Online gifts for girls... cool or drool?

December 22, 2007 11:00 AM

Is an online gift card (say, to a bookstore) okay as a Christmas gift for early teen girls? Or will the intangible nature of the gift make it seem like I'm not giving them anything at all?

I admit it, I'm broke this year, and I'm confined to spending about $25 per child. Is an online giftcard to a bookstore enough? It worked for adults last year, but I'm queasy about how it'll be perceived by three fabulously wonderful young ladies that mean the world to me.

If I get a gift online for them, what should it be? And if I shouldn't, do you have any suggestions on how I can get the most out of that $25 allotment?

posted by JaySunSee to shopping (21 comments total)

When I said bookstore, I meant online bookstore ala Amazon, Chapters.ca etc.
posted by JaySunSee at 11:01 AM on December 22, 2007

That sounds like a great gift.
posted by caddis at 11:08 AM on December 22, 2007

The gift cards from the mall clothing stores like Abercrombie usually come in quite nice little packages, if you're worried about the appearances here. Nicer than a print-out of an email, IMO.
posted by smackfu at 11:09 AM on December 22, 2007

Speaking as a bookworm, that would have been an excellent gift for me at any point. I remember getting a $10 Barnes & Noble card when I was about 18 and being all excited about getting a new book. I got a $25 card from an aunt last year and went to town in their sale section.

If they're not bookworms, maybe a store more in line with their interests. A gift card isn't all uncreative and thoughtless. Last year, I needed new clothes after dropping a size, so my aunt got me a card to Macy's, where I was able to pick out just what I needed.
posted by cmgonzalez at 11:14 AM on December 22, 2007

When you're a teen girl, having some money that is your own, to spend as you wish, is the greatest gift. And a gift card is even better than cash, because your parents can't guilt you into putting half of it into your savings account.

That said, I would get her a gift certificate to her local mall rather than to an online store. Shopping for girls this age is as much a social experience as a spending experience.
posted by anastasiav at 11:14 AM on December 22, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

No Abercrombie where I live smackfu (I just checked), but I like the idea. And thanks for your vote of confidence caddis.
posted by JaySunSee at 11:18 AM on December 22, 2007

More great comments. Thank you.
posted by JaySunSee at 11:19 AM on December 22, 2007

Just be careful, the whole mall gift cards seem to be the last ones that still have fees and usage fees and dormancy fees and whatever else they can wring out in order to actually not have to give you any product in exchange

Barnes and Nobles and Borders both have other stuff, videos, CDs, games, so on so so if they aren't into books they can get something else.

I admit that I *LOVED* the bookstore when I was little and was totally psyched when I got a gift certificate to the local bookstore

Maybe if they do like a particular clothing store you can ask their 'rents which one? I've got it easy, my nephew loves getting iTunes gift cards :)
posted by legotech at 11:33 AM on December 22, 2007

the whole mall gift cards seem to be the last ones that still have fees and usage fees and dormancy fees and whatever else they can wring out in order to actually not have to give you any product in exchange

Certainly check the terms and conditions, but I recently won a mall gift card, and the terms and conditions on the back say that the fee kicks in after it goes unused for 13 months. I honestly can't imagine a teen girl sitting on $25 at the mall for that long.
posted by anastasiav at 11:53 AM on December 22, 2007

Speaking as a teenage girl who did actually just receive an online Barnes & Noble gift card... yes!
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 12:07 PM on December 22, 2007

With gifts they say it's the thought that counts.

Gift cards mean you don't (that's why I get them for my family)
posted by Mick at 12:25 PM on December 22, 2007

I can remember hardly a single gift that I received as a teenager that I liked. Gift cards mean not having to say you like it when you don't. GO GIFT CARDS!
posted by iguanapolitico at 1:17 PM on December 22, 2007

I decided to get two mall gift cards (just purchased) and the third one will be an online Barnes & Noble gift card (or maybe Chapters.ca) which i'm going to purchase in about 5 seconds.

A big thank you to everyone is in order, and Merry Christmas!
posted by JaySunSee at 1:23 PM on December 22, 2007

From today's newspaper in Portland, Ore.: "All teens want for Christmas is a card."
posted by lisa g at 1:35 PM on December 22, 2007

Amazon cards are a great idea. The mall gift cards won't go nearly as far because of how expensive stuff is there. For instance, FYE charges $18 for CDs that might be $10-12 on Amazon.
posted by explosion at 1:48 PM on December 22, 2007

Ok, I'm going a little "best answer" crazy, and there are other answers here that probably deserve it too...
posted by JaySunSee at 1:55 PM on December 22, 2007

The only negative of online gift cards for kids is that online doesn't take cash. So if they need $2 more to get what they want, they need to go borrow Mom's credit card, which is so totally uncool.
posted by smackfu at 1:56 PM on December 22, 2007

Little known fact: Amazon gift cards now work in the MP3 store.
posted by b1tr0t at 2:10 PM on December 22, 2007

The nice thing about a gift card from Amazon is that you're not locked into buying a brand-new whatever if you don't have to. For example, just about any work of fiction can be had for pennies on the dollar through their used-bookstore affiliates. I'd rather have 10 books from an overstocker through Amazon than just one from a brick-and-mortar store.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:01 PM on December 22, 2007

As someone who was once a teenage girl - gift cards are fabulous. Gift cards that allow socializing at the mall are heaven. Well worth the $2 or $3 she might lose in fees.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:28 AM on December 23, 2007

It really depends on the girl. When I was that age (which wasn't really that long ago) I would have adored a gift card to the bookstore -- in fact that's usually what I asked for and got. But if they would prefer something else -- clothes etc. -- you should tailor the card to what they would like.
posted by peacheater at 11:13 AM on December 23, 2007