It’s hard to completely NAIL the gift every time, right?
Of course, it is because you only have so much time and there always seems to be an event you have to bring a gift for. Gift Giving can be hard work!
But to help, we put together a few tips that are guaranteed to put you in the top realm of gift givers in your life and have your friends adore you even more than they do now.
Rule #1:
Forget about what you think they want or need… give them what they want.
If someone says they want a gift card, get them a gift card. Don’t go buy them something different that you hope they’ll love. Just get ’em the dang gift card. If they have a gift registry, pick something from it. You can easily make it more meaningful by the presentation and adding a nice note.
Rule #2:
Do NOT buy the aficionado whatever the thing is they’re into.
Simply put: you don’t know enough about their passion to step in and buy the right thing.
If they’re deep into coffee, do not buy them anything coffee related. If they’re into hot sauce, don’t buy them hot sauce. It’s just too hard to hit the target because they have probably progressed past what you’ll give them. Thoughtful, but in the wrong place.
Rule #3:
Add a bit of theatrics, but don’t aim for the BIG REVEAL.
Unless they really, really hate the limelight, give your gift in front of other people.
This is because, although we might not say it, it feels good to be doted on in front of other people and be shown that we matter. Don’t, though, buy a gift that’s more flashy than useful, which leads us to the next rule…
Rule #4:
It’s NOT about the price of the damn thing!
Please do not think that people will like a gift more because it’s expensive. A recent study shows that people appreciate gifts that are useful more than gifts that are just plain expensive (ie. Rule #3).
So for the traveler in your life, for example, you’ll fare much better buying $18 noise-canceling headphones than a $100 necklace (that they probably shouldn’t wear in a lot of places in the world anyways).
Rule #5:
Presentation matters.
This is the one we’ve been beating the drum about the last couple days and, of course, it fits in our rules. The details DO matter. If they love to travel, wrap it in this and tack on a nice travel-related card.
Rule #6:
Don’t be shy about sending a gift to them.
Nearly all hotels, marinas, hostels and Airbnbs will hold a piece of mail for someone staying with them.
In fact, they’d love to because it goes a long way in upping the experience their guest will have at their joint and, thus, help build loyalty. And for your pal the traveler? Well, it will STUN them and will probably become a gift they’ll remember getting their entire life because chances are good it’s never happened before and probably won’t happen again.
We hope these no-fail rules will help you nail your next gift giving moment! And for some unique travel-inspired gifts head on over to our shop Journo Travel Goods 😉
