Gift Giving Guy: Gift Ideas & Advice » gift cards http://www.giftgivingguy.com Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:00:49 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Gift Giving Guy: Gift Ideas & Advice http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/3ab465414b5423629e595c03d0406398.png?s=48 http://www.giftgivingguy.com Tap foursquare for Gift Ideas http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/06/tap-foursquare-for-gift-ideas.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/06/tap-foursquare-for-gift-ideas.html#comments Sat, 04 Jun 2011 06:40:52 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=2105 Are you among the nine million users of foursquare, the leading check-into-places smartphone app? If yes, try using foursquare to find gift hints from your friends check-ins and tips. Launch foursquare, tap the friends icon, then the friend’s name. Notice that foursquare now shows the five most explored categories and top five check-in locations for your friends. These categories and locations can serve as hints for gift ideas.

Start by tapping Mayorships. See where your friend reigns as mayor — the places that she checked in more days than anyone else on foursquare. If your friend is the mayor of the local Trader Joe’s, consider building a Trader Joe’s gift bag.

Next, check out the Most Explored Categories over the last six months. Tap each category, like Coffee Shops, to see the locations. Does he check into five different Starbucks? Load up a Starbucks card as a gift. How about a gift certificate to the Stir Crazy Asian Grill she frequents every month?

Scroll down to see the Top Places your friend has checked in. Maybe she has shopped at Urban Outfitters five times since January. Now you know she’ll appreciate a UO gift card.

Finally, look through your friends’ foursquare Tips and To-Dos. From a tip, I see one of my friends loves yogurt-covered banana chips from the local natural food co-op. Another friend has a to-do item to visit Penzeys Spices.

Use foursquare to turn your friends’ whereabouts and tips into favorite gifts.

Related Post: Gifts for foursquare Fans

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/06/tap-foursquare-for-gift-ideas.html/feed 2 Oprah’s Favorite Things http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/oprahs-favorite-things.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/oprahs-favorite-things.html#comments Thu, 26 May 2011 04:16:38 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=2049 Oprah Winfrey loves to give. She graciously signed off today after 25 years of daytime television and nearly a decade of her audience-swooning Favorite Things. The blog Jezebel estimates Oprah gave $23,809,050 worth of products since 2002. Not every gift stood the test of time — like Dell’s Pocket DJ MP3 player and J.Lo’s velour sweatsuit — but most have. Let Oprah be your guide for your next gift.

Automotive

Beauty and Body Care

Beverages

Books and Magazines

Charitable Gifts

Clothing and Accessories

Electronics

Food Favorites

Games

Home and Office Furnishings

Jewelry

Kitchen and Appliances

Movies and Television

Music

Travel

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/oprahs-favorite-things.html/feed 2 A Last-minute Mother’s Day Gift http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/a-last-minute-mothers-day-gift.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/a-last-minute-mothers-day-gift.html#comments Sun, 08 May 2011 02:57:07 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=1476 Looking for a last-minute Mother’s Day gift, and you can’t give it in person? Yeah, me too. I want either a Sunday home delivery or an email notification of a meaningful gift to Mom.

Last week, I tried ordering a pressed flower pendant necklace from Uncommon Goods. The flower jewelry I wanted was out of stock. I gave Edible Arrangements a shot, but the shops near me only have Monday delivery dates for their fruit bouquets. Flowers are a classic Mother’s Day gift, but I sent Mom a dozen irises in a vase for her birthday last month.

Amazon offers online gift cards with three Mother’s Day Designs: butterflies, crown and flowers. But I want something more specific and personal than a gift card to “The Earth’s Biggest Selection.”

Next, I found a fashion tee website with a conscience called Project Iris. A portion of each purchase supports World Food Program USA, providing meals to mothers and children in developing countries. Great tees and a great cause that my mom supports — it sounds perfect. The problem: Project Iris online gift certificates take one to two business days to deliver. Not soon enough. I’ll note this one for a future present in Mom’s gift dossier.

In the end, I chose to give to the Meals for Moms campaign, a part of the Meals on Wheels charity. My mom volunteers at a local food bank. So I know she will appreciate a gift to a hunger relief charity that provides meals for home-bound mothers and grandmothers. I sent a Meals on Wheels e-card letting her know the gift will feed a dozen moms for a week.

