Save the gift certificates

The only acceptable gift certificate is one bestowed freely from a business as a promotional tool. Purchasing one as a gift for someone is actually a curious thing. For it limits their choices to the business at hand, whereas the cash value could have been spent according to the whims of the receiver. Instead, that choice is directed to the business selected by the giver. Not any present or item is indicated, just the business. Never mind the gift cards may be lost, broken, ruined, expired, or devalued with time, the notion that an impersonal voucher directing the receiver to frequent a particular business for that shopping experience is flawed. I for one do not anjoy shopping and would prefer to avoid it. So if you must, send a check with a note about what shops or items you think it should be used for and please refrain from the gift certificates. They serve no purpose.