17TH JULY 2015

Top 5 Ways To Give a Better Gift

If you are like most of the population, you probably have a difficult time giving meaningful gifts that people truly appreciate. There are a million excuses for not giving meaningful gifts, but at the end of the day, there’s no excuse turning up with one.  Gift giving is a high pressure activity which we do regularly and wish it could be easier.  Here at Gifted.PH, we have compiled a few gift giving hacks to help you give better gifts for the next gift giving occasion, without having to spend a fortune of time, brain power or money to get the perfect gift.

1. Give the gift on time

While the phrase “it’s better late than never” is often used, nothing beats demonstrating your thoughtfulness by showing up at a party or occasion with a gift on hand.  This sounds like an easy feat, but really there are a ton of things that can prevent you from giving gifts on time, such as work schedules, running a household or Manila traffic.  Good thing though that there are now many online shopping websites like Lazada.com, Zalora.com.ph, Seektheuniq.com and gift certificate shopping websites like Gifted.PH that help you buy gifts while lounging around in the comfort and quiet of your own home.     

Websites like Gifted.PH saves you time by letting you buy gifts at the convenience of your home

Websites like Gifted.PH saves you time by letting you buy gifts at the convenience of your home

 

2.  Personalize the gift

A simple generic towel, pillow or bed sheet can turn into a sharp and elegant gift with your monogrammed initials printed on it.  Everyone loves using things that are specially made for them. Some department stores in Metro Manila such as Rustans and Market Market offer this monogram services for household products that you buy from them.  Brands like Oliver & Maude personalize your carafes, wine glasses and even scotch glasses.  Personalize It company personalizes your shirts and caps for you with a funny saying or whatever you want written.  Stationery companies like Paper & Print by Unico print gift tags and stationeries with your name on it, a great gift for your girl friends.  Gift certificates, such as those bought from Gifted.PH, now come in a personalized way, where you can give the gift certificate together with a greeting card, special message and recommended gift item, so that you don’t feel like you’re giving just a piece of paper to your loved one.

Greeting card to give a Buffet at Shangri-la Circles Event Cafe. Buy this Gift certificate at Gifted.PH online for anyone in Manila Philippines

Gift giving companies make a typical gift more special by personalizing the gift. Here is what a personalized gift certificate looks like when buying one from Gifted.PH

 

3. Write a good note on the gift tag

Sometimes when we’ve run out of ideas on what gift to give, we can rely on a well-written, tear-jerking note to make someone feel special despite your gift being a little on the average side.  Never under estimate the power of a nice, thoughtful note to your loved one. Many people write cards with simple forgettable one-liner greetings that get thrown into the garbage can as soon as the gift is given. Well-thought, Run-off-the-mill greetings have a long lasting effect, and make people remember your thoughtfulness for a longer period of time.

 Thank you note on a gift tag - how to give better gifts.

Always spend time to write a quick but memorable note. It will make your gift instantly more valuable.

 

4. Wrap the gift well

Yes you may have found time to find a nice gift, but if you don’t wrap it well, it also shows a little thoughtlessness on your end. Thankfully many shops now offer wrapping services such as The Wrap Shop and National Bookstore, so that you don’t have to scramble with your arts and crafts skill to wrap things yourself. If you don’t have time to wait for your gifts to be wrapped, it’s always good to invest in a dozen or so gift shopping bags or gift boxes, so you can look like an instant Martha Stewart in minutes.   Gift certificates are even easier to wrap, because all you need is a nice looking envelope. With Gifted.PH, your gift certificates are especially delivered to your gift recipient’s email address with a nice message on it, so you don’t have to worry about wrapping it. Or if you’re the more traditional type, Gifted.PH can wrap your gift certificate for you in a gift-like way, and have it sent to your recipient’s.

Actual gift certificate at Gifted.Ph for Saboten in Manila, Philippines

Gifted.PH wraps your gift certificate for you in a nice gift envelop package if you want to send it to your loved one’s home.

 

5. Make the gift meaningful for the person

This is the most important gift giving tip and also the most difficult to accomplish.  A lot of the people we give gifts to are acquaintances, and we have no clue what kind of gift they would truly appreciate.  We end up defaulting to giving generic gifts which often end up being re-gifted to other unfortunate celebrants.   Even if you know someone well, like your parents or your siblings, people’s style and preferences change without you knowing it and you end up with a gift that goes straight into the next box of charity giveaways.  It is hard to perfect the science of giving gifts.  You end up giving the same type of gift over and over à Chocolates for chocolate lovers,  Food for foodies, Hello kitty items for the hello kitty lovers à While this is good for one or two gifts, giving a similar gift every year loses its appeal very fast. Gift certificates eliminate this feeling of worrying whether the gift you give will be appreciated, since the person who receives the gift can choose whatever they find meaningful to them at that point in time of their lives. With websites like Gifted.PH that carry over 50 brands of gift certificates, you can make the gift certificate even more meaningful by indicating in the gift certificate what you recommend the person to buy using the gift certificate. Whether it’s a cooking book from Fully Booked for your newly married friend, or a bikram yoga class for your newly single friend, or a proper formal suit for your brother, you can recommend all these gifts to your loved ones using Gifted.PH gift certificates without having to buy them the actual gift. Essentially you give the gift of freedom of choice.

Three Colorful gift boxes in polka dot pink, purple and green

You can recommend a meaningful gift item to be purchased using your Gifted.PH gift certificates without having to worry whether the person will like the shape, color and style.

 

All these gift giving tips seem like a no brainer, but when you are in the middle of thinking of what to give to someone special in your life, it can cause a lot of stress to find the perfect gift. Luckily, there are a lot of new ways to give gifts nowadays, which gives us an easy formula for giving gifts. They say technology keeps people apart and makes you less social and more individually focused on your own smart phones and laptops. But in fact technology can be a really excellent enabler in making meaningful connections, especially with all the new gift giving solutions in the market.