Dec 28, 2009 09:15 ET

Lottay Showcases Holiday "Giftastrophies"

MyWorstGiftEver.com Highlights the Worst Gifts Received This Holiday Season

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - December 28, 2009) -

• Millions of dollars are wasted on unwanted gifts ever year
  
  
• Top gifting failures featured on MyWorstGiftEver.com include a super-sized Listerine bottle, $5 pre-paid phone card and questionable nutcracker
  
  
• Users are invited to share their own "giftastrophes" by submitting photos and descriptions to worstgift@lottay.com

Lottay, the online gift-giving company, is providing consumers with a way to share their holiday gift misfortunes with others through MyWorstGiftEver.com. The website documents gift-giving gone wrong by featuring a variety of "giftastrophies," such as a ribbed acrylic banana case, men's bow tie g-string, and fruit cake sampler.

Visitors to MyWorstGiftEver.com will find an array of very bad gifts, submitted by people from across the world that are willing to anonymously share their misfortune. Users are encouraged to send photos and descriptions of their own worst-gift candidates to worstgift@lottay.com.

"Every year, millions of dollars are wasted on unwanted gifts like the ones featured on MyWorstGiftEver.com," said Harry Lin, CEO of Lottay. "That's why we made the site equal parts PSA, OMG and WTF by featuring gifts like the Chia Obama and long-handled toe-nail clippers. By doing this, we're calling out bad gift-giving habits to help people avoid future 'giftastrophies.' People can give better, and that's what Lottay helps them do with our online gift-giving service."

Rather than giving a bad gift, adding to the complexity of gift returns, or tying people to a gift card which may be loaded with fees, expiration dates and merchant restrictions, the Lottay online gift-giving and wish-list service helps individuals and groups give the gift of cash. According to a recent Western Union survey, 53 percent of consumers surveyed knew someone who wanted cash as a gift to help cover daily expenses this holiday season.

Through its partnership with PayPal, Lottay is helping consumers gift cash to friends and family for any occasion -- holidays, birthdays, weddings -- in a personalized way with e-greeting cards, customized messages, images and pictures. The cash gift is sent instantly and securely, delivered as a surprise via email and Facebook. Givers can specify the gift they would like the money to buy -- from a cup of coffee to a Caribbean cruise and beyond -- while receivers are free to use the money to buy the intended gift or anything else they want.

For more information on Lottay, please visit www.lottay.com. To get breaking Lottay news and additional perspectives, visit and subscribe to Lottay RSS blog feeds athttp://hintsdontwork.blogspot.com. Follow Lottay on Twitter at @GiveGiftsOnline, and visit the Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/LottayInc.

Additional Resources

Lottay website: http://www.lottay.com

Lottay blog: http://hintsdontwork.blogspot.com

Lottay on Twitter: @GiveGiftsOnline

Lottay Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/LottayInc

My Worst Gift Ever website: http://www.myworstgiftever.com

Our Wishing Wall website: http://www.ourwishingwall.com

About Lottay

Lottay™ Inc. makes giving and receiving the gift of money a personal, heartfelt experience. The free, online service uses e-greeting cards, private messages, images and pictures to wrap money in the emotion of the occasion. Gift givers and recipients enjoy the intimacy of a personalized present and the flexibility of money -- all backed up by the safety and security of PayPal. Lottay was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in the greater Los Angeles area. For more information, please visit www.lottay.com.

Lottay is a trademark of Lottay Inc. Other product and company names are property of their respective owners.