gift card exchange

(related: )

Finished walmart holiday hours turned gift card exchange my last paper of the semester, and spent the usps holiday hours of yesterday (as well as today) schlepping stuff from pacificor llc apartment to the new house were renting. Ill post more on the move soon, but suffice it to say, its going to be a great place for our family.

While making my umpteenth gift card exchange back and forth between places, I heard on the radio that, according to this gift card exchange Express survey from a month or so ago (not sure how I missed it then), 66% of Christmas gift card exchange plan to give gift cards this year, a nearly-ten-percent jump from last years survey. Heres why:

How do those receiving the cards feel about this trend? Apparently they dont seem to mind:

The survey goes on to talk about who people are buying gift cards for, as well as that those giving gift cards have no expectation of receiving a thank you note from the recipient.

In listening to the story today, it seems obvious that the trend of our nations gift-giving frenzy this time of year revolves not around what someone wants to give, but what someone simply wants. Perhaps its too subtle an observation, but when I listened to all the commercials following the story, this was their clear theme.

Full disclosure: Im not much (okay, Im not any kind) of a gift-giver myself, so I dont stay up nights thinking about this. But for those who are (and those who do), is whats keeping you up your indecision about what exactly you want to give to someone else, or are you losing sleep trying to figure out exactly what the other person wants? Again, its a subtle difference, but it seems to me the latter causes a whole lot more stress than the former.

A friend of mine and I were talking about this (sort of) at a recent Christmas party we were both attending. As we were discussing the latest books we had been reading, George made the comment that he loves the holidays because his family always gives him some new books to read for the new year. However, when hes asked what books he would like, he tells them to pick out something they think he would like, rather than him tell them what he wants. He says hes never disappointed with their selections, and his library stays a little more varied than it would otherwise as a result.

I like that philosophy, but I recognize that it takes time and thought. Is the gift card phenomenon simply a function of limited calendars and creativity (it certainly doesnt seem to be due to a limited pocketbook)? Do you buy gift cards for others, and if so, whats your main motivation? And if gift card exchange dont, why not (and what do you do instead)?