Book tokens as gifts...

[sandyRoe]

Last Christmas I gave some Waterstones book tokens as gifts. They were in the form of a plastic card, about the size of a credit card, can they only be used in that particular shop? Years ago a book token could have been used in any bookshop.

[bednobs]

it depends on whether they were waterstones tokens or not. I suspect they probbaly were

[andy-hughes]

That's 'progress' for you.

Some retailers do capture their customers by making tokens that can only be redeemed in their own stores - it's a sign of the competitive times we live in.

[mccfluff]

you can still get vouchers that can be used in a range of stores

[mike11111]

When I was young book tokens could be redeemed in any bookshop; it was a kind of national scheme. Gift tokens were another matter, as they were limited to a particular store or chain.

[Messalina]

You can still get National Booktokens as well as shop specific ones.

[sandyRoe]

When I gave them I was thinking they might have gone towards the cost of computer games rather than books. As you say, Steve5, 'the choice is thine', or theirs.