I recently asked a family member what they wanted for their birthday, and the answer was “cash, and B&N gift card”. To answer the question of “why not just cash”: “if it’s a gift card, I won’t feel guilty about spending it at B&N”. Depending on the answers here, I’m probably going to give them a combination.
I don’t go to bookstores much myself these days, so I don’t know what the price of books has done in recent years, and how much is a usable amount. If I had to pick one genre they’d be shopping for, it’s probably YA Fiction, with Fantasy being a close second.
How much were you going to give them in cash? Books range in price greatly, and it sounds like a cash gift would be put into their normal every day money, while a gift card would HAVE to be spent on something fun for them.
If I were given a $20 and told go have fun, that $20 might be used for groceries. If I’m given a $20 specific gift card, I might spend $25-30 at the store, and not worry about the difference.
Total budget is quite high comparative to those numbers.
Then I’d just make it $100 and call it a day. $100 seems like a very generous amount in gift card form (like you’re less likely to forget it in your sock drawer), while $100 cash doesn’t seem like as big of a deal.
I’m not generally big on giving gift cards, but if they’re asking for one it’s going to be appreciated.
Any amount is fine. :) $5, $20, $100… I recently received a gift card for Ebay for $25 and happily spent in on buying $80 headphones that I wouldn’t have normally got.
Depending on whether it’s a hardcover or paperback, new books can retail anywhere from $15 to $25 generally (pre-tax). I might say $25 is a good amount for a gift card because it will generally buy one expensive book or partially cover two less expensive ones.
I totally agree with what your family member said about gift cards - if I get money, I just hoard it, but if it’s a gift card it’s not “real” so I can spend it with better peace of mind. That’s exactly how gift cards get you. 😉
33 bucks should be nice enough if the person is not really close yo you. Even 25 is acceptable
Depends on how much you were willing to give them, and how much they like B&N.
I personally find it difficult to walk out with less than $100, which is usually around 3-4 books.
Each book is under $10 unless they are hardcovers, so $20 should be fine. Probably $30-35 if they like hardcovers.
