Gift-giving can often be a stressful experience. What should be a simple expression of affection takes on a new tone when you factor in what to buy, how much to spend, and more. Then there’s giving the gift itself, with figuring out how to give gifts the right way seeming overwhelming.
It doesn’t need to be. By following a few particular rules of gift-giving, you can make it much easier. While you’ll need to put in a little effort, you can make sure the person receiving the gift loves it.
How To Give Gifts Successfully: 5 Rules
1. Personalize The Packaging
Sometimes, it’s not the gift itself that matters, but how you give it to the recipient. It’s more than worth personalizing the packaging to let it make more of an impact. There are more than a few ways of doing so, with personalized stickers being a recommended option.
Putting a little extra effort into how you wrap and give the gift can make it more appealing when you’re giving it. The recipient will pick up on the time and effort you put into this, which is a welcome factor when you’re giving a gift.
2. Don’t Add Small Gifts To Big Ones
It’s tempting to get a small present with the bigger one, as it feels like you’re putting in more effort and showing you affection more effectively. In reality, this could hurt the impact that the more important present has.
Known as the Presenter’s Paradox, this can be best highlighted when comparing an iPod by itself versus an iPod with a free song. The former of these was seen as more valuable by study participants, with the logic also applying to presents.
Those given by themselves are seen as more valuable than those given with a smaller, more affordable present.
3. Don’t Ignore Gift Cards
Gift-giving can often be a waste of money. When you spend $10 on yourself, you buy something you feel is worth $10. When you spend the same amount on someone else, you run the risk of getting them something they feel is worth less than $10.
One thing that everyone feels is worth the same is the money itself, but few people simply want to give cash as a present. If you want to put a little extra effort in, but want to give the recipient a bit of choice, gift cards can be a recommended option.
Many people think these are low-effort options, but they can be an effective way of helping someone buy something they want. They could want something from a particular store but may have been putting off the purchase until they had the money. With a gift card, they can now get it.
4. Consider Experiences
Many people focus on physical things rather than experiences when they’re giving a gift. When most people envision a gift, they’ll automatically think of something wrapped in a box. These are far from your only options, however.
Instead, you could go with experiences. With this approach, you spend money on doing something rather than having something. You could choose from more than a few things with this, such as spa days or weekends away.
Depending on the receiver’s preferences, any of these can be recommended options, making them more than worth considering.
5. Think The Like Receiver
Things get a lot simpler when you know what the recipient would buy for themselves. As obvious as that might seem, it’s something that quite a few people overlook. By focusing on this, you narrow down the options significantly while making sure the present is something they’ll love.
You can do this by simply asking them what they’d like, but that could ruin the surprise. Instead, it could be worth focusing on something they may have been talking about for a while. If there’s a particular hobby, brand, or activity they’ve been talking about a lot, then focus on that.
It’ll be something you know they’re already passionate, so you should be more confident the gift will be something they enjoy.
How To Give Gifts Successfully: Wrapping Up
Once you know how to give gifts the right way, you can make sure the person receiving the present loves it. You don’t need to go above and beyond by spending a lot of money on this to achieve it. With each of the above tips and tricks, you can rest assured that’ll be the case.
There shouldn’t be anything getting in the way of finding and giving the perfect present.