Do you give gift cards?

Although I'm largely against flash as a whole, what I find really annoying are people who like to send out those little "flash greeting cards."

Had a customer yesterday (I work as 'tech support' for an ISP) who was really annoyed that her internet is slow. Turns out, her son had sent out a bunch of greeting cards to her the day before and it ate up all her bandwidth.

By gift cards, are you meaning cards with gift vouchers in them? If so, I think they're ok but only if you're really stumped for what to buy some one.

That doesn't happen very often with me and my sisters cos I'll just ask them what they want, and they'll ask me what I want. We set an approximate max value for presents and then just go out and get what each other wants. That way everyone gets something they like and nobody feels cheated by getting a cheap presents.

Methinks there is a tad bit of confusion about what a gift card is!

Gift cards are great for people who are generally really hard to buy for, but otherwise I think they are a bit of a cop-out. Like you can't be bothered to think of something they'd really like so you just let them pick something themselves. In thise case, if you're going to arrange to get each other gift cards, then why not just go buy yourself something and forget the whole thing? But most people wouldn't do that, so if you're not sure what the person would really like then it's nice to let them treat themselves with a gift card

No, I think do not think gift cards are worth it. If I am going to give someone money, I give them currency. A crisp $20 bill can be spent anywhere.

I reckon gift cards are fine. I got my mum one for christmas this year. I know for a fact if I gave her money it would dissapeer into the housekeeping. With a gift card she now has no choice but to spend it all in the shop of my choosing. Another good reason for giftcards is they can get what they wan't. I think the whole present thing can get a bit silly and you end up giving for the sake of it. I've got enough crap in my house so if I was going to get something I'd rather it was useful which is why I won't buy something unless i know they'll want it. If I'm not sure... a gift card solves the problem

I like to receive cash as a gift, or something from a wishlist. Gift cards are encumbered too much, not as versatile.

It doesn't make much sense at times when gifts will be exchanged, as Megan pointed out, but that's probably partially why I don't celebrate most such events. For the rare occasions that I do, I value experiences, activities, conversations -- just spending time with people -- higher than objects or money.

My mum asked me what I wanted for Christmas yesterday. I told her that I have absolutely no idea but I didn't want her to give me the money. The problem being when you have money in your wallet, you end up spending it food, drink etc. You should actually be saving the money to buy something for yourself - rarely happens (in my case, anyway).

Gift cards are sometimes okay. It really depends if it's useful! I've had a giftcard in the past for B&Q (large DIY company), being a 20 year old living with my parents... it wasn't exactly what I wanted

Adam

I had a similar situation where a friend of mine says that gift cards shows that you don't know or care much about the person you're giving your gift to. Then I said, "But I usually give you gift cards for Christmas and birthdays." He interrupted me by saying, "No no no!!! I love gift cards. I want them!"

Gift cards are great for people who's houses are already stuffed with 'stuff', and who don't need or want anything else. And really good for elderly people who can use them at the grocery store.

My sister who has an old historic Victorian home in need of a lot of work asks for nothing BUT Home Depot gift cards, and she's happy as a pig in poop to get them.

One thing that we have started doing in my family is chipping together to buy that one really large gift that someone wants. That's how I got my DSLR last year!

Giving someone a gift card for a day at the Spa or whatever is nice too.

My parents are very old. There is nothing they want or need apart from their health and strength back. So last year we bought them a Spring Flower Meadow from one of these charity gift sites. They were delighted with it.

Here's some info about a research study that found that people acutally spend more money if they get gift cards rather than cash:

http://newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca/news.php?id=4819

I only give cash to people who would really have a good time spending it, like my niece Paige who is 15 and loves shopping. Give the gift of shopping I think cash is an alright gift for kids anyway, since they usually don't have much of it. I don't really like getting cash, especially now that I'm on my own and it's harder not to spend it on household stuff. I still usually get some from my grandpa, which is fine, since he's sort of out of touch with what I'd like (but well meaning ). I can think of a few times when I've gotten gift cards and ended up spending more, like it talks about in that study I linked. It does feel like more of an indulgence.

I just finished up my Christmas shopping and all my sisters got gift cards, except one who opted for a Seahawks hat . I didn't get my parents gift cards, instead I got them a new keyboard + mouse, and a new computer chair. I'm very glad I'm done with my shopping

My son's getting cash. All he wants is a set of lights so he can work with a green screen with his video stuff. The lights cost 500.00, plus tax and shipping.

We bought for my nephew, he's 2 and easy to buy for. Gifts for my husband, myself and my sister are going to need to wait until after Christmas.

We just paid 320.50 for 150 gallons of freakin' oil on top of everything else.