Buying Gifts for People Who Have Everything

GIFTS · GLOBAL

Buying Gifts for People Who Have Everything

Why novelty gifts fail, what actually lands, experiences and asking

The hardest gifts to buy are for people who buy what they want, and the usual response is a novelty object that is looked at once.

Why novelty gifts fail

They are funny on opening and then have to live somewhere. A gift that creates a storage problem is a small burden dressed as a present, particularly for someone already at capacity.

That does not mean serious gifts only — a well-chosen useful object with character is different from a joke that only works once.

What lands

Consumables, since they are used and then gone — good food, drink, candles, something they buy for themselves but never the expensive version. Anything that upgrades something they use daily.

Something specific to a memory or a shared reference, which is why homemade and personalised gifts are remembered when expensive ones are not.

Experiences

Tickets, a meal, a class or a day out together. Research on wellbeing consistently finds experiences are remembered more warmly than possessions, and shared ones more warmly still.

Book it rather than promising it, since an unbooked plan quietly becomes nothing.

Just asking

Adults asking each other what they want is not a failure of imagination. Shared lists remove the guesswork entirely and nobody enjoys unwanted gifts less for having chosen them.

Agreeing not to

Many families are relieved when someone suggests limiting gifts, a secret santa, or children only. Someone has to say it first.

Wrapping and cards

Glittered and foiled paper cannot be recycled. Plain paper, fabric wraps and paper tape all work and are noticed, and a handwritten card is frequently the part that is kept.

Scrunch test any paper — if it stays scrunched it is usually recyclable.

Gifts for children

Ask the parents, since space and duplication are real problems. Books, craft materials, memberships and experiences are welcome in houses already full of plastic.

Check age markings, which are safety classifications about small parts rather than judgements of ability.

Last minute

A good bottle, something edible, a plant or a gift token chosen thoughtfully all beat a rushed novelty. Most people would rather have nothing than something that has to be stored.

Gifts that arrive well

Check the delivery date rather than assuming, order personalised items several weeks ahead, and confirm somebody will be there to receive anything that needs a signature.

Send to a home address rather than a workplace where possible, particularly for anything perishable.

Practical

Include a gift receipt, keep the packaging recyclable, and write something specific in the card, which is frequently the part that is kept.

Charity donations in someone's name suit people who genuinely want nothing.

WHERE TO BUY

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→ Shop Mustard London — official site

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