Although we are in the business of buying and selling gift cards, Plastic Jungle is not immune to the bad press gift cards as gifts are sometimes given in the media. The gist of this negative press is that gift cards are too impersonal, and that they have taken away the ‘specialness’ of giving. Obviously, consumers disagree. Below is information from Internet Retailer from a study by Javelin Strategy and Research:

“Online gift card sales will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29% over the next several years, hitting $5.86 billion in 2014.”

The fact is, gift cards can be a win-win for both giver and receiver. We are all leading more hectic lives than we ever have and buying gift cards as gifts allows us to easily check off our Holiday shopping list in no time. The person who receives the gift card as a gift is happy, for they can buy whatever they want, instead of receiving the typical ugly tie or blouse that doesn’t fit that they have received in the past.

If you are giving gift cards as gifts this Holiday season, there are ways to spruce them up and make them special. With each passing year, retailers get more creative with their gift card designs and packaging, plus there are ways you can personally create a gift of a gift card that will be remembered long after the balance on the gift card has been spent.

Here is a list of suggestions for making the gift of a gift card something special:

• Place the gift card inside another gift. Gift wrapping can be almost as beautiful as the actual gift, if you are creative or pay to have a gift professionally wrapped. Let your imagination run wild and dress up the gift cards you give as gifts with ribbons, special papers, trinkets, whatever your mind can conceive.
• Buy gift cards for special trips or entertainment. Treating someone to an experience he or she might not buy for himself / herself can truly be a holiday highlight.  Consider purchasing a gift card for a vacation, special event, or other great forms of entertainment.
• For teenagers, gift cards can be a great way to teach them how to budget. Buy a wallet or pocketbook and fill it with gift cards to their favorite stores, but also to gas stations, convenience stores, and other practical places they shop to teach them the value of money.
• Give inexpensive gift cards to service people. Your mailman, teachers, and others who have served you well throughout the year will be thrilled at the gesture and unexpected surprise of a gift card.
• Buy gift cards specialized for the receiver’s interest. If you have a fitness fanatic in the family, buy them a gift card for a free membership to a gym. For the chef in your life, buy a gift card to a kitchen supply store or cookbook retailer. You get the idea!

See how easy it is the make a gift card something special?

What are you doing this holiday season to make the gift cards you give as gifts memorable?