Can't Put A Price On It

I have always maintained that when it comes to gift-giving, I prefer gift cards to cash. I just feel that when you give someone a gift card to a specific store, it at least shows some level of effort. You took the time to consider the person's interests and thought about what store they would get the most options from. Cash, while it can be used anywhere, feels like you forgot about them until the last minute and then passed an ATM on the way to the cheapest card store you can think of. On top of that I feel like people just use cash to pay bills or something along those lines, which isn't exactly a fun birthday gift. But recently I was reminded that there are drawbacks that come with gift cards, specifically the ones for use in Internet-only stores: it can be hard to spend $1 online.

I've gotten several iTunes gift cards over the years and haven't had to worry about my balance for quite some time. (Thanks, everybody!) But, after the most recent song I purchased, I looked up and noticed I had exactly $1 remaining. At first I though this math was going to work out perfectly, because iTunes songs are usually a buck. But, here's the thing no one seemed to mention when it was happening and now everyone accepts as normal - at some point, the price new music went up. While it used to be 99 cents, it is now a $1.29 for the latest music. Still not exactly breaking the bank but when you don't feel like splitting the cost of an MP3 between a gift card and a savings account, it can be kind of annoying trying to make the transaction work. I know that it's not a big deal to just toss the remaining 29 cents onto a debit card, but at this point it is the principle of the thing.

Besides, at first I didn't care because there isn't much new music I like that much. I figured I would go back and find some mid-90s rock act who I enjoyed at the time but either not enough to buy the entire album or that I did buy their album but would rather just re-purchase the one music file versus crashing my computer trying to upload the CD. You see, my CD drive can be kind of prissy. I can upload music, but only one CD at a time and even then I must reboot my computer and relaunch iTunes before I can get the album artwork to download. It's a process and the time saved by simply purchasing the one track through iTunes is well worth the money. When you put it in that kind of context, only having $1 left is kind of handy.

But, this is where iTunes is making this harder than it has to be. In an effort to make people buy less-popular songs, they have discounted many of the one-hit bands from the 90s only popular song to 69 cents. (I don't know what the big deal is, it is not like they have a physical inventory to worry about. It's not as though they will be forced to keep all the songs by Dishwalla in some warehouse if no one buys them.) I know that sounds like they are doing me a favor by selling it to me cheaper, but if you think having $1 left on a gift card is annoying, try having 31 cents.

Adding to the weirdness is the fact that Apple has kept the rest of the album, composed of songs which I doubt the lead singer remembers all the lyrics for, at $1. Shouldn't those be the songs which are at a severe discount? Yes, you could argue that people are more likely to buy some one-hit wonder's song if it's 69 cents versus $1, but they are also more likely to give some song they've never heard before a shot at that same price. Plus, Apple is maddeningly inconsistent when it comes to which bands get the discount. Some bands' one-hit song is 69 cents, other times it's $1.29. Are you honestly trying to tell me that Seven Mary Three's only hit is worth more than Eve 6's? Blasphemy.

This means I have spent the last couple of days hunting through the iTunes store, trying to find a song that only costs $1, but also make a fine addition to my music library. As such I haven't made a decision yet. The good thing about online gift cards is that they don't expire. Still, I'd better hurry up and make a decision before the price of MP3s goes up again. I think the only thing more annoying than having a mostly-used gift card to a store with a limited selection is having a mostly-used gift card to a store where you can no longer afford anything.