by Anne StClair

Created on: October 28, 2008

Gift cards seem like a great idea, especially for giving gifts to people who live long distances away from you, because postage costs can be significant when sending heavy or bulky items. They also seem to be great for gifts for people who seem to have everything, or who are really difficult to buy for, and they're great for people who are too lazy to look for gifts, or who just do not have the time. They have the advantage that the recipient can buy something that she or he really wants, instead of receiving a gift they don't want.

There are gift cards these days for almost every major store chain, and even for online retailers, and they are readily available at many outlets. Whether it's for books, music, games, or even hardware, you should be able to find a gift card to suit the recipient, and your budget. There are also gift cards that are not tied to any particular store, but allow you to spend the money anywhere.

The reason gift cards are proliferating like wild fire is because they are great for retailers issuing the cards. Cards are rarely spent in their entirety, and the store gets to keep the change. If they're over-spent, the store gets to keep the difference. The money spent on the card is a short-term loan for the store until the card is redeemed. The stores simply cannot lose, which is why they think gift cards are a great idea.

There are also drawbacks to gift cards. My parents (both 80 years old) recently received a gift card for a store selling video games. They went in to see if there was anything of interest to them, and came out empty-handed, since they have never played video games, and never want to. The person who gave them the card obviously gave the gift absolutely no thought, or imagined that just because her family plays video games, everybody else would find them irresistible. She wasted her money.

I also received a gift card that was of little use to me, since it was a gift card for a store that has no outlets in my state. I eventually worked out how I could order books online from an interstate store using the card, but the shipping cost was so high that about half the value of the card was spent in postage.

So, gift cards do have a lot of good points: they are convenient, they are easy to purchase, they are widely available and come in a variety of values, and they are cheap to send to relatives or friends living a long way away. They also save on packaging. But they need the same amount of thought as any other gift. There is simply

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