- Gary Matherne
Should you buy Gift Cards for Christmas?
The gift card may seem like the perfect fallback gift for those who don’t know what to buy loved ones for the holidays, but sometimes even these presents don’t quite hit the mark. Consumers spent more than $130 billion on gift cards per year, according to advisory company CEB TowerGroup, but it said roughly $1 billion went unspent.
Gift Cards are perfect for online shopping,especially when families are spread out. This allows your giftees to purchase what they want or need at that time. However you never know if the gift card has been used. Just FYI there are gift card services out there that can store your cards for a fee. I read different statistics on giving gift cards as a gift and the statistics say its not a valuable gift but I do differ my opinion based on who you are shopping for. If you are shopping for your children you probably won't be giving them gift cards because you know what they need unlike your cousin in Louisiana that you see every year for Christmas.
Something to buy for yourself - One thing to notice this time of year are restaurants that offer 25.00 gift card for 20.00 or similar offers. These are great to take advantage of if you are a regular at that particular Venue.
The final point I would like to make is gift cards are like any other gift you give. Just think about the person you are giving the card to and consider their likes and dislikes.
