Smart shopping tips for the holiday season
I’m not particularly good at gift-giving (or rather, gift-finding). It’s stressful. Not because their isn’t an abundance of things I can get for my family and friends, but precisely because there is.
How do you possibly choose any one thing over another? Particularly when you want your gift to be: thoughtful, remarkable, useful and personalized (all at the same time) all while not costing you an arm and a leg? On top of that, it also needs to be something they don’t have already have, because not doing so only adds on to their inventory of things they don’t need*. (And don't even get me started on fruit baskets.)
How do buy gifts that accomplish these ends? I don’t know if there is a straightforward solution (I don’t even know if it’s entirely possible). What I do know now is these sorts of things are best done when you have ample time to sort them out. That if you’re going to do a cost-benefit analysis for every gift for every person, it helps tremendously if can find a way to do so three months or more before you actually need to purchase those gifts.
Of course, if all of this time spent searching for gifts costs you more time and emotional energy than it’s worth, you could also try the following suggestions:
Accept that you’ll never find the perfect gift, and that when all is said and done, what really matters is getting something that’s thoughtful (or at least, that’s perceived as thoughtful).
Recognize that if the ‘thoughtfulness’ of a gift is your absolute metric, the price of a gift—and the actual gift itself—don’t matter nearly as much as its perceived value. (A $25 candle for example is ‘more valuable’ than a $25 pair of shoes).
Choose the cheapest category of objects that you’re comfortable getting your recipient, and aim to find the most expensive item you can in that category (all while not exceeding your budget for the gift). For example: If your budget is $30 and your boss likes outdoor gear but spends all day in front a computer screen, consider a personalized mousepad or paperweight. Since cheap and useful outdoor gear is an oxymoron, it’s actually better to overspend on an item in a cheaper category. Once your realize the item itself (and it’s usefulness) matters less than it’s perceived value, it becomes a lot easier to find a gift that’s both thoughtful and under budget.
Consider that when it comes to the perceived thoughtfulness of a gift, cheaper personalized items generally carry more emotional weight than their more expensive commodified alternatives. As long as it’s not tacky, making something for someone (or simply getting a unique gift that’s well-made) is more valuable even if it costs less than a commercialized item in the same category.
Since you now know that the item itself (and it’s price) matter far less than you think, it actually doesn’t benefit you to wait until the last-minute sale to purchase it. Better on your nerves (and maybe even your wallet) to buy your gifts far in advance. With re-gifting back in fashion (and everything literally a click away) you should have no problem choosing and obtaining great gifts for your loved ones far ahead of schedule.
*It turns out that "gift ideas for people who have everything" is a pretty trendy thing to ask Google. (Which is exactly why people continue to buy and sell fruit baskets, even if they are the most passé gift in the world.)