Bought $20 prepaid Visa as a gift...hit with $7.95 Activation Fee

[ChrisFL]

Went to Publix to get a last minute additional gift for a friend of mine, figured a Visa card is easy as you can use it for anything, so I asked for $20 and then they rang it up and it had a $7.95 activation fee.

Is it just me or is that crazy?

I'm pretty sure I don't get that big of a fee when I get other types of gift cards for restaurants, etc.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Gawrsh that’s rough! Hope you find a solution.

 

[Turn the Page]

I will say having worked at a location that accepts Visa gift cards as a form of payment they are a pain in the butt to use. I won't buy them for anyone.

 

[gmi3804]

Activation fees are pretty standard for Visa cards.

 

[disneychrista]

Most Visa type gift cards have this type of activation fee.

 

[citruscurtis]

Paid it for homeless son .... usually send a package that costs $14.00 in postage....so I didn't flinch

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They've always been like that, an activation fee on a visa gift card has been the norm for decades (I got them a lot in the past).

The packaging notes the activation fee and merchants can add their own on there. The amount purchased is more likely to have a $2.95 fee and the rest could be the merchant tagging on more.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I will say having worked at a location that accepts Visa gift cards as a form of payment they are a pain in the butt to use. I won't buy them for anyone.

I loved them because it gave me the freedom to purchase from a lot of different places. People would give me gift cards for places I don't shop at, that's not useful in the least, the Visa gift card allowed me to go where I wanted in general. But I was also getting Visa gift cards during a time period where normal store credit cards could expire or have dormant fees, etc. Nowadays because of the laws that changed I could wait several years for a random place I got a gift card at if I had to. It took us 4 years to get rid of several hundred dollars worth Target gift cards given to us for our wedding for example because we didn't shop there at that time, we swapped (back when you could) them for Disney gift cards instead. A Visa gift card would have been preferable to the Target gift cards.

But I do agree using the card and ringing up the card as a cashier was not the easiest. You needed to know the value of the card on it and it could decline the card if the cashier didn't enter the exact amount then ring for that which would then give you the left over balance if there was one to pay with another form of payment. We ran into that a lot at DSW.

In this case I would only buy for someone who asks for it, presumably or at least hopefully they know the cons with it.

 

[goofyernmost]

An outside retailer (store like Publics or any other has to pay Visa/MC or whatever the face value because the card represents that amount of cash power. The activation fee is the amount that the stores add in for profit. Once activated the store must pay the vendor the $50.00 and the rest is kept because that location made the sale. It's the only way it can work. The vendor then has to honor the $50.00 when the purchaser buys something with it. Just like when you buy something from Amazon and the value isn't high enough to cover delivery costs, that charge you at the time of purchase.

The activation fees usually remain the same no matter the size of the card because the cost is figured on how much space the venue. Stores work on very small profit margins and in order to stay in business that's what they need to charge. If you buy a gift card from restaurants or businesses direct they may have room to charge less because it comes out of what it cost for the product you may be purchasing. There is wiggle room, when it is just a cash card a dollar is a dollar, there is no room to negotiate. If you want to gift someone $20.00 going to the bank and taking out a $20.00 bill and it cost you absolutely nothing and on top of that it will purchase the same amount for the gift recipient. Why do we do it? Because it is more convenient. Convenience is never free.

 

[seashoreCM]

Why buy that gift card (or any gift card) to send to someone in the mail. If the gift card is lost or stolen anybody can pick it up and use it, with no safety or security to you or the recipient compared with sending cash.

In an earlier lifetime I actually received a "dead" gift card for Christmas. No doubt it had been hacked. It was only ten dollars, not worthwhile to make a claim about.

Right now (2025) I am still recommending personal checks for sending gift money in the mail.

 

[mjkacmom]

I will say having worked at a location that accepts Visa gift cards as a form of payment they are a pain in the butt to use. I won't buy them for anyone.

I hate those cards, what I do is use them to buy an Amazon card and put it on my account. I think you have to know your balance, I remember they were a PITA to use.

 

[sam_gordon]

Right now (2025) I am still recommending personal checks for sending gift money in the mail.

And if it gets lost or stolen in the mail?

A long time ago, someone took our outgoing mail that had bill payments in it. They used the numbers on the check to order their own checkbook in their names that used our account. What do you think happened to our account (until the bank caught it)? Granted, we ended up not being out any money, but it was months of changing account numbers with those we did pay electronically, getting new checks, etc.

So yea, sending a Gift Card in the mail is a LOT safer than sending a check.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I knew there would be a fee, but wow that is a lot.

 

[eticketplease]

They've always been like that, an activation fee on a visa gift card has been the norm for decades (I got them a lot in the past).

The packaging notes the activation fee and merchants can add their own on there. The amount purchased is more likely to have a $2.95 fee and the rest could be the merchant tagging on more.

Wow I guess I have been luckily and just the fee notated on the card has been charged (and then credited thank you staples )

Do you know what stores tack on an additional fee to the one that is already listed on the packaging?

 

[TiggerTrigger]

This is why we stopped doing Visa gift cards unless I have absolutely no other choice...and even then, I'm tempted to go with an IOU.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wow I guess I have been luckily and just the fee notated on the card has been charged (and then credited thank you staples )

Do you know what stores tack on an additional fee to the one that is already listed on the packaging?

I don't know if there's a formal list or not TBH. I don't feel like it was as common years ago though so I'm out of the loop. My brief looking into showed Target could be one and for the OP that would also be Publix. When I went to mock purchase one on Walmart's website it showed a $6.94 fee total. Typically the activation fee is based on the denomination purchased so the higher amount the larger the fee. In this case Walmart is charging a total of $6.94 (includes activation fee and their own fee) regardless of whether it's a $20, $50 or $100. That said I haven't purchased one in store so it's possible that it's different in person than an online purchase (for comparison sake I made sure the Visa gift card was sold and shipped by Walmart).

 

[_19disnA]

Just bought a local restaurant gift card yesterday while out shopping as a Christmas gift and there were no added 'fees', so checking around to see what options you have can save you a few dollars.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Just bought a local restaurant gift card yesterday while out shopping as a Christmas gift and there were no added 'fees', so checking around to see what options you have can save you a few dollars.

The whole point of Visa gift cards is so you're not tied to one location, it's accepted wherever Visa is accepted (hence the appeal). There is also a Mastercard version but Visa is the most widely known. These aren't restaurant or store gift cards.

 

[sam_gordon]

Just bought a local restaurant gift card yesterday while out shopping as a Christmas gift and there were no added 'fees', so checking around to see what options you have can save you a few dollars.

I've found store specific cards, even those purchased at "other" stores, don't have added fees. It's just the Visa/Mastercard ones that do.

The advantage to the Visa/MC one of course is they can be used anywhere (generally).

 

[tvguy]

Shades of California's Covid relief money. They really messed up.
1) They sent debit cards instead of direct deposit like they do for tax refunds.
2) They contracted with the Bank of New York to issue the cards. (Apparently we have no banks in California)
3) You got $700, but you could not withdraw more than $500 at a time.
4) Each withdrawal carried a $5 service charge.