Ten Tips for Choosing a Birthday Gift

Do you dread having to choose a birthday gift?  Great birthday present ideas can seem hard to buy but these top tips will help you choose the ideal presents for your friends and family.

1 How Much?

Start by deciding roughly how much you want to spend.  This will avoid the risk that you spend ages looking at birthday gifts which are too expensive.

2 Start Early

If you leave it until the last minute, there is a greater risk that you will end up buying something just because it is available or a particular website offers express delivery. 

3 Ask a Friend

Buying a gift for someone who you do not know well can be especially tricky.  You may spend a lot of time with a colleague at work but have little idea about their tastes and interests away from the office.  A quick call to their partner or one of their friends who they see out of work, can give you some great birthday present ideas to buy.

4 Take Care in the Sales

Getting a bargain creates a “win win” situation for you and the person to whom you are giving a birthday gift.  Some sale items offer tremendous value for money but do exercise caution – many items are in the sale because no-one else wanted them or they have gone out of fashion.

5 Personalise a Gift

There are many options for buying personalised gifts.  Some website specialise in adding names to their products.  One simple way to create a personalised gift is to buy a photo frame or album and add some photographs of your friend, their children or their pets.  Again, their partner may be pleased to supply the photographs.

6 Sports and Interests

Presents relating to a person’s hobbies or interests can be a real hit.  Spotty Boxes specialises in birthday gifts for people with hobbies and interest.  If you have a friend who is mad about cats, buy them a cat lover gift or for a gardener a paper pot maker.  For a close friend who is a wine buff you may want to treat them to a Mauviel Copper Champagne Bucket.

7 Postage

Almost everyone now has some friends or family members who live many miles away.  When choosing a present, take into account the postage costs.  For larger presents, it can be cheaper to buy from a website and let them take care of delivery than it is to buy from a local shop and have to pay the full postage cost yourself.

8 Wrapping

The wrapping is clearly not everything but if you have decided on a fairly conventional gift such as chocolates or a book, taking extra care with the wrapping can make your gift special.

9 Receipt

If you are really not sure whether you have bought the ideal present, enclose the receipt in a sealed envelope and make it clear that you will not be offended if they take the gift back or swap it – you can’t get it right every time!

10 On Time

Everyone is late sometimes with presents but it can make your gift even more special if it arrives in time for your friend’s birthday.

If you have any ideas for how to buy great birthday presents, please let us know.  Is there a birthday present which you have really appreciated?  You can contact us by email or call 01962 889460