Sparks.com: A Small Spark, but no Conflagration
Written: Aug 21 '01 (Updated Aug 21 '01)
The Bottom Line
Sparks.com is a decent service overall, but the greeting card services are not that good.
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Sparks.com is an on- line greeting service and gift shop that was founded in 1998, by Felicia Lindau. This site began as strictly an on- line greeting service. Now, it has expanded to include gift items, gift certificates, and flowers. You can send e-cards through this site, have paper greeting cards mailed to someone, and purchase gifts like picture frames, candles, bath gels, and much more.
Greeting Cards:
The first thing that attracted me to this site was the electronic greeting cards service. I frequently send e-cards, so I’m always looking for some new and creative ideas in this area. Sparks.com has hundreds of cards to select from, and a wider range of categories than most other e-cards services offer. You can send cards in the usual categories, like birthdays, love, get- well, holidays, etc., but there are also a few hard- to- find categories like “words of faith”, “redneck humor”, “risque”, and “rude”. None of the cards are X- rated, by my standards, but some might be worthy of an “R” rating.
Some of the cards have animation, and others are just postcards with no “live” movement at all. The e-cards service, in this site, is actually a link into American greetings.com. I have used American greetings.com before, and I remember that the one big complaint I had with that service was the limits on text entry. It’s exactly the same here! There is a large text box, to type in your words, but there is no warning when you reach the limit. The only way that you will know you have gone over the limit is when you do a preview of your card (and I recommend that you do!) and notice that words are missing. Another thing that bothers me about this limit on text entry is that it’s inconsistent. I have sent some cards that allowed me to enter two full paragraphs, without cutting off the words. But then, I have sent other cards that only had space for one single paragraph (perhaps 50 words). I don’t like having limits on text, and I especially don’t like having inconsistency from one card to another.
After you enter your text, you can then select the date to send your card, and attach a photo, if you wish. Then, you can click either “preview”, or “continue”. If you select preview, you can look at your card, proofread it, and check to see if your words were chopped off. At this point, if you are satisfied with what you see, you then have to scroll down, a full page, and click on “continue”, to complete sending your card. This option to “continue” should be right next to the preview, but it isn’t. It’s very easy to overlook this, and think that your card has been sent. But it won’t go through until you scroll down and click the continue option.
Once you get this far, you will then have the option of sending a gift certificate, along with your card. If you don’t want to send any gifts, then you need to hit the icon that says “send without gift”. Once you have done this, you will get the confirmation that your card has been sent. Sparks.com automatically sends you a copy, and automatically alerts you when the greeting is opened up.
Other Services:
If the idea of sending an e-card seems too impersonal to you, Sparks.com will also mail a paper card to your recipient, if that is your preference. The paper cards are just as varied as the e-cards, and they carry a price tag that’s typical of what you would find in your local Hallmark store: $1.50 to $3.00 per card. You can purchase boxes of cards through this site, too.
There are all sorts of gifts that you can purchase, using this service. The gifts, for the most part, are not practical in nature. You won’t find any clothing or lawn tools for sale here. What you will find are home accents, chocolates and candy, massage oils, scented candles, flower arrangements, etc.
Gift certificates can be purchased from the GAP, Blockbuster Video, Borders Music, and a few others. However, I have noticed that when I click on these options, it usually tells me that the items are temporarily out of stock! How difficult can it be to keep gift certificates in stock? They need to get on the ball and find a way to keep the gift certificate inventories from running dry.
Another service that Sparks.com offers is the option of establishing your own personal account. You don’t have to do this, to send cards or make purchases. It’s completely optional. With this service, you can store frequently used e-mail addresses for faster access; get e-mail reminders of important dates; and save some of your favorite cards for future access.
Final Thoughts:
Sparks.com is a good service overall. If I was rating this site solely on the electronic greeting cards, I would not recommend it because of the limits on text and the fact that there is no warning, when you reach the limit. I like the way Sparks.com automatically sends you a copy and sends you an e-mail when your card is picked up, but this doesn’t make up for the limits on text entry.
The gifts are nice, and I like the fact that you have the option of sending paper cards, because some people still do not have personal computers (believe it or not!) and there are certain people who just don’t like e-cards and prefer the personal touch that only a paper card can offer.
Despite some of the sites’ obvious shortcomings (the limits on the e-cards text entry and the lack of available gift certificates), I’m still going to go ahead and give Sparks.com a marginal recommendation. It’s not the best electronic greeting service by a long shot, but it has enough other services and features to make it worth an occasional visit.
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Member: Bryan Carey
Location: Houston, TX
Reviews written: 3609
Trusted by: 1569 members
About Me: Beer Drinker and Libertarian Political Activist. Great Combination, eh?
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