One reason I like getting gift cards instead of cash is that the gift card “forces” me to spend the money on me - and if it is a well-chosen gift card, on something I like. As I said upthread, I usually will not shop in Bath and Body Works. I can’t justify (to myself) spending $13.50 on a bottle of body wash, no matter how good it smells. With my sister-in-law’s gift card, I get to indulge in something I like. If she had sent cash, I would feel guilty about blowing it on body wash when there are bills to be paid.
Many years ago, a family friend who prides herself on being correct apologized for giving me a gift card to a book chain even though she thought I’d like it. I told her it was a terrific and entirely appropriate gift. It meant I could browse to my heart’s delight and buy something I wouldn’t normally buy (with her gift, I splurged on a book of haiku in Japanese and English). Like Bricker’s wife, I’m a knitter whose so addicted I was working on a sweater while I was reading this thread. A gift certificate to my favorite yarn store, or any yarn store, for that matter, would be a treat because I’d be able to go, fondle the yarn, look at pretty patterns, and come up with ideas. Be careful, those of you who have knitters and crocheters on your gift lists. A gift certificate to a yarn store can backfire. I gave my mother a $25 gift certificate to one to try to get her to splurge a bit. She wpund up spending $100. :eek: She’s usually not that extravagant, but she enjoyed her shopping.
To me, gift cards are like any other gift. They can be the perfect gift for someone or they can be completely inappropriate. I’m not much of a drinker, so a bottle of wine or spirits won’t do much for me. A book I haven’t read yet or a new DVD would work, though. A gift card to the right place would be wonderful; one to WalMart won’t do much for me because I prefer not to shop there.
Earlier someone brought up mentioning what you bought when you’re thanking someone for a gift card. To me, it’s polite to do that, not so that someone knows what to get you next time, but so they can know the pleasure they gave you.
I *love * gift cards. The thing I most look forward to at Christmas is finding myself awash in Borders gift cards! Hundreds of dollars to spend on books! And like others have mentioned, that means that I *actually * spend it on books, which I simply couldn’t justify if someone just handed me hundreds of dollars.
Gift certificates are especially ideal for teenagers. They hang out in malls! And face it, you have no frakkin’ idea what your sister’s kids like.
And even those “general” or “practical” gift cards to places like Walmart have their place. My grandparents have zero need for more stuff, but they’ve got a million prescriptions to fill in any given month, and CVS gift cards are good at the pharmacy.
One upside to gift cards that I haven’t seen mentioned: they help when what you really want is really expensive. I’ve asked Santa for two gift cards this year, and in both cases it’s for something that’s way too expensive for someone to buy as a gift for me. But they can give gift cards, and I can put in the rest of the money myself. It’s great.
For me, the ideal gift is a gift card at a big bookstore. I can go around browsing, knowing I have money to spend that can only be spent there, so there’s no impulse to save it. I can find books I never knew existed and could never had asked for, which has led to some of the best reading experiences of my life. Gift cards are great.
My husband and I have a large extended family; we have children and grandchildren on both coasts, some here locally, and a couple sprinkled out in the heartland. I have tried in the past to send gifts, but shipping costs were almost as high as the actual gifts. I figured that the money would be better spent by the kids, rather than being paid to UPS or the Post Office. Gift cards to the rescue! We still send actual gifts to the young ones, because part of Christmas to them is getting to open presents, but as they grow older and develop their own interests, gift cards are the way to go. Last year, as we were shopping in Target, my husband called his step-son to ask what his daughter would like, and was told “gift card”. I found one there that had animated lights on it, to make it fun.
For Queen Bruin and The Highwayman, as starving students, they have been getting gift cards for restaurants, which have been used enthusiastically. (They’re getting a gift this year, but I’m not telling what it is!)
For myself, personally, I’d rather have a gift card to somewhere I like to shop, rather than a generic “gift”.
YMMV
But, as I mentioned, it’s all context. My family loves having a big event on Christmas Day. As we have no local extended family, and none of my sisters and I are married or have kids, it’s pretty much just me, my sisters, and my mom and stepdad. We’re all close, and we all like to give each other several presents.
