Ranking Free Online Personal Shoppers

Consumers already feel the strain of tightened budgets and now, with the holiday shopping season fast approaching, they'll feel it even more.

Consumer spending fell 2.4% in September compared with last year, according to SpendingPulse, the market research arm of MasterCard (MC) Advisors. And holiday sales look even bleaker — 35% of shoppers plan to spend less than last year, reports marketing research firm, The Nielsen Company.

Buying gifts on a tight budget — without coming off as cheap — is no easy feat. So we turned to free online personal shoppers, which claim to hunt down the best potential presents based on budget and the recipient's tastes. We put four web sites to the test, hunting for perfect gifts for five recipients:

A. an imaginative 8-year-old girl
B. a gadget-loving 16-year-old boy
C. a 45-year-old label-conscious fashionista
D. a 65-year-old avid golfer
E. a soon-to-be-wed couple in their mid-20s

The budget was a tight $25 to $50 per person, not including sales tax or shipping. Sites that returned a wide range of creative gift options for the (admittedly slim) budget fared better than those that offered limited or obvious suggestions like a Barbie doll for the little girl. We also kept an eye out for gifts that seemed too cheesy, cheap, or otherwise inappropriate. (One thing to keep in mind: Nearly all of these sites receive payments from retailers for steering customers their way, so results may be biased.)

Gifts.com stood out from the pack, offering exceptional picks that worked well with the personalities we described. That breadth of options made it easy to pick out gifts without lamenting — or even thinking about — the squeezed budget. PersonalShopper.com came in a close second. Not only did it return good gift picks, but it also offers a handy gifts calendar that helps you manage your budget and shopping lists for every gift-giving occasion. It will even send email reminders as the occasion date approaches.

Here are our findings for each site, ranked from best performing to worst:

How Gifts are Selected
Users peg the gift recipient to one of several categories (Miss Imagination or The Thinker, for example), or answer questions about their habits (More likely to make jokes or videos?) to find a fit. Then narrow the results based on their budget.

Best Ideas
A: Project Runway Design arts and crafts kit ($29.99)
B: Lightning Reaction Revenge electro-shock board game ($29.99)
C: Sephora Fragrance Sampler and $50 Gift Card ($50)
D: "Where Golf is Great" coffee table book of golf courses in Scotland and Ireland ($48)
E: Riedel Champagne flutes, set of four ($49.95)

Performance
Excellent. The site groups related items together, so you can check out all "Robotic Pets" or "Magazines for Pop Culture Fans." Ideas were well matched to categories and personalities. Price comparison engine helps users to choose where to buy items from.

How Gifts are Selected
Allows users to set up profiles for each recipient, then check boxes to describe that person's interests. Shoppers can also set a budget for each gift-giving occasion.

Best Ideas
A: Perfumery science kit ($18.09)
B: Scene It? Music Edition DVD trivia game ($40.89)
C: Oscar de la Renta 'Expressions' robe ($32.90)
D: Swing Groover electronic golf swing assessor ($29.99)
E: Rachael Ray cast iron mini casserole set ($49.99)

Performance
Great. There were a few oddball suggestions (grilling-themed Monopoly for the little girl), but with hundreds of results to choose from, good ideas heavily outnumbered bad ones. The site also highlights sale prices and a built-in calendar manages gift lists and allows users to save ideas for later.

How Gifts are Selected
Shoppers answer questions about the recipient, then narrow the results even further by price, gift category and sentiment (fun, practical, religious, etc.).

Best Ideas
A: Craft of the Month Club ($25)
B: Deluxe gadget charging station ($48.95)
C: 4-ply cashmere scarf ($39)
D: Trunk It golf gear organizer ($36.99)
E: Chrome fruit bowl ($39.95)

Performance
Good. Easy sort features help users narrow hundreds of choices into a manageable list. We encountered plenty of unusual offerings, like an acre of land on the moon for our engaged couple. Most of the products come from mom-and-pop retailers. (It's all part of the site's goal, says founder Bob Zakrewski. "A lot of items are ones you won't see at the local mall, and we find shoppers like that.")

How Gifts are Selected
Browse categories based on age or a wide range of personality traits (Politically Incorrect, Always Cold, Gadgeteer). Then narrows selection by type of gift.

Best Ideas
A: Singer Scrapbook sewing machine for decorating scrapbook pages ($25.79)
B: Keyboard mouse for online gamers ($34.95)
C: "In Style: Secrets of Style" fashion-buying guide from InStyle magazine ($27.95)
D: Tabletop golf-themed Zen garden ($22.49)
E: Newlywed Cooking Kit ($34.95)

Performance
OK. Just a handful of gifts for each category, and often only one or two in our price range. Lots of iffy gifts, too — like the slimming underwear it advised for our fashionista. (Surprise.com's President Darrell Benatar says odd items sometimes show up through retailer feeds. "We clean these up manually," he says.)