Should you buy gift vouchers as a present

Gift vouchers are a quick and easy way to give someone a present, but can they also take away the personal touch of buying a gift? When buying a gift for anyone you are really showing that you cared enough to get them a present and that you cared enough to get them something thoughtful. When you buy a gift voucher, you need to be careful that you aren't neglecting the second aspect of gifts which is making them thoughtful. A gift voucher shouldn't be used as an easy way out of difficult gift selections.

So should you buy gift vouchers?

Of course! There are some situations where a gift voucher is an excellent choice, for someone you don't know very well, for someone who is travelling and maybe you can't physically send an actual gift, for a collection of people joining together or perhaps where you want to offer the person you are buying for a range of choices. There are so many different places you can buy vouchers, that they are easy to find. For example:

• Amazon
• iTunes
• Most High street stores 

How do you make gift vouchers a great present?

To make a gift voucher a more personalised present, it is best to add something that still shows that you've thought about the person and a gift choice, but perhaps didn't want to buy something without being certain the person liked it. Some ideas to make your gift voucher more personal are:

• Buy an iTunes voucher, but make up your friend a CD of songs you think they would like and then they can buy the albums of the people they liked most
• Buy a voucher for clothes, for something you know someone would like, but you don't want to force your fashion on them
• Take a friend's favourite hobby and buy a voucher for somewhere that means they can pick something (as they have the expertise)
• Knowing someone's favourite author, a voucher means they can pick up a book they have not read

 write about itunes giftcards (or giftcards), how to make it more personal