looking for interesting gift certificate idea

[rumi]

hi my friend has three boys age 10-15. I want to get them all a gift certificate for something interesting. I had thought of Barnes & Noble where I am sure they would each be able to find something they wanted - books or dragon games or whatever ... but I wonder if there is a non-chain alternative anyone can suggest?

[Starr]

You could see if there is an amusement or water park nearby and get them passes for one day. That would fit with the age range of all the boys and get them out of the house for a day. I know some 15 yr old boys who don't get overly excited over books, but it depends on the kids and you know them better than I do. One thing to keep in mind when purchasing a gift certificate anywhere is consider the price of the items in the store and calculate what they would have as options to choose from. It can be troublesome to get a $20 certificate when all the items in the store are at least $25, you don't want them to have to make the difference, unless it were a major purchase.

[rumi]

i was hoping for some progressively owned business (maybe online?) ... there seem to be oodles of these for infants and toddler "needs" (most of which they dont need ...)

well let me keep searching.

[~member~]

TCF bank offers a Visa Giftcard. So they can buy anywhere that accpets Visa, but they can only spend the gift amount. It's not a credit card, it's a giftcard.
hope that helps...

[lisser]

www.itunes.com is run by Apple, and you can download music from there. I've seen their gift cards at Walgreens and Targets here. Those were a big hit for my younger siblings this year.

Lisser

[Lizafava]

powells.com is an "independent" bookseller with a big 'ol online presense. I say "independent" because its the biggest bookstore I have ever seen, and none too cheap but seriously beats Amazon or Barnes. They have gift cards.

For dragony stuff check wizards.com maybe - they have a search feature to find sellers by area, maybe in the area you're looking for. I did this once for christmas when DP and I were going to be at my parents house. Local stores seem to be thrilled to do gift certificates over the phone, in my experience. Of course, if you live in the same area as your friend's kids, look in the yellow pages under "comic books". I think most comic book stores are independent.

Liza

[mommyspice]

do they like to read? You really don't want to get a gift card and let it go to waste. Have you talked with the mother. My friends have boys and they go crazy at Best Buy. I think all men do! It's difficult because you want something that they will enjoy without rotting their brains. How about a target gift card?

[aisraeltax]

unfortunately, my teenage son would HATE a gift cert. to a book store (and we have thousands of books in the house...its a sad state).
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!!!
napster has gift certificates too (they have specific # of songs or a 1 month, 2 month, or 3 month gc).
kids are going to pollute their minds...thats what we all do when we are teenagers! lol!
maybe im too liberal about the pollution, but i long since lost control! i used to ban video games and R rated movies (violence). somehow, somewhere, he got ahold of them.