Today: All About Gift Cards

Gift cards — or gift certificates — are great gifts that can be seen as bonus gifts — or impersonal, last-minute, thoughtless attempts at a gift.

Advantages of gift cards:

* You don’t have to worry about whether a gift fits, is the right color, size or something the recipient will like. They can pick what they want.

* They’re easy to get — and if you’re organized, you can purchase them online, and have them e-mailed or snail mailed to the recipient, or yourself to wrap and present in person.

* They’re recyclable. If you don’t like a gift card store someone gave you — pass it on as a recycled gift.

Disadvantages of gift cards:

* Recipients feel they’re impersonal — or worse, recycled.

* They’re like cash. Lose ‘em and you lost your gift.

* If you’re sensitive about people knowing how much you spent, the gift card will tell the person exactly what you’re giving them, in terms of money.

Why are these cards great for retailers?

* There is less hassle of item returns.

* They don’t take up retail space.

* They are easy to keep track of.

* When the gift cards are lost, the retailers still make money.