How to Buy a Good Gift

by B. Dear

Have you ever purchased a gift for someone only to find out that they have taken the gift back to the store? Do people open gifts from you with weird looks on their faces? If these things happen, you may be a poor gift buyer. 

Not to worry. I can help you out with this. After reading this article, people will look forward to receiving gifts from you.

After some rather admittedly limited discussion and research, here is what I have found. Poor gift buyers seem to have trouble buying gifts for other people because when they shop, they are actually buying for themselves. Really... no kidding.

You may be doing this and not even realize it. Instead of trying to determine what other people want as a gift, you are choosing a gift based on what you would want if you were them. What you really want to do is buy them a gift that they would want if they were them. There is a big difference.

Another common mistake when shopping for gifts is assuming that an expensive gift equals a good gift. This isn’t necessarily true. If the gift is bad, but expensive, it can create feelings of guilt for the receiving party since they know that you sacrificed so much to buy this gift. 

The secret to buying a good gift is determining what a person’s needs and desires are, and fulfilling them.

Here are some tips for determining what a person might want to receive:

What are their hobbies? What do they enjoy doing? Is there an activity that they like to do? Buying them a gift that enhances the enjoyment of this activity should always be welcome.

What are their likes dislikes? Exploring this person’s likes and dislikes won’t necessarily determine a good gift to buy. It will, however help you to refine your search. Here is an example. If you buy a shirt for a person from a company who dislikes this particular company because the company produces their shirts overseas using foreign labor, chances are this gift won’t be a hit even if the person needs shirts. Learning that they dislike this company will help you to choose a more suitable company to buy the shirt from.

What do they really need? Buying an item that a person really needs or wants will be a hit since it is relieving the associated stress the receiver is experiencing from not having the item. If more they really need or want this item, you more of a hero you will be.

Buy a gift that will remind them of good times. If there is a favorite baseball card that they loved as a kid and lost, buying them another copy of this card will bring back positive feelings. It shows thoughtfulness

Buy gifts that are maintenance free and high quality. The simpler the item, the longer it will last. Again, quality does not mean expensive. It means that it will provide a lot of utility over the course of it’s useful life.