King of Cards is easily the best card shop in Auckland. The staff are friendly, personable, and…read moredirectly responsible for getting me into tabletop gaming and MTG. They also make a point to have the cheapest prices possible, and almost always beat out any of their competitors when it comes to Board Games, MTG Singles, and Wargaming product. An Easy recommend.

King of Cards is my gaming Nirvana. The staff a knowledgeable in their area and are genuinely good…read morepeople. Their range of board games and magic singles is extensive, diverse and well sorted. Playing in the store is a thoroughly enjoyable experience as there is ample space, comfortable furniture and most importantly the store owner structures their events to appeal to gamers that want to have fun. It is also worth mentioning that King of Cards has a great weekly schedule for gaming which is great if you like formats like Legacy or cube.

This is a brilliant shop for dress up parties. But it does have so much more - whether you are…read moreafter a rubber chicken or supplies for your next crafternoon, Ike's will likely have it and at reasonable prices. As a relative newcomer to Auckland, I am pretty jealous a shop like this didn't exist in my hometown. It would have made dress up parties so much easier! Ike's is great for a fun look around, and for a funny quick photo opp (get a photo of yourself wearing the Fred Flinstone hat for Instagram)?! #dressup Their stock is ever changing so you never know what you may find at Ike's!

An amazing selection of party supplies, crafty stuff and ribbons and sewing necessities this place…read morehas everything. The staff are super helpful, a bit quirky and definitely add to the Ike's experience!

I needed to buy some presents before my recent trip to visit a nephew and niece under the age of 14…read moreand Smiggle was the answer to my calls for help. This store has a crazy cool amount of options to choose from for the young and hip kid. I loved that there was a different style and colour for every pencil case, folder, writing book, journal, and money safe. It did make trying to decide on a design quite hard at first, but with help from the really friendly and chatty sales assistant, I was on my way with a bag of Smiggle gear for the kids in less than 15 minutes. Smiggle has everything the kid would need for school. For example bags, wallets, lunch boxes, drink bottles, funky slap bands to swap with friends, writing tools. It's completely endless, and mind boggling what they have come up with, it's like they have entered the child's mind and asked- what would you want? Always a fun time shopping here, I get to be a kid for a bit.

Superb! Everything was a breeze. I ordered from Christchurch and figures arrived really packed and…read morein great time. They constantly kept in touch throughout the delivery. Thank you so much, 10/10!!!

Just when you thought that a game you really wanted was just out of your price range, in steps…read moreVagabond Games and comes to the rescue (this store seems to be a collaboration with Livewire Games). These guys have some pretty good deals that can sometimes even beat the other gaming giants like JB hifi and EB games. They have a fair number of games for sale as well as some other game related products like figurines and other collectible stuff like that; you know, nerdy stuff that you don't need but want anyway. This store used to be located in a really hard to find part of that ridiculously designed Metro building (seriously it's so stupid with its escalators that miss out entire floors!), but thankfully they are now located on Chancery Lane) . They also have plenty of Anime DVD's and other related products. Check out their website as they often have a few good specials on there.

This is a great gift store in Newmarket which sells things mainly for males, hip flasks, hunting…read moregear, wallets, that sort of thing. It is only a small shop, but they have some great items inside, and it all looks like really good quality. Of course you have to pay for the quality, but there's no need to be a cheapskate on your gift giving. They have quite a few chess sets for sale here, really beautifully crafted pieces and boards, especially the full table set. These chess sets are actually at quite a good price too, considering how it's so hard to find a good quality one in New Zealand. For the ladies there are some things, but like I said it is a small shop and unless your mum is keen on hunting and/or drinking whiskey I'd probably go somewhere else for her birthday present.

As gifts shops go, this one has little something special. Quirky is how I'd describe it. Inside…read morethere are a ton of presents for people (as described on the shop window) who have everything. This is pretty accurate I thought. The gifts were the kind of cool things that could brighten up someone's day but certainly weren't essential. My absolutely favourite were the money tins. Each tin specified something that warranted paying a fine (putting a coin in the tin). I very nearly bought the farting one for my brother-in-law. Now that I'm home I wish I had. I might have to go back and get it - they were only $7!

Besides the fact that it's very dark inside and a bit of a mysterious maze, I quite like Gift…read moreEmotion. I thought despite the gloominess, the wonderfully friendly shop man brightened up the place with his laughter and attitude. While I was finding my way around the ins and outs of the isles, I could hear him having a happy chat to his customers and being extremely helpful. There is pretty much everything you can imagine here. There's toiletry supplies like cotton buds and dress up outfits. Toys and books too. I thought the books were great. They seemed to be great quality reads for kids and they were very affordable. There were also hats and fake flowers and pots and wrapping paper... so much stuff. I think this would be a great option to visit if you were after a kids birthday present! You couldn't go wrong.

Sunnynook is ten minutes from my house and yet I very seldom go there for some reason - it's one of…read morethose little centres where you only really go for the supermarket and everything else is a bonus. Still, the place does have a couple of wee gems, and Gift Emotion fits this category. Imagine a typical $2 shop mixed with Looksharp with a smaller floor area than either, and with an owner that gives a shit. There, you have Gift Emotion! This is a place I like to come for those little kiddie presents where you need something quick and can't splash big bucks but you still want something cute - think toys and books. Also they sell cheap tennis balls which I seem to be constantly purchasing.

I love this store - I found gifts for several people in my family, mainly females and I must admit,…read moresomething for me of course... Beautiful scarves and fashion Jewellery, picture frames, cute clocks and candles with heavenly scents from Living Light Candles hand made in Golden Bay. They also have baby gifts and clothes, leather handbags and wallets - silk and cashmere scarves. The selection of Sterling silver Jewellery is fantastic, the best I have seen in a long time. Mainly from 2 NewZealand companies: Sterling and Evolve. And then a great selection of fun and inspiring greeting cards!

The best thing by far about Inspired is the massive range of jewellery. It's all laid out on the…read morebig central table and includes necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. It's mostly all silver-based and is good quality, but best of all, it's really cheap! So it's a nice place to buy a little something for yourself without breaking the bank. Inspired is quite a big shop and the rest is filled with gifty type stuff - clothes, scarfs, handbags and that kind of thing. There's nothing particularly stand-out about the rest of the stock, but it's definitely a solid gift-shopping option in the CBD that isn't either top-range or The Warehouse.

Gifts Galore is crammed with fun and one of those shops where you don't know where to look first…read more There's everything in here from soft toys of all sizes (even those excellent giant Hello Kittys that I'm really not allowed to buy because it's silly), to stationery, hair accessories, socks, mugs, posters, and make up. And everything has that awesome Korean twist to it, so if you need stickers of your favourite K-pop artists, here's where you head. The staff don't speak heaps of English but they are really sweet and approachable, and I'm sure their Korean is top-notch! When I had trouble figuring out if the alarm clock I bought there would play music or not (I really can't stand that end-of-the-world beep beep beep of doom), they unpacked the clock, put batteries in, and demonstrated it for me. Now that's good service.

I have been coming here for over a decade, just because you get older doesn't mean you have to grow…read moreup. Gifts Galore has just that, a lot of gifts, packed from wall to wall with cuteness. There are two sides to the store, one mostly stuffed toys and the other is stationary. Everything from pens and notebooks to mini staplers and writing paper, you will find it with Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty of Miffy the Rabbit all over it. The fun doesn't stop there, umbrellas, earphones, bento sets and flasks, absolutely everything. Gifts Galore also boast an impressive range of scented pens. If you haven't written with ink that smells of oranges, you're missing out. Such a fun shop, great for the young and young at heart.