What Is SparkGift, and What’s So Sparkly About It?
When you buy and give a gift, it is normally something that can be used or enjoyed for a period of time, and then it loses value. But is it possible to give a gift that “keeps on giving?”
That is what a young company called SparkGift is trying to do. Using SparkGift, you can easily buy a share of Apple, Google, Uber, or any other publicly traded company, and give that share of stock as a gift to anyone in just a few clicks.
There is a lot of buzz about this company. Can it disrupt Wall Street? Will it make an impact, or will it fade like yesterday’s news?
An Overview of the Concept
For the gift-giver, the “buy stock as gift” concept is unique; it is the gift that keeps on giving and something that won’t be thrown away or re-gifted from lack of interest.
For the gift-receiver, it is a seriously awesome contribution to their financial future. As you can imagine, children are the ones who benefit most from stock as a gift since it teaches them the value of saving money and introduces them to the stock market at an early age.
The sparkly appeal here is its simplicity: those with little-to-no knowledge of the stock market can approach it with ease. No Wall Street jargon or financial firms to deal with.
You just choose a stock or index fund to gift, purchase it, and send it to the recipient.
How SparkGift Works
SparkGift allows you to buy stock as a gift in three simple steps:
Source: SparkGift.com
You can spend as little as $20, and they only charge a fee of $2.95 for any purchase under $100.
Things will be changing, however, once they merge with Stockpile.
We’ll discuss the merger next so you know what to expect.
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SparkGift Will Be Merging with Stockpile
Source: SparkGift.com
Last month, SparkGift announced that it had been acquired by its competitor, Stockpile, which is already a well-established “stocks as gifts” website.
As of June 16, 2016, SparkGift has been operating as a subsidiary of Stockpile.
Naturally, this means that there are quite a few changes in store, but the changes are definitely positive and will improve the experience for anyone who plans on giving stock as a gift.
Here are a few new features that you’ll be able to take advantage of once the merge occurs:
- A mobile app
- 99-cent stock trades
- The ability to purchase stock for yourself and not just as a gift
- Gift card formats will be both physical (plastic cards) and electronic (e-cards)
Source: stockpile.com
Once the merge has been complete, all transactions will be done via the Stockpile website rather than the SparkGift website.
For those who currently have a SparkGift account, the merge is scheduled for September 2016, when all existing investments will be transferred over to Stockpile.
New users are instructed to head directly to the Stockpile website to sign up there.
How SparkGift Started
SparkGift was founded by Peggy Mangot, Bob Haigler, and Tia Gao after Peggy expressed her frustration with the difficulties she faced when shopping for a gift.
Source: recode.net
By combining Peggy and Tia’s Google experience, along with Bob’s engineering/management know-how, the three were able to breathe life into an idea.
A few of the keywords that their idea centered on included:
- Useful gift
- Stock market
- Stop wasting money
- Meaningless toys
- Empower someone’s financial future
Once they put all of them together, SparkGift was born and the idea to help people “buy stock as gift” became a reality late in 2014.
With a little help from Y Combinator, their start-up quickly gained popularity and has maintained a good momentum thus far.
SparkGift Reviews – Find the Answers to Your Questions
Through the SparkGifts reviews highlighted below, we want to answer some of the main questions that people ask about the company and giving stock as a gift in general:
- If I want to buy stock as a gift, to whom should I give it?
- Is SparkGift a safe and secure place to buy stock as gift?
- What should I know about the Stockpile merge?
- What impact does SparkGift have on the stock market?
In general, the questions are mostly coming from parents and adults who want to buy a meaningful gift for a child.
Unfortunately, you won’t find any info about SparkGift reviews from trusted sources such as TrustPilot or the BBB (Better Business Bureau), but you can find some general info about the company via Bloomberg.
Postive SparkGift Reviews – What Parents Have to Say
Most of the positive SparkGift reviews are coming from parents and families who are looking for a great gift to give the younger generation.
