File this for next year.

It’s a familiar scenario: two days before Christmas and you have no idea what to get for your sister’s sullen teenagers or your great aunt who has everything, and you’ve just found out the whole family will be joining you for the holidays.

Gift cards, you think. It’s the perfect solution. Giving money just seems so crass, so little thought put into it. A gift card says you care, and that you put some effort into thinking about what they would like. Any teen would like a gift card for, say, $20, to the Gap, right? Another one to the mall music store, a few from department stores here and there and you’re all set.

But, turns out sullen teen No. 1 only shops at Value Village and doesn’t believe in supporting stores where the clothes are made in “Third World sweatshops,” and sullen teen No. 2 got an Ipod for Christmas so no longer buys music from a store. And, your not-so-great aunt informs you she only shops at “Nordie’s,” but sniffs that she can probably give the Sears card to her housekeeper.

Before you can mutter “ingrates,” your carefully selected gift cards are up for sale on craigslist.com, the hottest free classified sales site on the Internet.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at some actual listings, posted within hours of Dec. 25 receipt (ads are exactly as written, typos, bad grammar and all):

Do they carry toy drills?

• $50 Baby Gap Gift Card, cash or trade

“Got this $50 gift card for Baby Gap, really don’t need it. This kid already has more clothes than he can wear in his life. Trade for cash or Home Depot gift card.”

Why didn’t this one just write a Christmas list?

• 80$ Gift Card for The Sharper Image – $60

“So I have this gift card for the Sharper Image, why do people give gift cards for christmas anyway. Don’t think I’m really interested in anything they sell so my offer is… I would like to sell it for say 60$ O.B.O. or… offer me a trade, be creative if you wish, but please be reasonable. Things I could use, a skylight window for my loft (maybe a regular window too, the kind that opens), those nifty foldable attic stairs (seriously, I hate ladders), soundproofing material, a really nice cordless electric razor, cash, Insulation (4” styrofome kind) Lumber, drywall, a gift card for home depot maybe, a computer monitor (LCD would be nice), a TV of some sort (no super oldies or small B&W’s), some kind of cool instrument (I’m mostly into keyboards, drum machines etc). I could throw down some cash too if you got something really nice, some rack effects, a nice microphone, …. surprise me. But Please dont make me order something from The Sharper Image. I beg of thee. Merry christmas and happy mid winter government sanctioned shopping holiday.

OR… some gamecube games… forgot about that….Ok… thats it I think. Or a nintendo DS + Like 10$… now I’m done.”

Veterinarians, take note — you’re missing out on a hot market:

• PLEASE HELP!! BUY MY XMAS GIFT CARDS

“I need to pay vet bills for my dog please help me by trading me cash for gift cards I would really appreciate it of course sell them to you at a discount.

Disney Store $50.00

Olive Garden $25.00

You can check balances before hand. This is legit in everyway. I just REALLY need the cash instead :(“

Finally, You’ve got to give this one credit for entrepreneurship:

• Best Buy cards wanted!!

“If you got a Best Buy gift card for Christmas and would like to turn it into quick cash, I will buy it!

Of course I wont buy it for face value since that would be pointless for me.

You must meet me at Best Buy in Lynnwood to verify card amount.

I will pay 75% of face value (example: $100 card = $75 cash)

We plan to buy a new Plasma TV from there soon and thought if I bought a bunch of cards from people that dont ever shop there, I could save some cash and make people happy too! Win-Win situation…..let me know

Oh yeah, if you have a gift card for $5-$10 its hardly worth driving to Best Buy for it. Please only reply for $50 or more cards.”

People, this gift card frenzy has got to stop. Trust me, money is always the right color and it never goes out of style. If you want to get creative, get a book on making origami money figures, or better yet, enclose a photo of yourself and the recipient on a happy occasion and write a note about what you remember from that day.

Memories are precious. Gift cards, not so much. wu

For questions or comments, contact Marcie Miller at mmiller@northkitsapherald.com.