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  • Despite what Miss Manners would say ...

    ... I think I'm going to send cash as a gift ...

    Niece's birthday is coming up. To be fair, in the past, I have missed it on occasion. I believe I have valid reasons for doing so, but nonetheless ...

    Most of those reasons are gone now (I'm no longer in school plus trying to hold down a job plus trying to LOOK for a job -- in my new field -- plus trying to spend quality time with my mother) and I've written to my sister asking what Niece, who is now in college, would like for her birthday, which is next month.

    Sis says she is only aware of two things: boots (which Sis has already bought) and a very expensive item. It sounds as if she has passed along my question to Niece and is either not getting any response or some variant of "Whatever".

    I should add that I am not even remotely close to Niece, as in: I have no direct contact with her at all and have not for many years now. The only contact I ever have with her is through my sister. So I'm not really inclined to wrack my brains trying to come up with something she might like.

    So ... cash it is likely to be. Unless somebody here has some other suggestions ...
    Last edited by Pixelated; 06-27-2019, 02:24 PM.
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

  • #2
    TBH, I'm a little biased, as cash is what I want MOST as a gift

    But, not sending cash thru the mail or a shipping service is a practical thing -- If someone opens it en route, steals the cash, and reseals the package, you have no way to prove it was ever there. Send a "generic" prepaid (VISA/MC-branded rather than a specific store) gift card or a money order. Keep the receipt/stub so you can prove it/get it refunded if someone steals the thing. If the recipient has Paypal, use that, but mark the payment as a gift so you pay the transfer fee instead of them.
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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    • #3
      Actually, a money order is how I was going to go. I can't send a VISA card or similar because AFAIK such cards bought in Canada are not useable in the U.S. and vice-versa.
      Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
      ~ Mr Hero

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      • #4
        I would send cash, check, or something similar Niece would use for whatever she wants.
        Eh, one day I'll have something useful here. Until then, have a cookie or two.

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        • #5
          My niece is 17, and I have no clue what she wants anymore, so I just send cash.
          "Life is tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid" Redd Foxx as Al Royal - The Royal Family - Pilot Episode - 1991.

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          • #6
            I concur, cash is always welcome - it shows you didn't just go out and buy some random thing to give a physical gift to be 'proper'
            EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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            • #7
              I resorted to gift cards for DBIL's new stepsons one year (they were in their teens at the time). I did ask DBIL for input on what type they might like, and took his advice of iTunes. Seemed to be well received.
              "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

              "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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              • #8
                For my niece's last birthday, I gave a gift card to Orange Apron as she was starting her electrician apprenticeship. I had no idea what tools and supplies she already bought. My electrician steadies shop there and Menard's but as niece is in California that would be a problem.
                I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                Who is John Galt?
                -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                • #9
                  Quoth taxguykarl View Post
                  For my niece's last birthday, I gave a gift card to Orange Apron as she was starting her electrician apprenticeship. I had no idea what tools and supplies she already bought. My electrician steadies shop there and Menard's but as niece is in California that would be a problem.
                  That's an excellent idea!

                  With niece, unfortunately, although I know she's in college, that's all I know ... I have no idea what's she's studying. She started off intending to study equine genetics or something similar, but has since apparently changed her mind ... at least once.

                  So it'll be a truly generic U.S. money order. She can buy something useful or blow it on beer, if she prefers.
                  Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                  ~ Mr Hero

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                  • #10
                    You should also be able to obtain an "International Money Order" from the post office, if need be.
                    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Pixelated View Post
                      With niece, unfortunately, although I know she's in college, that's all I know ... I have no idea what's she's studying. She started off intending to study equine genetics or something similar, but has since apparently changed her mind ... at least once.
                      Consider Follet's or Amazon, they sell the textbooks she'll need
                      I'm trying to see things from your point of view, but I can't get my head that far up my keister!

                      Who is John Galt?
                      -Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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                      • #12
                        We give Amazon gift cards for most birthday gifts. You can print it yourself and send in snail mail, or have the GC code texted or emailed directly to the recipient.
                        You're only delaying the inevitable, you run at your own expense. The repo man gets paid to chase you. ~Argabarga

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                        • #13
                          Quoth taxguykarl View Post
                          Consider Follet's or Amazon, they sell the textbooks she'll need
                          Follet's? They're a chain??? I had no idea! I used to get some of my books from their store in Champaign IL. Textbooks and non-academic books both!
                          “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                          One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                          The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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