But you could always go with one those reloadable debit cards, no? Though those usually come with a fixed setup fee of, say, $5

It's actually fairly hard to get money onto those without paying a fee (if you don't have a bank account). Most of the obvious ways to get money onto them involve "Visa ReadyLink", and that comes with a service fee from $2 to $5. If I recall correctly, some even have monthly fees if they get below a certain level.

Amazon gift cards can be purchased without a fee most of the time, and with less friction in the store then actually dealing with the service desk in the store that does ReadyLink.

>some even have monthly fees if they get below a certain level

If I receive one for some reason, I've learned to go straight to my computer and load it into my Amazon account.

Reloadable debit cards nickle and dime you with as many ridiculous fees as possible. A poor tax basically.