When I discovered the Gyft app for Android and iOS earlier this year, it fast became one of those apps I was always showing my friends as one they need to download. I adore that I can save all my gift cards right there, protecting my poor leather wallet from the burden of 16 gift cards–or worse, never having the cards on hand at all when I end up in the store on a whim. But now that it’s the holiday season (and down to the wire at that), the app makes it super easy to send gift cards to friends digitally, without having to visit a ton of different stores.
Just give the app access your Facebook or address book contacts, choose a friend, then scroll down a list of around 200 retailers from Zappos to Sephora to Groupon to Fandango–even Charity Choice–then select an amount. You can pay with your credit card, PayPal or bitcoin.
Just know that some retailers, like Bath & Body Works limit the amount to $25 which seems odd, while some others go as high as $250 or $500.
(I can’t imagine why you would want $200 towards Burger King of all the gifts in the world, but hey, it’s an option; and I really can’t fiugre out why Celebrity Cruises would limit their cards to $250, because that probably pays for like 2 cocktails on board.)
Good news: Your friend doesn’t need the app to receive their card (though they might want it) and actually, you don’t either, since you can buy gift cards right from the Gyft website. But the best part is that you can regift a card you already own in about 2 clicks. No one will be the wiser.
Download Gyft for iOS or Gyft for Android to give and manage gift cards. You can also earn points on your purchases, though with just $1 earned for every $100 you spend, you’d have to buy a loooot of gift cards over the year to make much of a dent.
