Gift cards come with a processing fee when purchased at a shopping kiosk.

 I was ready to purchase a gift card for a friend at Safeway when I noticed it had a processing fee of $4.95 applied to the purchase at Safeway. If purchased form the retailer directly you pay for only that gift card price. The $25 I-tunes card would have cost me $29.95 at Safeway. It is a good think I have to go to the mall and can stop into the I-tunes store and pay only the actual amount of the cards I want.

If purchasing multiple retailer cards it may make sense to purchase the cards at a grocery store to safe time and gas money.

Certain gift card value also may need to be taxed if giving them as gifts to employees. Check with your accountant or your human resource department to clarify your responsibilities.