TE Brangs Bilz Mini - Blue (difficulty 6 of 10)

Probably not but it depends on you.It’s up to you if you want to gamble on whether or not it will work. I chose to gamble. Here are some things that happened:1. First, there are two sizes of this item—one that is made for gift cards, one for bills. I ordered the size that fits bills but I received the one that fits gift cards. I folded the bills without an advanced knowledge of origami and was able to forge ahead with this product.2. At first I could not get this thing closed. And then I never ever got it closed. I tried and I pushed really hard and I googled. I considered throwing one. I spent a considerable amount of time sure I was doing it wrong. I weighed the pros and cons of sending it back versus meeting my gift window with a cool item that might work out and ultimately, I chose to give them anyway because thoughts count. But I did have to vulture around the giftees as they opened the present to say something along the lines of ‘it is broken but listen.’3. I found that if you tell someone that you have something with a seemingly simple mechanism that arrived not working, they will spend until their border of patience trying to fix it. It is really hard to accept that it’s not working instead of thinking that there must be a trick. Completely voluntarily and separately, 8 people spent their alone time with the puzzle, pretty sure they would figure out the trick that would make it work. A couple assured me they would text me when they figured it out. None figured it out, but there was definitely enjoyment.If you are planning in advance, sure, spend your time trying this. If you, like me, ordered this only JUST in the window of shipment before you plan on gifting, take heed. Probably if you are planning to give cash or a gift card, you have the built-in backup plan of just doing that minus a puzzle. Or maybe, like me, you will choose to give it broken if it doesn’t work because the idea is still cool. I mean 8 people spent until the border of their patience playing with it when it was just broken. Not for everyone.

If only I'd read more of the reviews! Although the product description is "Bilz Mini Blue Gift Card Money Puzzle, the product packaging clearly says "For Gift Cards". The Slot where you insert money and the space where it will go is gift card sized. So if you're buying this with the intention of using it for money, look for a different product - they are out there, as I've bought them and should have looked for the same one!Update: By folding to gift card size and tightly compression, I was able to squeeze three bills into the gift card slot. It got stuck, but I used a gift card to push it down into place. I'll update after the recipient does the actual puzzle.

Ordered this for a 13 year old's birthday. He wanted $$, but I didn't just want to hand it to him, so my 12 year old and I decided to try this. It came in perfect condition. I wanted to see how hard it was to solve, so we played with it a bit and it didn't take me too long to solve, just a little commitment. It's designed to hold a gift card, but we folded a $20 bill into thirds and it fit just fine. My son said his friend enjoyed trying to solve it, said it took him about 15 minutes. Then after he solved it, he put a piece of gum in the drawer that his dad wanted and told his dad to solve it! When I went to pick up my son, the parents were trying to solve it for the piece of gum. Love that you can reuse this!

This is my new go-to for my nephews' Christmas presents. I was at a total loss as to what to get them this year and was just going to give them cash, since I always loved getting cash when I was younger. But just giving cash in a card is so boring! Then I found this. Kept them occupied for a good 30 minutes before it was solved, and then they put singles in it so they could play again. All other toys were discarded for the time being and I totally won Christmas, which is always a good feeling. Highly recommend this type of thing for any presents when you're going to give cash, whether for birthday or Christmas.

Used for a $100 gift card for a 10-year-old's birthday. If the card's value hadn't been so high, he would have given up and thrown it in the trash. Took him 3 days to solve and he almost "solved" it with a hammer.

I bought three of these before the holidays to hold cash I was gifting to my nephews. It's a cute way to give cash or gift cards and the boys enjoyed them, but one of them apparently malfunctioned because as soon as my nephew pressed on the side of it, the drawer with the money flew open. The other two puzzles worked as advertised and engaged the boys more than if I had just put cash inside a greeting card.

Huge success but one was broken and wouldnt lock. Of course I didn't open the box and just slipped the gift cards in as it states to do so found out it was broken too late.

Smaller than I visualized but seems to be what was described and will work and be fun.