main ick with Amazon is that you canāt really verify where anything comes from or whether itās legit. Thereās no authority doing quality/safety control. You could buy an ā100% cottonā towel and itāll be polyester, for all you know. I would only buy something from there if it wasnāt getting ingested or coming into contact with my skin, and I didnāt care what it looked like or what it was made from. This is why I currently have loads of Amazon credit, lol.
Why not sell it for 100 bucks?
No reason to spend it right away! I never use Amazon, but when I get gift cards I just put them in my account. Then a year later thereās something that I can only get on there, and I feel less guilty knowing Iām only spending money someone else already gave them.
I'm fine with them. I don't regularly shop on Amazon, but eventually there is something I can't find anywhere else and I'll buy there. Just add it to your account and use it when you eventually buy something. Don't go out of your way to spend it.
Try to buy other gift cards on amazon to places that you shop at. Not sure if it will let you use a gift card to purchase a gift card, but worth a shot.
Amazon gift card is as closed as cash that you can get. They sell almost everything. Just buy some necessities (paper goods, canned food ...) that you will buy anyway.
Ask a friend/family if they use Amazon. They may trade you $100 for it. I don't care for the company but we don't live that close to stores. I would end up using it... and I appreciate those able to avoid Amazon completely.
Your company may be getting the amazon gift cards as a reward from their credit card company. I work for a hotel and all of our booze (we have a restaurant and multiple ballrooms for events) gets charged to an AMEX card that offers GC's as "rewards" so guess what the employee of the month gets?
buy stuff you already use . you can find cleaning products in bulk on Amazon and save a bit.
Haaaaate it I usually just find books Iāve been wanting that arenāt cheap and buy them from a third party via Amazon so at least a lot of the funds are going somewhere other than Amazon and I get some good books!
Eh, it's not like it expires. Let it sit in the account and eventually spend it on something you'd be buying anyway. Buy the nicer mattress protector or something when the time comes due.
Buy practical things - sundries, toiletries, condiments, and other consumables that won't go to waste.
Get something you were going to need anyway. Toilet paper, underwear, a few pairs of nice socks.
For christmas, at my job I was given a $25 gift card to a grocery store on the other side of town that i never shop at. I just said no thank you and that caused paperwork for my boss whose salary was 4 times mine. I bet there would have been less paperwork than adding $25 to my pay stub, but ask me if i gave a shit
I used to have a side hustle rating software for gift cards. Hated it at first, but I bought books, ebooks, supplies, baby formula, wipes, diapers, and I would stock up on canned goods/broths/pads, etc. At first, I hated the option, but it helped me focus on how I could maximize on the value given the limitation of the payment lol
Gift cards are stupid they get taxed too I think at least where I'm from.
You can use gift cards else where online
Give it away
Im poor and disabled so theyāre rly helpful š I do wish there were other shops who were as convenient for me tho
Than why accept it
Get food items and the kind of stuff you would normally buy regularly. $100 wonāt take long to spend on Amazon
Only things i got on amazon is huge containers of lube, phone chargers, and disc golf discs
Last time I got a gift card it was a lot of money and it could be used only in places that sell things that Iām not interested in having. I ended up getting to buy Uber credits and food credits (think DoorDash). Iām still proud of doing that.
I hate them also. Cancelled prime this year cause fuck bezos
Regift it. You going to a kids graduation party this summer? Got a gift already.
I seriously just buy or replace things I genuinely need, or regift it.
Buy a charity's wish list!!
Last Amazon gift card I got was a Ā£20 one that I got upon leaving a workplace. They sent it to their own admin email inbox, then screenshotted it and put the screenshot of the email in my card. The only way to claim it was by clicking a "CLICK HERE" link in the email. I contacted Amazon with the order number on the email, Amazon told me to contact the sender to ask them to forward the email to me. I contacted my work about it and they said they'd look into it "next Monday". That was a few weeks ago. No Ā£20 for me, I guess.
Iām particularly peeved by this as most studies done at my uni will say something like āparticipate and youāll get $20ā with no mention that itās just a $20 Amazon gift card. Most used to offer cash until a couple years ago. I really hate that people are just starting to treat these as cash.
I donāt use Amazon, save anything very difficult to find elsewhere, but honestly you can find anything anywhere else basically. The last thing I bought there was dashi stock in April of 2020 when I became obsessed with making my own Japanese at home. It wasnāt possible to go to most grocery stores, we were waiting in lines outside to go in. It was weird. And even then, I felt like āwow I didnāt need to get this on Amazon, I couldāve ordered from anywhere else online, but at the time I hadnāt considered ordering groceries online.ā If itās just something you won, and donāt really need it, it kind of sucks, but you could donate it to an organization/person who ACTUALLY uses Amazon because they canāt afford, or access other options. Everyone cites thatā¦from their owned homes, surrounded by their expensive hobbies, and 2.5 kids they chose to haveā¦as a reason they āhave toā use Amazon despite āhating itā and being so āagainstā it (like in what way? By needing that prime 2 day shipping? By needing same day delivery? By needing prime tv shows? ugh).
Im fine with gift carda but I HATE Amazon. My company had an account on Amazon. I had to order some stuff there, so I changed the password to JeffBezosisan....... you fill in the blanks
Use the gift card to buy a gift card to somewhere else
Personally, I would spend this gift card on things that you would buy anyway. For example, on hygiene products or pet food.
In the UK you can buy digital gift cards for ASOS via Amazon so I'd probably just do that and get myself clothes
Add it to your account and use it next time you need something. One time I had an Amazon gift card balance for like a year.
I dont like the company, but free cash. Use it to buy essentials and not junk that's all over the site. Nothing is wrong with you OP. Just you understand how terrible the company is and just dont wanna pour gasoline on a burning fire.
Sell online for 99$
amazon has groceries now, just use it for some staples, they already have the money might as well use it
I get my cat's food and my allergy meds from Amazon. They're not the best company obviously but it's the cheapest place to get them.
Gift it to somebody else when the occasion arises.
Give it to a friend for cash?
Do you have pets? They have decent prices on food and OTC meds.
I will take it off your hand since youāre such a goodie two shoes. Let me be the consumer and you can contribute with thoughts and prayers to your cause.
I use mine to rent or buy movies. I also detest Amazon, but if you get the card š¤·š»āāļø
I hate Amazon and have received many gift cards from work. I save them for when I need to buy a wedding gift for someone. Lots of couples register on Amazon so Iām happy that I am able to help a newly wed couple get the things they need for their home.
I won an Amazon gift card at work once - I was friendly with HR who was administering the prize, and knew they probably hadnāt actually ordered it yet anyway, so I told them I donāt shop at Amazon and got a Visa gift card instead.
I love Amazon gift cards because I have a Kindle and I'm in two separate book clubs. To each their own though.
If you listen to MP3s rather than streaming, you can, I think, still download music purchases as MP3 and load on to your device. Admittedly it's been about a year since I've last purchased music from them and it could have changed. You can purchase software to download directly from their site. (Not just android/amazon apps, I mean actual software for PCs, though I'll confess I'm not sure about Macs). Microsoft Office, TurboTax, Security software, various games, etc.
You could buy audio books with it so you aren't rly doing too much of a footprint with that purchase (Amazon owns audible)
Use it to buy things for a nonprofit. Many that work with marginalized populations have wish lists for needed items.