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QS2 Inc., a company that builds Web sites for gift giving, has launched BukooGifts.com as an alternative to gift cards. The site enables consumers to send a recipient an e-mail message with a Web link that takes them to an online catalog where they can select a gift, Christopher Brumley, QS2 president, tells CardLine. The recipient picks a gift instead of receiving a gift card of a certain denomination, thus taking money out of the gift-giving process, Brumley says. Consumers choose from one of several denominations and in addition pay a $7.95 shipping fee, Brumley says. QS2 has agreements with product distributors that ship the gifts directly, just as an item would be shipped from any other general online store, Brumley says. QS2 makes a profit by buying an item from the distributor at wholesale prices but selling it at a retail price. The company says it only stocks brand-name items and plans to market itself as an alternative to gift cards for retailers that could go out of business, Brumley says. It also offers a corporate incentive program in which employers can provide their workers with Bukoo Bucks redeemable at the site, he says.
