I do give them to people, but it's normally a last resort when I have no other ideas on what to buy. I know I appreciate getting them when they are to stores I like. I do like to try and put some thoughts into gifts, but sometimes a gift card is the best choice.
I think gift cards make great gifts especially since just about every place offers gift cards. I love receiving gift cards too. I think they make perfect gifts if you don't know the individual really well.
I think gift cards make great gifts, too. I think they're thoughtful if done right. I think it's easy to get a gift card for someone you don't know well, but it can really mean a lot to someone you know very well. For instance, I know that my best friend loves stationary and paper. She can be in a small mom-and-pop shop, ooh'ing and ahh'ing for hours at a time. Sure, it's not particularly something I'm interested in, but she cares - she loves imprinted things, designs, types of paper, stationary, letterhead, etc. She spends a lot of time picking out the perfect cards. It's important to her. So, I would get her a gift card to a stationary/paper store. I won't pick anything out for her because I know she's picky and would rather pick it out herself. But the fact that I got her a gift card to that particular store makes her know that I care about what she likes and where her interests lie. It's my way of saying, "I know you love this, so please, please, please get something that you totally love here." I could have easily gotten a Target or an Amazon card, but it's just a little different when you go out of your way to find the perfect place for someone to get lost in!
I'd rather not give people gift certificates unless it's to a store that I know they frequent. Even then, I'd much rather buy them something from that store. I tend to give gifts only to people I know pretty well, and so I usually know exactly what they want.
Okay I am really at a loss over gift cards if you are not sure about the store. So what about straight regular cash. A gift card locks the person in. Okay for some. I mean I am a weekly WalMart guy. But just for example, a gift card from Old Navy? I never go there. (like I said, just for example). Why not just cash? Because someone might just use it to buy gas? Is that the reason? Ryder13
I see nothing wrong with gift certificates for presents. Some people think it' s not too creative or thoughtful but I think it depends. If you are giving a Visa gift card, sure that's universal, however if you give a gift card to someone's favorite restaurant or favorite store, that shows thoughtfulness to me. I'm grateful either way.
I don't mind them. I prefer to make them personalized or only if I know the person would much prefer money than a chosen gift. I used to be against them and avoided giving cash as gifts, too, but eventually I hit a point where even I preferred getting that from some people, so I understood it from a different perspective.
I believe in giving gift certificates for Christmas presents because that way the person can get whatever they want and you won't have to be trying to pick something that they don't want and have to take it back. So I think that is a great idea and that is what I do very often.
In my mind, if you're going to give a gift card, you may as well just give money. You're already picking an amount of 'money' to gift anyway, may as well just let them do ANYTHING they want with it. Now there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, and I don't mind getting gift cards myself, but I try to put a lot of thought into gifts. So gift cards are my last resort/last minute picks.
I actually gave my mother a gift card last Christmas and she was really happy with what I gave. I didn't expect that her reaction would be like that but I'm happy with the results. I think she used hers for buying a kitchen set.
I have no problems with gift cards at all, but it seems everyone I know doesn't want one and thinks it's a rather impersonal gift. I personally wouldn't mind receiving one because I can purchase what I want instead of giving the gifter any stress. Also, this would ensure that you stick to your budget of, let's say, $50 instead of hitting the $100 mark.
I think it's a good idea. The hard part is choosing the right store for the right person. I seem to get a large collection of itunes gift cards and I rarely if ever purchase anything from there. If I get something I'm likely to use then it's a win win. I don't buy a lot of gift cards for friends and family but I'm not against doing so.
I'm not really keen on gift certificates as a Christmas gift as there isn't much thought into it. I would rather receive money if you're going to give a thoughtless present. A gift voucher just limits where you can spend your money. I can't see the point in it to be honest.
I don't really like giving them, I would like to take the time to find the just right gift but I am gifting teens and pre-teens, so you know what that means. Nothing I get will be right. I have seen to many of my gifts but in the back of the closet and then given away, so now I just give game cards. My one daughter is hard to purchase for also, she gets a gift card.