Happy Mother’s Day!

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2011/05/a-last-minute-mothers-day-gift.html/feed 0 When I First Was Santa: Gifts for Kids http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/12/when-i-first-was-santa.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/12/when-i-first-was-santa.html#comments Sat, 25 Dec 2010 02:58:41 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=1340 Yes, Virginia, I was Santa Claus at age nine. I put on my snow boots, winter coat and red hat. I wadded cotton balls into a beard and Scotch-taped it to my face. Then I surprised my sister and brothers, taking my place in the living room’s big chair. Each sibling sat on my lap and told me what they wanted for Christmas. I’ve always loved playing Santa to kids, and now I get to re-live being Santa with my nieces and nephews. Here’s what I gave them this Christmas.

For the nieces:

For the nephews:

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/12/when-i-first-was-santa.html/feed 0 Her Own iPad http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/11/her-own-ipad.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/11/her-own-ipad.html#comments Thu, 25 Nov 2010 04:15:44 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=1277 I don’t know what hooked my 10-year-old niece on my iPad. Was it unlocking a challenging level of Angry Birds? Or playing the hidden object game Little Things? Watching the movie version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid on a gorgeous screen? Finding goofy YouTube videos? Downloading music? Flipping through photos from a day trip? I’m not sure. But I do know she has been saving every dollar for her own iPad.

When I see her tomorrow on Thanksgiving, I have an Apple gift card for her birthday that should close the gap. And if she buys the iPad on Black Friday, chances are, she can get a once-a-year discount.

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/11/her-own-ipad.html/feed 0 Shoptimism and The Perfect Gift http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/08/shoptimism-and-the-perfect-gift.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/08/shoptimism-and-the-perfect-gift.html#comments Sat, 21 Aug 2010 19:57:30 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://www.giftgivingguy.com/?p=1233 Shopping is an act of hope. Buy a gift and you presume the dollars you spend now you’ll replenish in the future. Despite all of the marketing machinations, shopping helps us fulfill needs: expressing ourselves, being social and having fun. Lee Eisenberg advances these ideas in his book, Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What. Like endless options at a mega-mall, this book catalogs hundreds of factoids and presents views from academics, marketing professionals, and consumerism critics.

Here are excerpts from Shoptimism, offering insights on gift giving.

