While I was in Sydney, I spotted some iTunes Music Cards. I consider them something like gift certificates. It’s a well-designed … uhm … piece of cardboard 😉 , something elegantly created, something you’d expect from a Steve Jobs / Apple company.
iTunes Music Card
A gift that’s music to their ears.
The piece of cardboard iTunes Music Card explains how to activate the card (present the piece of cardboard to cashier, pay for it), and then receive a code either printed on the Music Card or issued by the cashier. The code will give you access to iTunes Music Store.
Isn’t that quite an idea? An elegant gift for today’s techie. And it doesn’t require any online purchases by the gift giver. No surfing needed, no credit card required.
G-Cash Gift Cards?
Maybe this is the way for G-Cash gift certificates. Buy it over the counter, get an elegant “gift-able” card that can be physically presented to a loved one.
Alternatively, the G-Cash gift certificate can be sent via mobile, with a special intro or Christmas greeting (or MMS or picture message) from the sender or from Globe.
In essence, the G-Cash gift certificate is similar to the cellphone call cards which were very popular prior to electronic load, circa 1998-2001.
I say, bring back those cards, but package them as gift certificates for Christmas. Send the gift certificate number and the PIN to a loved one and that’s equivalent to giving a G-Cash aguinaldo. This is one way to increase the amount of G-Cash currency in the G-Cash network.
What’s interesting is exploring new ways of cashing-in (convert cash to G-Cash) into the G-Cash network. What we’re searching for is an elegant method of infusing more currency into the G-Cash economy.
The gift certificate idea isn’t new. I’ve written about G-Cash gift certificates last year.
But the iTunes cards ““ ah, gives me the chills: Steve Jobs and I think similarly! Heheheh.
What’s your idea?
ka edong
think different
10 comments
That’ll probably be the way iTunes will do business in the Philippines. But then again, Apple will have the pirates to think about here(especially with TV shows like Desparate Housewives).
I dropped by Apple Center in Mega. They don’t have these cards. Yup, the pirates captured the Philippine market waaaaay ahead of the pay-per-download pack.
So how does iTunes work in the philippines? I bought a prepaid iTunes card in the U.S. and I was wondering if it works the same way if I used it in the philippines. I’m planning to give to someone in the philippines as a gift. There is also the issue of differences in currency. I’m just worried that it might not work.
Hi coolguy,
The card that I got from Sydney asks the recepient to logon to an Australian sub-site of itunes (something like http://www.apple.com/au/itunes/).
The card is pre-paid (i.e. paid for in cash upon purchase of the card), so there shouldn’t be any issues about currency exchange.
As for the recepient of your iTunes Music card — all he/she needs to do is to follow the instructions on the card and download from the net using access codes given to you when you purchased the card.
Kung gusto mo, volunteer akong gamitin yung iTunes Music card mo. Maligayang Pasko!
ka edong
iTune therefore i am
the only thing i like about itunes is it converts my mp3 to aac which is almost half the size. though careful on bitrates coz i can affect sound quality.
-uplink-
I do not like the card. I got the card, and apprent you need a credit card to sign on to use the card.
You can go to http://zu-store.com to purchase Itunes Gift Code, fastly shipment and very cheap, alsualy sale off 10% per item.
http://zu-store.com
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iTunes Gift Cards/Codes are available only in limited countries. Philippines not included in the list. And iTunes cards bought in the US or any other countries can only be used in that particular country’s iTunes Store. If you buy an iTUnes GC in US and gift it to someone in the Phils. it won’t work, iTunes won’t allow you to redeem it/will give you an invalid error message. You can set up an US (or any other county account) while you’re physically in the Phils for example so that you can use a card you’ve bought from those countries, it may work that way, you can purchase apps for example, but then Apple fraud team regularly monitors accounts for different fraud activities. I’m not sure how the fraud dept works it’s highly private even within Apple depts. But for sure, you’ll have trouble down the road if you would proceed that way.
Also, so to avoid trouble, do not buy cards other than from authorized resellers, there are none yet in the Phils. I saw several ads in Sulit. It is risky, Don’t buy iTunes Gift Card/Codes from eBay, and the likes where it’s sold by unknown individuals online. You would only risk losing your money because there are fraud iTunes cards. Your card may work, but then Apple is so good in detecting fraud. Even if they don’t catch you immediately, they will come time, and your account may be closed.
If anyone of you might have questions regarding purchasing and using iTunes GC, you may ask me, I’m not selling iTunes GC, I just happen to work for iTunes in the past, and I understand many people can be confused with the rulings, especially the country issue. Don’t buy iTunes GC online, apart from Apple Online Store. Customers from US and other countries where gift cards are an available payment option, they can buy in many authorized resellers in US that have physical store. Always keep the receipt of your iTunes GC. I think Apple should remind their customers of that. Keep the receipt.
The cards are only activated at the time of purchase. If the store you bought the card from do not activate it properly, it won’t work. Your receipt can help a lot when you either need to return to the store for replacement/complaint, or when you need to resort to writing iTunes Customer Support for help. iTunes Customer Support can help replace/activate the card that’s not been activated by the store where you bought it, only if you can provide a copy of the receipt legibly showing the details they need such as store name, date/time of purchase, the line showing the card purchase, etc