Also, when the wish list of the person you're shopping for is prohibitively expensive, gift cards allow you to pitch in a portion of the cost to get them a larger present than you couldn't afford yourself.Thorn Bird said:i don't think they're tacky. i do like to try to buy something for someone for the thought factor...but gift cards are very convenient and i use them as a last resort, or if i'm out of time. although, there are some people out there like kiwi who would rather have a gift card to do the shopping themselves. which is fine!