Valentine’s Day is one of the biggest gift-giving holidays of the year, but carries with it the temptation to overspend when spoiling sweethearts. To help consumers avoid breaking their budgets, leading personal finance website www.GoBankingRates.com investigated Valentine’s Day gift giving to find the items that consumers should avoid as the biggest rip-offs.
EL SEGUNDO, CA (February 14, 2013) – Valentine’s Day is often bemoaned as a holiday that focuses more on sales numbers than sentiment, and the numbers are hard to dispute. Valentine’s Day 2013 spending is projected to reach $18.6 billion nationwide, with the average person planning to spend $130.97 on Valentine’s Day gifts and goodies, according to a January 31, 2013 spending survey from the National Retail Federation.
The survey highlights candy, flowers, jewelry and apparel as the most popular types of Valentine’s Day gifts. But even within these categories there is a wide span of prices, ranging from cheap to truly luxurious, finds premier finance resource GoBankingRates.com in its investigation of Valentine’s Day spending.
“Some of the simplest-looking fruit or flower arrangements, down to the most ostentatious and just plain bizarre gift ideas, all carry premium price tags,” says Paul Sisolak, an expert contributor to GoBankingRates.com. “Take caution before buying or you and your wallet could be headed for Breakup City.”
GoBankingRates.com investigated trends in Valentine’s Day gifting to identify six items that don’t deliver the value that their high costs would suggest. Ranging from traditional to trendy, these are items consumers should pass on to keep their spending under budget – and their sweetheart happy. In the report, GoBankingRates.com also provides alternatives to each gift ideas that will get the thoughtful sentiment across, without the high price tag.
To find out what six Valentine’s Day gifts aren’t worth the price tag, click here.
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About Go Banking Rates
GoBankingRates.com is a national website dedicated to connecting readers with the best interest rates on financial services nationwide, as well as informative personal finance content, news and tools. Go Banking Rates collects interest rate information from more than 4,000 U.S. banks and credit unions, making it the only online rates aggregator with the ability to provide the most comprehensive and authentic local interest rate information.