My explanation of this issue to a user...

The way Composr works is that users accrue points in various ways. And they accrue gift points automatically. Normal points determine one's rank on the site, and can be spend on things too. Gift points can be given to someone, at which point they become regular points; they are valueless until given. Consider gift points as a kind of "personal reward quota".

Now what is kind of interesting, is this system of having points and gift points is kind of socialist. If you think of it like money, gift points encourage a kind of economy where people are rewarded by hand outs. Okay it's not quite socialism because the handouts come from other members, but essentially it all originates from the site at the end of the day.

We have been considering adding an option to get rid of gift points and simplify it. People would then just give their regular points to other people. That's simpler to understand, and a bit more capitalistic. The economy becomes based on trade, and points have more of a value.

Both systems have some interesting dynamics.

I would like to see the Points system made easier to understand to reduce the risk of scaring off new users to Composr

I would definitely support the option to go to a capitalistic points system and remove gift points. Unfortunately I do not have the resources to sponsor this feature though.

We did not add an option for members to give regular points instead of gift points when gift points are enabled.