Facebook launches Facebook Gifts for users to buy friends real gifts through mobile and desktop

Facebook today officially launches Facebook Gifts in a limited test for U.S. users to buy products for their friends through the social network’s desktop or mobile versions. Gifts seems to follow the format used by Karma, a mobile gift-giving service that Facebook acquired in May. As with Karma, users can send their friends gifts without knowing their address. After a user chooses a gift, the recipient is notified and he or she can indicate where the gift should be sent. The recipient also has the option to swap the gift for another of equal or lesser value. The difference between Facebook Gifts and Karma, which is still available as a standalone app for iOS, is that Facebook Gifts has a desktop component. Users can send gifts directly from birthday reminders or from friends’ timelines. They can post a preview of the gift on a friend’s timeline or send it privately.