Sending payments as gifted has always been a big no no around CAG. Not sure why so many people act surprised about it. When you send a payment as gifted, there is nothing you can do about it if the seller does not come through. You send a gifted payment, then you take the risk. 1 feedback, or 1,000 feedbacks, I will not send the payment as gifted and I will not ask you to send me a gifted payment.
On 50 bucks, I would agree, its probably not a great idea to send gifted - unless the person gives you the item first. Even then its a little sketchy. On the CAG site as a whole, I can see it being a no no. But on this particular thread, thats not exactly the case.
Alot of people here are selling items that amount to just a couple bucks. Sometimes, the fees that would come along with the amount of small priced items is kind of ridiculous.
Personally, I would rather assume the risk on 2 bucks each time and save the seller the fees, than send tiny amounts so frequently as goods and services. If someone wanted to screw me out of 2 bucks, I would feel more like I did the community a service by weeding out a scammer, than that I actually got scammed.
On bigger transactions yes, Friends and family probably isnt the best idea. But for all the tiny purchases going on here, friends and family comes in handy. Id also laugh at the stupidity of anyone who wanted to rip off someone for a few dollars. $50 is even stupid...so a few bucks would be laughable.
EDIT: That being said. Shadowlombax is the guy currently on my trophy card (Thief) except instead of the cool looking dude in the hood, with the shaowy backround, it needs to be a kid in his tighty whities, with his grandmas basement in the backround.