Giving Gift Vouchers for Christmas
With Christmas almost upon us, lots of us are making lists of things we need to buy and thinking about completing our Christmas gift shopping. But with all the best planning and intentions in the world it often gets to Christmas Eve and there are still a few presents left to buy and only a few hours to get them. What do you do? Buy gift vouchers.
Of course gift vouchers are also great presents for those “hard to buy for” people and can take away a lot of stress when buying gifts.
What are Gift Vouchers?
Gift vouchers are certificates that allow the bearer to exchange them for goods and services up to the value of the voucher. There are three types of vouchers:
- issued by trade associations, such as Booksellers NZ and the Motor Trade Association (these can be used at any store or outlet which belongs to that association);
- issued by a particular store (which can only be redeemed at that store and its branches); and
- issued by a specific store but which can be used at a number of stores that sell the same types of goods (such as petrol stations or CD stores).
Before you buy gift vouchers you need to be aware of a few things. Here are some tips from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to make your gift a trouble-free present:
- you are buying a gift voucher check the terms for using it, such as what the voucher can be used for;
- voucher may have an expiry date, so it’s wise to check for a date when purchasing to see if it will allow the person using the voucher a reasonable time to use it (a usual time would be 6-12 months);
- vouchers that can be used at more than one store, e.g., petrol vouchers, or ones that are issued by trade associations (then if one store closes down there might be other retailers that will accept the vouchers); and
- you give the voucher as a gift, remind the person to use it soon as possible (gift vouchers can be tucked away and forgotten about).
Thanks to Ministry of Consumer Affairs
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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