Basket case
Cashmere shmashmere: instead of getting your loved ones the same old gift for birthdays, holidays, congratulations or thank you’s, consider that although you know them well, the thoughtlessness of your gift may make them feel a ‘no thank you’ rather than a ‘thank you’ in the inner dialog of your gift’s recipient. The truth is, most of us can’t be clever and thoughtful about every gift that we give. We constantly resort to old standbys, thoughtlessly giving those little luxuries to people that we think they want but won’t buy for themselves – perfumed soap, wool sweaters, fishing gear… There’s no reason to be ashamed by this, either. Most of us don’t know enough about others’ interests to give them what they really want: hence the recent surge in gift cards as a way to defer gift giving to the recipient’s choice so that he or she may get whatever it is that they fancy.
But there are some gifts that have universal appeal – gifts that spoil rotten with their sensuality: with how beautiful they are, how good they taste, and how decadent they are; gifts that assemble the best products in any given area of interest: food, wine, flowers, or sport. Though you may not be an expert in any of the areas that the person you’re giving a gift to cares about, there are people out there who are, who are more than happy to lend their expertise for a small premium over the price of the products they buy, assemble, and package beautifully for the enjoyment of whoever it is that you choose to ship them to.
Gift baskets offer a great option to those looking to give thoughtfully and easily. The best online gift basket retailers will have a large selection of baskets running the gamut of interests from wine to fruit to golf and more. They also take care of packaging and shipping for you – always a headache – and the result is an appearance of plenty for a cost that’s a lot lower than you might expect. Someone close to me recently received a gourmet gift basket from a friend for his birthday and I was so shocked by the quantity and quality of stuff in it that I couldn’t believe – when I checked the price online – that it was only slightly more than it would have cost to get all the components separately from the cheapest sources online. So in this writer’s view, you really can’t go wrong with a gift basket if you’re looking to give great gifts.