The Druid Gift Card: Freedom in Your Hands

A gift card that works anywhere—no fine print, no restrictions.

As a small business owner very connected to my community, I often get advice about products and business ideas I should pursue. Around Christmas time, gift cards are a classic suggestion. It's not a terrible business idea—it's actually quite ingenious. It costs me basically nothing to do, I get guaranteed sales, and I may never have to produce any goods. I, however, hate gift cards. I don't like receiving them, and I feel kind of lazy giving them as gifts. As a business owner, I would have to detach myself from the moral guilt of taking money in return for nothing, or spend ages trying to figure out a way to ensure all gift cards issued were spent. Earlier this year, as a gift to my father-in-law, I gave him a business card from a local independent tool shop with $100 cash attached. Earlier that day I had chatted with the shop owner about the benefits of cash, so I knew that if my father-in-law spent the money there, the owner would appreciate it. That, along with the recent recommendation and after listening to Chris Kohler's book How They Get You, made me decide to make my own version of a gift card.

Unlike typical gift cards, you can use this one anywhere, online or in-store, or even regift it. No expiry, no activation fees, no corporate traps.

Most gift cards from large corporations are designed to trap your money in their ecosystem. They expire, incur fees, or are only usable at select stores. As Chris Kohler explains in his book How They Get You, gift cards are one of the sneakiest ways companies hold your money hostage:

Final destinations of gift cards in pie chart form. one quarter mercifully lost in a card game and now someone elses burden, one third, in the back of your wallet for the next 12 months, one third, floating around in your car just waiting for its chance that never comes, and the last remaining one twelfth back to the store for a purchase

This Druid Gift Card flips the script. It’s cash in disguise—unrestricted, flexible, and truly a gift.

Gift card with $10 bank note weaved through it, reads "No spells, no runes, no hidden conditions. Only pure, unaltered worth"

How to use:

  1. Download the card (or buy a premium, highly reusable lasercut card and skip to step 4.)
  2. Print the card
  3. Cut along lines
  4. Weave a bank note into the slots 
  5. Present gift to loved one (or acquaintance)
  6. (optional) They then pass the card on with a fresh note next holiday or event and the gift giving cycle continues tax free (aside from GST of course...)