4 Thoughtful, Last-Minute Father’s Day Gifts

Father’s Day might be less than 48 hours away — it’s Sunday — but you still have ample time to buy a gift dad will love.

Yes, it’s too late to order something online and have it shipped in time unless you pay out the nose for overnight shipping. And good luck driving around in hopes of stumbling across the perfect gift in a store at the last minute.

But a host of fantastic gifts can be bought online and sent to Dad electronically as late as Sunday. For all Dad will know, you spent weeks planning the perfect gift and just chose to have it sent to him on Father’s Day. Your procrastination can remain your secret.

Here are a few of our favorite thoughtful gift ideas you can buy even at the last minute:

1. Amazon Prime membership

Amazon Prime offers a lot more than free two-day shipping. It’s arguably invaluable — just check out “8 Major Freebies and Discounts You Get With Amazon Prime.”

A Prime membership costs $99 a year or $10.99 a month. Or you can give Prime as a one-time, flat-price gift for $99 (12 months) or $33 (three months) — no need to worry about it automatically renewing on your credit card.

Amazon will email redemption instructions to Dad — immediately or on a later date of your choice. He can start taking advantage of the membership as soon as he receives that email.

2. E-books

Is Dad a voracious reader? Or do you know of a particular book on his wish list? There are various ways to give the gift of e-reading. For example, you can gift a:

• Specific Kindle e-book: Say you know Dad would love Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson’s classic “Life or Debt.” Just go to the Amazon page for the Kindle version of the book, and click the “Give as a Gift” button. Amazon will email the e-book directly to dad whenever you specify. Check out Amazon’s “Kindle eBooks” page for more titles to choose from.
• Kindle gift card: Have a Kindle gift card sent electronically or print one out to give dad yourself, and then he can then choose what Kindle device or e-book he wants to spend it on.
• Kindle Unlimited subscription: Kindle Unlimited gives you unlimited access to more than a million e-books, thousands of audiobooks and even magazines on any device. (If you don’t have a Kindle e-reader, you just download the free Kindle app to your device.) It costs $9.99 a month. Or you can give Kindle Unlimited as a one-time, flat-price gift for $59.94 (six months), $119.88 (one year) or $239.76 (two years).
• Specific Nook e-book: Go to Barnes & Noble’s web page for the Nook e-book you want to give Dad and click on “Buy As Gift.” B&N will email it to Dad immediately. Check out B&N’s “NOOK Books” page to see what titles are available.
• Nook gift card: Have a Nook gift card sent electronically, and then Dad can choose what he wants to spend it on.

Remember: Dad need not own a Kindle, Nook or any other specific brand of device to read Kindle or Nook e-books. Almost any computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone will work — see “How to Enjoy E-books Without Buying an E-Reader.”

3. eGifter Choice Card

No idea what Dad wants? That’s no problem with eGifter’s Choice Card. It’s effectively a credit that Dad can redeem for a gift card of his choice. As eGifter describes it:

“The eGifter Choice Card gives you total flexibility and choice! The recipient can choose from hundreds of gift cards on eGifter.com … They can redeem the full value for one or more gift cards of their choice, such as Amazon.com, Best Buy, Adidas, Target, The Home Depot…the list goes on and on!”

You just buy a Choice Card — available in amounts from $5 to $2,000 — on eGifter’s website. When you place the order, you can specify whether you want eGifter to email or text the Choice Card to Dad and when you want it sent to him — immediately or on a later date of your choice. Alternatively, you can print a PDF version of the Choice Card to give Dad yourself.

Once Dad receives it, he can go to eGifter’s website and select an electronic gift card. He can then spend it online or print it and spend it in a store.

4. Live entertainment

If Dad would rather have an experience than a tangible gift, give him the gift of live entertainment.

Not sure what concert, comedian, play, musical, ballet or sporting event Dad would want to see? Not to worry. You can buy a gift card for a ticket seller and let him choose what event to spend it on. Ticketmaster calls it “the perfect way to give memories that will last a lifetime.”

Ticketmaster as well as StubHub sell gift cards that you can buy online and send electronically.

Do you have any great last-minute gift ideas to add? Share them below or on our Facebook page.