Friendgiftr saves your ass when you forget a birthday

While ATMs are open 24/7, sometimes money isn’t necessarily the best gift. (Nothing kills a gift-buzz more than knowing it will go to pay part of a utility or vet-bill, for instance.)

If you keep odd hours, dislike the mall and/or are in the habit of leaving gift-giving to the absolute last second, Friendgiftr might just be your new favorite invention. (It’s not entirely new- the site says Friendgiftr was founded in 2008.) Gift cards are nice to receive, but Friendgiftr even manages to circumvent some of the most common pitfalls associated with giving giftcards.

Firstly, the recipient can switch retailers, so if you give a Chili’s gift card to someone who is a quiet chain restaurant hater, they can opt to switch the credit to something of more use to them. If you purchase a Gap or Banana Republic gift card for a friend whose wardrobe is all stocked up, they can change the credit to be for Starbucks or Red Robin. Also, the cards can be used both online and off, so the giftee isn’t tied to using the card in person or losing the value, a common gift card scenario. There are options to dispense the gift card through Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Ning or plain old email.

If you select the “all merchants” tab, you can view the entire list of Friendgiftr merchants here.

[via Mashable, image]