A New Tune for Facebook Gifts

von Will Chen Mittwoch, 21. Oktober 2009 um 15:35

We're continuing to enhance the Facebook Gift Shop so you have more ways to express your appreciation for the people in your life. A couple months ago, we took a first step by testing new types of gifts created by developers, including e-cards, charity donations and even real-world gifts where you can buy a friend a physical gift along with a virtual one.

We now are unveiling a newly stocked and redesigned Gift Shop, with new categories of gifts and additional gifts for charity, music and sports from developers. With so many gifts available, we also introduced a new design to make it easier for you to browse and purchase gifts with different gift categories. We will be rolling these changes out to everyone in the coming weeks, so don't worry if you don't see them just yet.

Remember, in order to buy Facebook Gifts, you must purchase credits on the site using a major credit card. Credits cost 10 cents in U.S. currency, and they are available for purchase in 15 currencies. After you select your gift, click "Buy," and we'll walk you through the rest.

Music Gifts (U.S. only)
You now will be able to purchase songs as gifts for your friends. The "Music and MP3s" section of the Gift Shop, powered by LaLa.com, offers over 8 million songs for any music lover from artists such as Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Imogen Heap and even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Web songs are 1 credit each, while full, downloadable, and digital rights management-free (DRM) MP3s are 9 credits each.

Gift recipients can play their Web songs and MP3s from their Facebook News Feed and wall as frequently as they like, as well as from LaLa.com if they have an existing account or choose to sign up using Facebook Connect. MP3 recipients also have the added ability to download their songs and enjoy their gift on music players like iTunes and Windows Media Player. Other people who are able to see the music gift will only be able to play the song in full once, after which they will be able to play a 30-second clip.

Sports Gifts
For the next big game, be sure to rally your friends by sending them their favorite team's mascot or jersey with branded virtual gifts. Officially licensed gifts from the U.S. National Basketball Association and U.S. Major League Soccer are now available in the Gift Shop, as well as school-themed gifts from a number of major U.S. colleges ranging from Oklahoma State to Stanford University. These gifts are offered in the "Sports" section of the Gift Shop.

Gifts for Good
You already can purchase gifts on behalf of non-profits, including Kiva, Project Red, TOMS Shoes, Charity Water and the World Wildlife Fund. The net proceeds of those gifts are donated to the organizations. Now, you'll be able to support even more causes your friends care about through gifts offered by the Causes application in the Facebook Gift Shop.

My sister is an animal-lover and for her upcoming birthday I'll be making a contribution to the Humane Society of the U.S. through a Facebook Gift that will go towards towards animal rescue efforts by that organization. In addition to the proceeds that directly impact the cause, my gift will appear as an image on her Wall.

Whether your gift contribution is for disaster relief, world hunger, medical research or education, your gift will have a financial impact and help spread the cause's word.

With a greater variety of gifts, we hope that you will have even more freedom to express how you feel for every occasion. Look for even more gifting options to come over the next few months.

Will, an engineer, is excited to be making the new Gift Shop available to his friends in time for his birthday.