To ask if gift vouchers are a cop out?

[lavalampoon]

Would be really nice to hear some opinions on whether you think gift vouchers are a cop out gift for close family like partner/spouse and parents.

I think it depends on the person. I wouldn't buy one for my husband but I do occasionally buy them for siblings if I can't find anything I think they'd like. I always buy my sister's partner book tokens because she's on a low wage and loves reading and then we get to discuss new books together when we see each other so everyone's a winner.

Depends on the person I think. My mum loves vouchers and so me and my sister always get her vouchers for her favourite shop. Last year she had her eye on a jewellery box and so waited until the January sales and bought it with our vouchers, she was thrilled.
But I think if I got vouchers for any of my friends, they would be a little disappointed - I mean I don’t think they’d show it but I do think they’d quietly be a bit sad they didn’t have anything more interesting to open.

My sister and I have been passing a £5 Tammy Girl voucher back and forth on our birthdays since about 1997. I bought it for her but she hadn't spent it by the time my birthday came round and so she gave it back to me and so on. It's a good job neither of us are fussed about vouchers or regifting which seems to be ultimate present sin on MN.

Depends on person
I have given my sister a Debenhams voucher for years now - she looks forward to it for the 70% off after Xmas for new coat/boots etc
Also good for nephews nieces with new home or teens
Never for other sister tho or parents

I don't think so! If they are for, like, WH Smith, maybe, but I've bought vouchers for people in the past - for my sister to buy shoes with, etc. my FIL got me a Harvey Nichols voucher a couple of years ago. I was very happy with that, thank you!

I think they’re impersonal and a bit of a cop out. Good for teenagers who would like to choose their own things.

Having said that this year all my adult family members are exchanging amazon vouchers. I suggested no adult gifts (after years of receiving crap) but that was met with horror so it was decided a mass voucher exchange would be suitable. Totally pointless but I will actually enjoying spending mine on me.

My brother asked for a bunch of books for Christmas but then a few weeks ago mentioned that his wife was trying to convince him to downscale his bookshelves and buy everything on Kindle. I checked and the books he wanted are available (and slightly cheaper) on Kindle.

So he's getting an Amazon gift voucher from me - bit of a cop-out gift, but he can have that fight with his wife instead of me. She's getting one too since she's the one making the big push to digitising their library. :D

I love a gift voucher; particularly if someone knows you shop a lot at that place but even for somewhere generic I like it as I’ll often end up using money for something every day but treat myself with a gift voucher

I think it’s fine for a birthday or special occasion but like others we have a family wide gift giving tradition at Christmas so when everyone starts buying vouchers it’s just a cash exchange and what’s the point?
Just don’t buy me a present and spend the money on yourself!
Or one person gives a 50 voucher to some who gives them one for 30 ... gets messy imo

Gift vouchers for a shop I would be able to buy a variety of items like Argos?

Fine

Gift vouchers for Tesco/Sainsbury’s/WHSmiths or some shop where I don’t get to choose something decent, I would rather have the cash

As long as they are for somewhere I like, I love them!

One of my best friends got me a Neals Yard one this year, I can use it when I next run low on oil or moisturiser and save money. Much better than a "gift set" from the same place full of stuff I don't use or her buying the wrong product.

If it's a kid give them cash - if it's an adult and you are so stuck you are resorting to vouchers it's time to stop exchanging gifts.

I love book tokens or theatre tokens - things that give me the fun of choosing something just for me, and unlike cash won't get absorbed into the overdraft household expenses.
PIL used to buy me expensive items tat in no way suited my taste. I was so much happier when they swapped to Waterstone's vouchers, and enjoy whiling away an afternoon choosing.

I think gift vouchers are great, much better than stuff you may not like or want.

However, our family members don't like giving them at Christmas as they prefer to give gifts they have chosen so fir this reason I also refrain from giving them.

But to be perfectly honest I'd really love gift vouchers instead of gifts that I often never use.

We have had to get one gift voucher for bils gf as we are not sure what she really likes. Her tastes are unclear tbh!

I love getting gift vouchers - I don't normally spend money on myself (although we could afford it) but having a voucher means I do it without guilt. Obviously it would have to be for somewhere I actually liked! When I was a student my gran used to give me £15 M&S vouchers for my birthday. I always loved it. If she'd have given me the cash it would have just ended up being spent here and there but with the vouchers I'd go and buys myself some nice food as a treat.

Yes gift vouchers cost £X amount and are less useful than £X but you could say exactly the same for any gift. You got me a bottle of perfume for £50? If you had just given me the £50 I could have chosen to buy the perfume or something I wanted more.

I think it depends on the person though and the likelihood of you actually buying them a gift they want. There is very little someone could buy me that I want (clothes I like but would want to try myself). I don't wear perfume, I love books but have loads so it would be impossible for someone to know which I have or not (and I love choosing myself). I have the kitchen stuff I want and don't want any more clutter! I think experiences are lovely gifts - someone gave DH a meal out for two (you could choose from a variety of really nice ones) which was lovely.

Love love love them! We haven't a lot of disposable income so I absolutely savour the chance to go out and choose something myself!

My MIL is obsessed with gift vouchers amd basically tries to dictate what I buy at christmas by constantly telling me 'just buy FIL Debenhams vouchers' or 'BIL wants TK Maxx vouchers' etc.

You think she would get the hint as I never buy what she tells me to especially since it often turns out that this is not what the recipient actually wants but rather what she wants and is therefore hoping to gather the unwanted vouchers for herself.

This year she said to DH that he could have any gift up to the value of £50. He asked for an xbox game, she said no, he could have vouchers for Next instead. He hates Next as she well knows but she wont get them back - I will use them for the kids instead.

I like them. I buy things I need rather than something I already have or pass onto the charity shop.

They're great, you can choose exactly what you want and have a guilt free experience. Lots of people feel guilty spending money on themselves so they give people an "excuse" to treat themselves and put themselves first for once.

I think they're great if they're tailored to the recipient. My mum often gives DSD a gift card for a bookstore or DSD's favourite clothes shop as a Christmas gift. This is great as DSD is a teen and of course it gets harder to keep up with clothing sizes. We are thinking about getting our mechanic friend and his wife a gift card for a nice restaurant. He's done a huge amount of work for us and charges us much less than a regular garage would.

The gift cards that Mum and we give are always for major chains so it would be unlikely they go out of business. Once a clinical group gave me a gift card for a bookstore. Probably my favourite gift EVER from a clinical group. (Tradition for clinicals is that you give something to the unit, usually a nice card and food, and a card and maybe a small gift to your instructor, because there is so much work involved in doing clinical.)

Hope not.

I love an appropriate gift voucher (somewhere I love to shop like accessorize) but hate a misplaced one (for wine when I don't drink for instance).

I do them occasionally (this year included) but tend to add a card and a little jokey item or two, (think £1-£5 with a £20 gift card)

I prefer a book voucher to a duplicate as well (especially if there's no receipt meaning it has to be re gifted, kept, sold online or given to charity)