Would you rather have £50 in cash or £100 in vouchers for a store you don't use?

MSE_Laura_F

With Christmas present planning underway for some, I wanted to know your thoughts on cash and vouchers as Christmas presents. Voucher gifts particularly can get a bad rep, though of course they can also be an excellent shout if you know just the right store/brand for the recipient.

Which leads to my question:

Would you rather be gifted £50 in cash, or £100 in vouchers for a store you don't use?

strawb_shortcake

Don't use is subjective,
I'd take the £50 over a voucher for Netto as I have no idea where my nearest Netto would be. 
I could possibly take £50 over Primark as I can't stand the shop - though I could probably sell the voucher for £80. 
I don't use Harvey Nichols but I would if I had a voucher as I could buy my normal cosmetics with vouchers rather than my hard earned cash at John Lewis 

MalMonroe

I'd rather take the cash. 

Time was you could sell vouchers for a bit less than their face value but now with businesses collapsing all over the place, that's too much of a gamble. 

So, cash it is. And I'd be very grateful too!

Pollycat

MSE_Laura_F said:

With Christmas present planning underway for some, I wanted to know your thoughts on cash and vouchers as Christmas presents. Voucher gifts particularly can get a bad rep, though of course they can also be an excellent shout if you know just the right store/brand for the recipient.

Which leads to my question:

Would you rather be gifted £50 in cash, or £100 in vouchers for a store you don't use?

Not according to the main man...
Martin Lewis warning for shoppers thinking of buying gift vouchers as Christmas presents (msn.com)

Martin Lewis has one piece of advice for anyone thinking of buying gift vouchers as a present this Christmas - don't do it.

maisie_cat

Cash, given the sheer number of vouchers that simply expired in drawers when we did gift giving. We get cheques for birthdays from FIL and half the time they are not paid in.

MovingForwards

Depends on the shop, £100 might be sufficient to use somewhere I wouldn't normally go as a one off treat e.g I could find something in places like John Lewis. 

I was given a chance to pick what I wanted from the love2shop site and I spent a few hours going through everything they offer from 'experiences' to shop vouchers. It was a real struggle to 'spend' it and even their own gift card wasn't that viable. Then the fun began of looking for things in the places I opted for and I've still got one of the vouchers left.

I've received a small voucher this week, for a place I don't use. I keep popping on the website hoping I'll spot something just so I can use it.  I'm seriously contemplating passing it on to my OH's mom as she does use that shop.

£50 cash would mean I could go to where I like and make good use of it.

74jax

If I don't use a shop then I'm not sure what I'd do with vouchers for it... Pass on I suppose 🤔
I'd spend £50 cash so it seems an odd question. Do you mean don't 'usually' use? 

Spendless

74jax said:

If I don't use a shop then I'm not sure what I'd do with vouchers for it... Pass on I suppose 🤔
I'd spend £50 cash so it seems an odd question. Do you mean don't 'usually' use? 

I didn't understand that either. Why would you want gift vouchers from somewhere you don't use (it doesn't even say usually  don't use).

It does remind me of my DD in her younger teenage years when she started competing and winning at drama festivals. Though it was usually a cup or medal, the local private school gave Waterstones vouchers for 1st place. She invaruably ended up with between £40-60 worth of vouchers that she didn't want and would flog them to me (at face value - yeah I'm a mug!) so she could spend her winnings on make up.  Now 18 and at drama school with a long reading list, she's very frustrated at her 15 yo self -lol. 

thegreenone

maisie_cat said:

We get cheques for birthdays from FIL and half the time they are not paid in.

I'd find that really insulting.  Your FiL makes the effort to send you birthday money that he hopes you will buy something for yourself, but you can't be a*sed to pay it in.  Rude. How much effort does it take to pay a cheque in?  Particularly with mobile banking apps where you can take a photo - job done.

Brie

Well I hate either as they seem impersonal - I'd rather have a naf gift that doesn't suit me if I thought the person giving it tried to find something they assumed I would enjoy.  

And as others have said it may very well depend on what voucher.  If it was someplace local to me but not a shop I normally use I might check it out to see what they had that I might like.  Or I could always use it to fundraise for a charity (raffle prize?) or give it directly to the charity.