However, we’re all busy professionals with real lives. We like the event, but, we don’t want to give people stuff they already have or are just going to return. So, each year people have a list. However, it is perfectly OK to buy items that aren’t on the list - the list is just provided as a courtesy to save people guesswork.
Items on the list are often vague, like “dressy clothes in x size”, though very specific stuff’s not unknown. This gives us the freedom to ask for things that we actually need, or things that we just want, and people get a good idea of what to buy in general just from what’s on the list. We usually get some items from our list along with some impulse surprises, and we get to open presents for hours on Christmas morning. Even the pets get a present or two. Then we go all-out on Christmas dinner, play Charades and board games, and drink wine.
Maybe our traditions will change later, but with three 20-something kids, it seems to work out pretty well for us.
Bad etiquette? I think it depends on the context. Etiquette is all about showing consideration for your fellow human being, and since we all enter into our holiday with the same expectations and desires, we all end up happy and without having to spend months of guesswork and anxiety. We each want so much to get something the other person will like, and believe me, on occasions when people haven’t done the list, it wasn’t the recipient who suffered - it was the giver, who was disappointed when gifts got returned. So, I provide a list for the sake of the giver, not my own sake.
Amen to what Priceguy said: I can’t say to anyone that I want either of the $100-$150 items I’m unable to justify buying for my video game habit, but I CAN guess that at least 3-4 relatives and friends will give me Best Buy gift cards.
Personally I love it when my wife gets me gift cards–I know she knows that half the fun for me is picking it out in terms of books or video games.
The only family I have who don’t routinely give me gift cards are my parents (who make an effort to conspire with my wife to find out what totally ridiculous stuff would tickle my fancy–currently they’re completing my star wars lego collection one set a year, amid the other stuff. =P) and a few aunts who get the same generic thing for all the cousins.
But there’s no fun is returning gifts 
I also doubt most people who know me know what books, games etc. I’m interested in, or am eagerly awaiting a chance to purchase–as you put it, a gagillion of the things are put out each year, giving them a lot of room to go wrong. Sometimes I don’t buy myself these things because I can’t justify the expense, but giving me a gift-card gives me a chance to go out and buy whatever it is I’ve been lusting over for the last few months guilt-free. It’s not just about the item, it’s about the fun of going out and getting it.
I’d rather have a chance at a lovingly chosen book that would introduce me to a new author and a chance that it’s an author I’ve already read than a gift card that simply lets me buy more of whatever I’m already reading. I think well picked books are amongst the greatest gifts anyone can give.
Bottom line - give what the recipient will appreciate receiving. If this is a gift card or cash, then it’s an appropriate gift. A thoughtful gift purchased with much effort that the recipient doesn’t want, not appropriate.
I personally don’t understand the concept behind gift cards. I’d always prefer cash - does it make the gift more personalized if you dictate where the recipient is to spend it? Giving gift cards instead of cash seems to make it less likely that the recipient can spend it on what they want - if you give me a Best Buy gift card for $100, and find that an item I want costs $120 at Best Buy but only $100 at Circuit City, I would have been better served with cash.
I enjoy that as well. If they can pick a book that they know I’ll enjoy, great. On the other hand, it’s rather fun taking all the gift cards I have and going on a nice shopping spree after Christmas 
It’s partly a matter of personal taste though. I enjoy shopping, and any excuse to go out and buy stuff is good with me.
My big problem with getting gift cards is that I never use them. I tend to just put them in my wallet and forget about them.
Count me in as another who doesn’t mind gift cards and has even asked for them on occasion. For example, this year I know my SO’s mother is really busy, swamped even, and won’t have time to go shopping. So I’ll ask for a gift card from my favorite store. That way it’s easy-peasy for her and I can pick out what I like.
I love getting gifts and I hate exchanging cash but I don’t think gift cards count. I do like to give something small with the card, though, so it’s not just an envelope.
And I hate getting bottles of wine. I’m certainly no teetotaler but I don’t ever drink for the sake of drinking. There’s only maybe half a dozen drinks I will drink, ever, and most of them are mixed drinks. So I just regift wine or get rid of it in some other way.
