The festive shopping season is upon us and there is usually someone who is hard to buy for on the list. How can you avoid the stress of last-minute panic buying? Personal shoppers share their tips on how to treat your loved ones to something that they will cherish.
Be ultra organised
“A spreadsheet makes life so much easier,” says Clare Barry, a personal shopper and director of Victoria James Concierge, based in Sunningdale, Berkshire. “I set a budget, and I’ll think about what they like, what they’ve been doing this year, work out different options and start putting ideas against their name.” Barry says she has been working on her clients’ present lists since the summer. There are usually some last-minute pleas for help: “It is generally men,” Barry says.
Jennifer Nicholls from Watford works as a personal shopper as part of her An Hour Earned concierge business. She starts gathering her clients’ lists in October. “I spend a lot of time Googling things, and have lots and lots of deliveries. The postman hates me. At the moment, my flat is festooned with hundreds of gifts.”
Use last year’s gift guides for inspiration
Because she starts so early, Nicholls turns to the previous year’s gift guides for ideas of products and companies. This helps to create a portfolio of businesses that make unusual things, she says, and has the added benefit that items don’t sell out instantly, unlike suggestions on the current year’s guides.
Give gifts a quality check
“Always go for the best quality you can at the price that works for you,” says Nicholls. “I would avoid a brand name over something that feels better quality. It needs to feel solid and well built.” “Something that’s nicely made that you can tell is quality is always appreciated,” adds Barry.
Check the returns policy before you buy
Nicholls does most of her shopping online: “You can find more interesting, unique, quirky items much easier. I find that going to physical shops tends to be a bit samey.” But the quality of things you buy on the internet can sometimes disappoint: “Colours don’t translate properly; if the feel and quality isn’t quite right, I’ll return it,” says Nicholls. “I’m always careful to check the returns policy before I buy and the returns window so I don’t miss that.”
Use the opportunity to support local businesses and shops
Buying locally can be more economical and helps small businesses rather than giving Jeff Bezos even more cash. “We have a responsibility to support local businesses and people who are out there building and making beautiful things,” says Nicholls.
If you don’t know what to buy, give food
There are some usual culprits who are difficult to buy for, like, “the neighbour down the road, the boss, the aunt you haven’t seen in a decade, but you still feel like you have to send something”, says Nicholls. “Food is always good, such as a hamper or some really nice chocolates … even if they personally don’t like it, a family member will.” Which is better, a small box of posh chocolates or a massive box of cheap ones? The former, says Barry – while you might buy a huge bar of Dairy Milk for a movie night, you might not get yourself a bougie box of truffles.
Or give an experience
“If somebody is a busy parent or working every hour, then experience gifts are really fun,” says Nicholls. For example, buying a nail voucher for a friend who has just had a baby, “and looking after the baby so she can go out and get her nails done. It is about buying somebody time more than anything. Most people will be very grateful for that.” Always print out an experience voucher rather than just forwarding an email, says Barry. Or even better, put it in a gift box with an item related to the experience, such as a toy car if it is a race car driving day, or an Eiffel Tower figure if it is Eurostar tickets to Paris.
Have something personalised
“The people most difficult to buy for are almost always those who have everything,” says Aoidín Sammon, a personal shopper in London. “For them I would always have something personalised.” Her go-to would be getting a passport cover or luggage tag monogrammed.
“Focus on their lifestyle, what they like to do, what they talk about, what they spend time on,” says Barry. “If they play golf a lot, and they’ve got everything for it, you could get something personalised for them, like a glove with their initials on. That makes such a huge difference: you’ve gone out of your way to do something different that they will always keep.” The same goes for a personalised notebook, says Barry, which she believes even in this day and age will still be coveted and used: “People like to take them to meetings”, she says, to show them off.
Get someone an upgrade
Something that works particularly well for men, who Nicholls says are often tricky, is to “buy them something they already have, but either an upgraded version or in a different colour. So if they wear lots of checked shirts buy them a checked shirt. You know they’re going to like it.” Nicholls also says fancy kitchen equipment can be a safe bet, as people often just buy basic stuff. “Gifting somebody a Le Creuset casserole dish that will last 30 years, or a really nice knife that’s going to be something they reach for regularly, is really useful. My mum gave me a cheese grater in my 20s and I’m still using it 20 years later.”
