With the number of shopping days until Christmas dwindling, we're nearing official “just give them an Amazon or Starbucks gift card” season. While there's nothing wrong with these gift cards per se, cards for these two mega-corporations in particular are so commonly gifted that they practically scream “I panicked and got this at the last minute”—which is exactly what you don’t want in a last-minute gift.
Not only are Amazon and Starbucks predictable choices, neither company is especially friendly to organized labor, so you might want to avoid giving union-busters your money. So skip Amazon and Starbucks and shake up your gift card game with any of these great gift card alternatives.
Bookshop.org
Giving a book-lover an Amazon gift card is sort of a faux pas at this point. If you don’t know the bookworm on your list well enough to pick the perfect title for them, a Bookshop.org gift card is the next best thing. Bookshop ships all their books from independent bookstores, so you’re supporting small booksellers instead of Jeff Bezos.
Goldbelly
Shipping yourself a sandwich from Pittsburgh or deep-dish pizza from Chicago is indulgent to the point of being hard to justify, which is why a Goldbelly gift card makes such a fun gift. It’s the perfect excuse to splurge a little, and even the person who seems to have tried every restaurant on the planet will be sure to find something totally new to them.
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
If Goldbelly is great for equal-opportunity food lovers, this one’s for the real ice cream freaks. Jeni’s makes some of the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted and they ship nationwide. (There’s a four-pint minimum for shipping, though, so keep that in mind.) A digital gift card makes the perfect choose-your-own-adventure gift for your favorite ice-cream lover—and if you ask nicely, maybe they’ll share.
Jiggy Puzzles
If you know someone who loves puzzles, a Jiggy Puzzles gift card is just the ticket. This company makes cute jigsaw puzzles in 100, 450, or 800 pieces, so there’s something for all ages. Another great detail: Each puzzle comes with puzzle glue so your recipient can keep and frame the finished piece of their choice as artwork.
A Criterion channel subscription
The Criterion channel is the ultimate streaming site for film-lovers, and they just happen to offer gift subscriptions. Their offerings change every month and include curated themed collections, interviews with filmmakers, and archival footage—everything you can’t get from Netflix and Hulu, in other words. (If your movie buff prefers physical media to streaming, you can also get them a physical or digital gift card to the Criterion collection store so they can stock up on DVDs.)
A 1Password subscription
Not everyone would be thrilled to receive a password manager subscription for Christmas, but if you know someone who would, now is a great time to buy one; the best deals typically pop up around the winter holidays. 1Password is a great product, and they offer gift cards in $25, $50, or $125, so you can choose the right level of commitment.
eBay
The niche hobbyist who already has everything they need (and buys themselves everything they want) is a deeply frustrating person to shop for. This is the perfect use case for an eBay gift card. Whatever weird shit they’re into—model trains, vintage sports memorabilia, limited-edition Margaritaville Crocs, things of this nature—they’re more likely to find it on eBay than Amazon anyway. Why not go straight to the source?