From some people, though, I want gifts. Even I like surprises but as an adult I’ve come around to the thinking of - ask for what you want and you won’t be disappointed. Last year my best friend asked me what I want for Christmas. I gave her a list:
- A girly basket of goodies (you know, lotion, perfume, etc.) with the proviso there be no bath stuff. I don’t take baths, only showers
- A gift card from Joanne’s Fabrics
- A pair of gloves
- A nice book - she somewhat knows my tastes
That way there’s plenty of room to give me a surprise but they’re all within limits of what I already like.
Sure. But posting the same argument addressed above without further comment suggests that your disagreement is not a product of consideration and reason.
If you had said: I disagree. The gift card saddles the giftee with the chore of shopping for the gift, and forces him to shop at a particular store. Although some people have said they enjoy shopping, I feel they’re simply being polite; people really want to HAVE a gift, not shop for one, even with someone else’s money… then that would have, at least, acknowleged that the issue had been addressed and rebutted what people were saying. It would have been an insanely stupid disagreement, but at least you’d have offered a basis for what you said.
Here, you simply dismissed what others said above, and announced that a gift card saddles the giftee with the chore of shopping for the gift, and forces him to shop at a particular store. What about the fact that people have said they enjoy the opportunity to shop for the particular gift they want? How can this be, given your comment?
It’s not the “disagreement.” It’s the seeming complete unawareness of the fact that your point was addressed previously addressed, spot-on.
Which is exactly what I would want, rather than a shirt that is ugly, pants that don’t fit, a CD of a band I don’t like or a DVD that will sit and gather dust.
It’s funny how folks only want to compare a gift card to something they clearly don’t want. Nothing is more special than recieving a gift that you love and somebody obviously put some thought and effort into. And giving an actual gift that somebody loves is much more gratifying I find than ever giving a gift card.
I can understand if you have to shop for a ton of people a gift card is probably the best thing, but I still think a gift card as a birthday present is kind of thoughtless.
Just to add another voice to the choir here… I’m a music and videogame geek with very specific tastes. A non-aficionado tasked with finding me something I would like, but don’t already own, has his work cut out for him. Besides, shopping is fun! I’m all for gift cards.
The thing about gift cards is that they’re precisely like any other gift*. They can be either appropriate or inappropriate depending on the situation. When I was a starving student working three jobs to make ends meet, both cash and gift cards were amazing presents. Now that I’m a financially-solvent adult, gift cards are still appreciated gifts from people who want to give presents but don’t really know me well enough to pick with absolute accuracy (my parents, my siblings, my aunts and uncles, my in-laws)**. My best friend can pick with assurance, my husband can pick with assurance - anyone else is going to have a struggle. I’d rather spare them the struggle (and, frankly, I’m also keen to spare me the strain of having to enthuse over a well-intentioned miss).
Since my family is spread out all over the country, gift cards to national chains are one of the few truly practical gifts for those of us over the age of 10 or so. The postage of sending gifts is quite often more expensive than the actual gifts (some of my close relatives live in Alaska, for example - not cheap postage).
Even from the people close enough to pick gifts with assurance, I wouldn’t mind a gift card to a venue that’s appropriate to my interests - they know damn well that browsing a bookstore is one of my life’s little joys. A gift card from that group of folks to a generic department store, however, would smack of “checking you off the list!”.
It’s all in the context.
*And by ‘any other gift’, I include cash.
** They know generally what my likes and hobbies are, but it’s the specifics that kills them. They all know I love to read - but read what, specifically? Have I read X author? Do I own the collected works of Y already? They know I like video games, but which video games might I be interested in that I do not already own?
On the contrary, for me it’s the best thought I can put into it. I’m horrible, horrible at picking specific gifts. I have little ability to figure out what someone will like or would even be interested in.
Now, while I don’t know what music my dad likes, I do know that he absolutely loves his iPod, and he spends a significant portion of his job on the road. Music and movies get him through the boring stretches of travel. I don’t know what movies or music he has already, and it’s a waste of my money and his time to get him something he already has. (ETA: It would also be a waste of my time and a lack of surprise for him if I spend time grilling him about his collection.) But a gift certificate to iTunes? That’s gold for him, since he now has several hours more of entertainment that he didn’t have before.
Now can you tell me there’s no thought put into that gift? Really?