Ethical choice for thank-you gift cards?

[mbonsma]

In the past we've given Starbucks gift cards as a thank-you to instructors. Amazon gift cards were mentioned as an option as well. Neither Starbucks nor Amazon have an amazing record of treating their employees well, so I was wondering if we wanted to think about what might be a good place to spend our collective money on for instructor thank-yous?

What we want:

• a gift card that can be redeemed online
• a gift card that's valid in not just Canada
• a gift card that can be delivered by email, or that's easy to buy
• a not-sketchy but popular company

One option I thought of is Ten Thousand Villages, but I can believe that not everyone loves that store as much as I do. Another one that satisfies all the criteria except isn't really a gift is Kiva.

[joelostblom]

Woa, who suggested amazon, cmon people! (I have been reading about them since our meeting, and now it seems like I should start changing my shopping habits =/ )

I'm for all the points except "valid not just in Canada", why isn't it ok with Canadian-only companies? It's seems like a fair restriction when people are teaching in Toronto.

Ten thousand villages seems cool, a similar (I think) alternative is Etsy, but I share your concern that these might not be relevant for everyone. Charity-like organizations was one of my thoughts as well, but not sure how appreciated this is. Newegg has giftcards, which aligns with our geeky mission, but it is difficult to find something useful there for just $10...

(Regarding Starbucks, I am not a fan personally, but I did hear somewhere that they make an effort educate their employees in basic life skills which sounded really cool.)

[mbonsma]

Newegg sounds like it might be good! They have lots of stuff like cables that are under $10 with free shipping.

[linamnt]

I like Newegg or Kiva!