Consider a practical gift
Needless to say Nicholls is a fan of practical presents: “I’m very much of the opinion that something that you can use is going to make a good gift, and also, every time you use it, you’re going to think of the person who gave it to you.” One of her favourite gifts ever was a pink toolkit from her grandfather, which she still uses regularly: “I think of him every time I pick it up.” Barry, though, is not a fan of practical gifts: “A gift should be something that you would love but you wouldn’t buy yourself. It’s a treat.” When a client suggests a new steam iron for their wife, “I say: ‘absolutely not!’ I think it’s grounds for divorce.”
Be inventive with your Secret Santa
“I would go down the jokey route,” says Nicholls. “Leave yourself plenty of time and search for ‘fun Secret Santa gifts’. The best one I ever found was an office voodoo kit.”
Barry says she has heard of people doing a challenge for their Secret Santa, where they can only spend £10 in a charity shop: “It’s great because you can come up with all sorts, but the charities benefit as well.”
Don’t spoil children
“Children generally get far too much at Christmas,” says Barry. “We’ve had clients where the children didn’t even finish opening the gifts that they got on Christmas Day – they were still wrapped six months later.” She says “less is more” and advises on setting a firm budget and number of presents. “It means that they will appreciate what they’ve been given, and they will actually spend time looking at what they’ve got.”
“Most parents are not going to thank you for another plastic thing with lots of bits,” says Nicholls. She recommends experiences for kids: “Take them to the zoo, a museum, their first theatre trip. They are probably going to appreciate that more than a piece of plastic that they’ll play with for a day and then discard, and it gives their parents a break for an afternoon as well.” She also loves giving book tokens “because most parents want to encourage their children to read, and kids love being able to pick their own book”.
Include a gift receipt in certain circumstances
Shops sometimes offer a gift receipt; should you include it? “I think if you’re giving clothing, yes, because it’s easy to not get the style or the size right,” says Nicholls. “If you’re giving other things, I say no … You’re inviting them to not like it if you give them the receipt.” “For the most part there is no need,” says Sammon. “If lots of thought has gone into a gift, the receiver would not wish to return or exchange it.”
Regift with caution
It can be awkward if you receive a gift you will not use and cannot return it. Is it acceptable to pass it on to someone else? “Regifting is very much OK in my mind,” says Sammon. “If you receive a candle or perfume that isn’t your scent, I see nothing wrong with regifting it to someone you feel will enjoy it more. There is so much waste at this time of year, we need to help reduce this.”
“I wouldn’t,” says Nicholls. “I find it uncomfortable but other people feel differently. I suppose there is something to be said for the gift going to a home of somebody who will appreciate it.”
Wrap with a ribbon
“The wrapping is the first impression of the gift, so it deserves just as much consideration as what is inside,” says Sammon. “A gift won’t be quite as special if not wrapped with care.”
“I don’t believe in spending a fortune on wrapping paper,” says Barry. “Yes, it looks lovely when it is wrapped, but it is going to last three seconds as somebody then rips it off. But I do think if you’ve got the time to put ribbons on, that really does elevate the way your gifts look and are presented.” To make it look really magical, her top tip is brown paper, velvet ribbon and a sprig of holly.
You can’t go wrong with the classics
When lacking in inspiration, turn to old favourites like socks, whisky and scarves. “A failsafe gift for a friend or family member is a really beautiful hand soap or hand cream,” says Sammon, but something more luxurious than normal. “You always need more soap!”
“It depends on who you’re giving them to,” says Nicholls. “If it is a close relative, like your mum, they might be a bit boring. You can come up with a spin on it to make it more interesting,” such as a subscription where you receive something like books for a few months. “If you’re buying it for your boss or somebody you’re not that close to, I think timeless is absolutely a great way to go: hampers, candles, you can’t go wrong with cashmere – pretty much everybody is going to be happy with some cashmere bed socks.”
If you are on your way somewhere and have only got a petrol station to dash into, reach for this
“Alcohol, definitely,” says Barry. What if they don’t drink? “Then I don’t think we’d be friends,” she laughs. But if there was no booze: “I would get a gift bag and create a little kit. Say they love hot chocolate, I would buy hot chocolate and marshmallows.”
“A couple of bunches of flowers,” says Nicholls. “Take them out of the paper and re-tie them. Or I’d go for the nicest box of chocolates, if it was a Marks & Spencer. If it was the local Shell, I’d buy them the nicest antifreeze that was available and turn it into a joke. At the end of the day, it really is the thought that counts. It’s not about the stuff, it’s the thought behind it.”
