For Christmas there was one person who actually gave me a prepaid credit card worth $50 as a gift which is probably the most flexible way to ensure that the person is able to buy something they want and need. Other than just plain cash of course. You would normally have to be really sure as to where the person would shop to ensure that a gift card is appropriate.
But one thing I did notice when you read the back of the package is how this prepaid Mastercard actually has a monthly maintenance fee. It states that $3 per month would be charged after the activation date. So technically if you leave this thing unused you could be losing money to the point where you should try and spend it as soon as possible.
I wonder if they actually read that part when they thought of it as a gift. Because even for myself I would assume it is just way more flexible than a store gift card. I guess at worst you could always spend it on your monthly groceries. But either way that’s an interesting little bit of detail that even I would have overlooked in getting it as a gift.