Music, Magazines Are Top Last-Minute Gifts

(11Alive) -- With only hours remaining until Christmas morning, folks who are trying to purchase last minute gifts have only a few options remaining, especially if they want to avoid the malls and shop online.

Many online retailers promise that they'll deliver gifts by Christmas morning, but shipping costs for overnight delivery may be cost prohibitive for gift givers.

Here are some gift ideas that you can purchase online, and avoid shipping:

Gift Cards

Gift cards are a great "last minute" gift. But remember, gift cards are only as good as the store you buy them from. If the store goes out of business, the gift card might end up being worthless.

Amazon.com offers gift cards that can be printed out or e-mailed to your recipient.

Magazine Subscriptions

Give the gift that keeps on giving all year round! Publishers commonly offer deeply discounted subscription rates. Pick out a magazine that reflects the interests and personality of the person you're buying for!

Flowers

Guys, whether it is your mom, grandma, girlfriend or wife, flowers can be a great way to brighten a stressful holiday! 1-800-Flowers.com and FTD.com offers next day (and in some cases same day) delivery.

Music

If the person you're buying for has an iPod, consider getting them a gift card for iTunes, where they can go to download music. Gift cards can be purchased from Apple's website, and usually ship within 24 hours.

If the person has an iPod, some other kind of mp3 player, or a CD player, you can get them a gift card for Amazon.com. Amazon has tons of DRM-free music available for download. DRM-free music means your gift recipient can play their downloaded music on their mp3 player, their computer, or even burned onto CDs.

Cash

Everybody loves cash. Your gift recipient can use it for anything they want, whenever they want. The only problem is that it may look like you didn't put much thought into your gift.