Stocks as gifts are absolutely ideal for:
- Babies
- Children
- Teens
It’s no wonder in a world full of wasteful gift-giving that people are so excited that they can buy stock as a gift.
Parents need not fear their 10-year-old entering into the stock market unattended.
SparkGift allows you to set up a custodial account, which allows you to invest on behalf of your kids who are under 18.
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WeeSpring Review
Weespring is like one gigantic WhatsApp chat where parents can share advice with other parents.
As you can imagine, it was the perfect place for someone to leave a SparkGift Review.
Here are a few comments:
Source: weespring.com
Allyson said it perfectly.
“My new go-to for kid birthdays. (Seriously: they don’t need another toy.)”
Parents are sick and tired of giving gifts that last for such a short time, which is why SparkGift is so appealing.
It makes it easy to buy stock as a gift (you don’t have to be the next Wall Street protégé to purchase) and giving stock as a gift is much more useful than handing someone a pair of cute little baby booties (though sometimes booties can be really great).
Is it more useful to buy them their favorite Disney movie or offer them a share in Disney
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Thrifty NW Mom Review
As Thrifty NW Mom reminds us in their SparkGift review, some of the best people to give stock as a gift to include:
- High school grads
- College grads
What could be a better gift than one that will help them advance toward a more financially prosperous future?
They also remind us that it’s easy to have the entire family pitch in toward a stock gift so that “you all contribute for a larger gift.”
Source: thriftynorthwestmom.com
The student loan debt statistics in 2016 are staggering: $1.3 trillion (with a “T”) in student loan debt, 43 million people borrowing money and an average of $37,172 of debt for 2016 college grads.
Anyone entering into college would be glad to have some money silently building up for them once they’re ready to pay for college, and anyone who has already finished college would surely appreciate something that will help them pay off their student loans ASAP.
Giving stock as a gift is one of the best ways to help them combat these scary statistics.
Scamadviser SparkGift Review
For those of you who might be worried about the safety and security of SparkGift and/or buying stock as a gift, Scamadviser’s SparkGift review is helpful.
They assure us that it is a safe and secure place to purchase stock as a gift.
Source: scamadviser.com
Their 100% safety rating is based on “many factors,” such as who owns it, where it is located, how popular it is among users, and how it relates to other websites on the net.
Negative SparkGift Reviews
Luckily for SparkGift, very few have anything bad to say about them.
On one forum, someone mentioned their disappointment, claiming that it wasn’t very informative.
Have a look at their comments:
Source: flyertalk.com
Rather than more of the stock gift websites “springing up,” it seems that they’ll improve their services by combining forces, like in merging with Stockpile.
The fact that it is difficult to find any negative comments about SparkGift is a good sign.
Will Stockpile continue to live up to the good reputation? We’re anxious to find out.
Merging With Stockpile – Is It a Good Thing?
Both the SparkGift CEO and the Stockpile CEO are highly enthused about the merger, as it will strengthen their mission to help the practical gift-giver buy stock as gift.
Source: prweb.com
From what we’ve seen and read about Stockpile, the merger is definitely a step-up for both parties.
So Can SparkGift Disrupt Wall Street?
Can SparkGift disrupt Wall Street?
After reading all of the SparkGift reviews and opinions, it certainly doesn’t appear that way.
It doesn’t seem that Stockpile will, either, once the merge is complete.
Stockpile provides you with a simple outline of their “secret sauce” so you can see how giving stock as a gift works:
Source: stockpile.com
As you can see, they’re the ones making the initial contribution by purchasing “whole share(s) from the stock market” and then dividing them up into smaller pieces so that you can purchase however many you want.
If anything, they are helping the average consumer to get excited about and interested in the stock market. More interest = greater participation.
All of the arrows seem to be pointing to a positive impact on Wall Street rather than a disruption.
Next time you’re out shopping for presents, just go back home instead and buy some stocks as gifts rather than a useless trinket that will end up in the “things to donate” bin. In the long run, the gift recipient will thank you.
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