Christmas, birthdays, weddings and any other present giving occasion can cause much stress for people looking to buy the right gift. People giving gifts don’t want their present to be retired to the back of a wardrobe without seeing the light of day after January. This is often the case though and the not-so-well thought out gift may not come out again until it is time to clear some room and throw away unwanted gifts.

Picking the right present is always difficult especially when buying for adults. The average person will spend £15 on a Christmas present for an adult. The problem is that adults usually own everything they could want for under £15. On top of that, many people are not going to know what present a person would like. There are so many things to consider, such as:

will it fit them?
Do they like this type of product?
Will it look nice in their house?
What colour would they like?
Do they already have one?
Am I spending too much or too little on them?

Buying gifts can be a real minefield. Thankfully there is a way to get around these issues; simply give them the money to buy whatever they want. This has its down side too however. Some people in our society see this method as too simple, or just lazy. It’s true that giving money removes the need to even leave the house when looking for a present.

This is where the magic of gift certificates come in. Although they are actually less useful than cash, they are seen by many as a better present. This is because a little more effort is required to obtain them than opening your wallet. Unlike giving a product as a gift, certificates from several people can be brought together and used along with the receivers’ money to purchase more expensive items.

Gift certificates are seen as a better gift than cash also because in most cases they will be spent on luxury items. Although the products purchased might not be as important as what the cash could pay for (such as groceries), people tend to prefer to think that they have contributed towards a pleasurable gift.

Gift certificates are the gift of choice (albeit less choice than cash). With gift certificates you are of course restricted with where it can be spent but it is a lot easier to know what type of shop the person you are buying for uses, than the exact items they would like.

Gift certificates have several drawbacks. The first drawback is that the owner of the certificate is tied to buying from a single retailer (or group of retailers in some cases). Along with that problem is the issue of expiry dates that come with many gift certificates. These usually give just 12 months to use the certificate. After this, a £50 certificate can become worthless.

Those are a couple of reasons to not give gift certificates but instead give cash. However if you worry that you won’t appear to have made as much effort or put thought into your gift, certificates could be the way to go.