  • “We give gifts ‘coded’ to express ‘positive emotions,’ depending on the occasion. For birthdays, housewarmings, at the end-of-year holidays, we give gifts coded ‘Joy.’ For graduations and retirements, we give gifts coded ‘Pride.’ For hospitalizations and going-away parties, we give gifts coded ‘Hope.’ And on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s and Father’s Day — also at funerals — we give gifts coded ‘Affection.’ And, yes, on all of the above as well as other occasions, we give gifts coded (you can always tell) ‘Obligation.’”
  • “The reasons we bestow gifts, according to respondents: they enable us to express pleasure or show friendship (42 percent); they are means by which we obtain or bestow pleasure (27 percent); because we feel obligated to (15 percent).”
  • “Money — not china or kitchen appliances — has become the wedding gift of choice, a development that the Romantic buyer in me takes as unwelcome news.”
  • “Each of us, on average, spends a couple of thousand dollars a year on gifts, roughly half of it during the ‘Hard Eight,’ that is the eight-week holiday shopping season.”
  • “Lisa is a friend who lives in New York City, a talented novelist, a huge-hearted wife and mom, smart, funny, sardonic, immensely kind…. Everyday shopping leaves her cold…. But there’s one kind of Buy at which Lisa excels, and that’s gifting. I ask Lisa whether she gives gift cards. Yes, turns out she does, but only as birthday presents her kids give to their friends, cards exchangeable for music and books. Otherwise, when Lisa shops for gifts she says she looks for the ‘unexpected.’ Stalking the unexpected requires a lively imagination and a grasp of the quirks of one’s circle of gift getters. It’s ‘an all-year-round, any-kind-of-weather sport,’ she reports. ‘Because the interests and tastes of my friends and family vary, the hunt for great gifts takes me from clothing boutiques to electronics stores, crafts fairs to eBay.’ But where she buys takes a backseat to what she buys. ‘I would like to think that if the presents I purchase are all laid out on a table, unwrapped, the people for whom they were intended would know instantly which presents were theirs.’”
  • “Lisa uncannily reflects what experts say are the keys to gift-giving prowess. [Professor] Russell Belk… says that a quintessential gift satisfies six criteria, which together confirm that Lisa doesn’t just give good gift, she gives perfect gift…”
  • “1. The perfect gift requires us to make an ‘extraordinary sacrifice.’ By ‘sacrifice,’ Belk doesn’t mean that we need to pawn our departed mother’s handmade quilts to help pay for the $7,000 doghouse with an Italian leather armchair (Neiman Marcus offered one in a recent Christmas gift catalog). ‘Sacrifice’ needn’t call for financial sacrifice. In Lisa’s case, sacrifice comes when she puts aside a challenging section of the novel she’s writing to make time to explore an antiques barn, where she once found a 1940s telephone for her daughter, a thoroughly modern adolescent who finds movies and Broadway musicals of that period irresistible.”
  • “2. The giver of a perfect gift wishes ‘solely to please the recipient.’ The perfect gift isn’t one that begs for reciprocation or proclaims that you’re one hell of a big-time spender. The perfect gift, Belk says, is about the recipient, not about you. Lisa gets that. One year she came upon a mourning locket offered on eBay. There was an ‘H’ engraved on it. Lisa’s stepmother’s late beloved dog was named Harry. Lisa bought the piece, placed a picture of Harry inside, and gave it to her stepmother on Christmas morning.”
  • “3. The perfect gift is a ‘luxury.’ By ‘luxury,’ Belk doesn’t mean that the perfect gift need be spattered with VLs [Louis Vuitton] or interlocking Cs [Chanel]. In this context a luxury is anything that isn’t strictly a necessity. To buy and give someone a pair of underwear or a mop and a bucket is thoughtful if the recipient’s in need of them. But gifts such as these don’t exactly communicate that the recipient is in some way extraordinary….”
  • “4. The perfect gift is appropriate to the recipient. All of Lisa’s above-cited gifts qualify as appropriate and then some. As was the canvas tote she once bought for her friend Cathy. On the side were the words ‘It Is Was It Is,’ a phrase that Cathy happens to use inveterately. What can be more appropriate than letting someone know you actually listen to what they say, right down to their asides and throwaway lines?”
  • “5. The perfect gift is ‘surprising.’ If surprise weren’t universally appreciated, Belk says, gift wrap would never have come into being. Surprise is why we love getting presents on days that aren’t birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Mother’s or Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Grandparents’ Day, or any of the Sell Side-manufactured giving days. Last year Lisa’s daughter Elizabeth performed in a school production of The Sound of Music. While such an occasion doesn’t require a gift, many of us buy unsurprising bouquets for our pint-sized leading ladies and would-be prima ballerinas. Lisa didn’t spring for a bunch of carnations; she bought Elizabeth a pair of glove forms. Why? ‘So I could give her a big hand.’”
  • “6. The perfect gift is one that the recipient desires. Belk says that we don’t have to jump through hoops to give a perfect gift. Santa didn’t get to be Santa by ripping children’s wish lists into shreds. The words ‘It’s just what I always wanted!” are confirmation that you’ve bagged a perfect gift.”

Related Post: Gift Flow, or What Makes a Great Gift

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2010/08/shoptimism-and-the-perfect-gift.html/feed 1 Last-Minute Christmas Gifts That Matter: JustGive Donations http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/12/last-minute-christmas-gifts-that-matter.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/12/last-minute-christmas-gifts-that-matter.html#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:39:00 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://giftgivingguy.com/2009/12/last-minute-christmas-gifts-that-matter-justgive-donations/ My parents made themselves easy to shop for this Christmas. At Thanksgiving, Mom encouraged us to make donations, not shopping mall runs. Both of my parents volunteer, helping people who are struggling in this tough economy. In fact, a recent American Red Cross survey found that 20 percent of Americans will reduce their charitable giving for the 2009 holidays. (American Red Cross fundraising is down an average of 25 percent this year.)

So if you’re still seeking last-minute holiday gifts, try what I did: JustGive.org. I found the right charity among 1.5 million organizations with a single search. I gave online and included a personal note. JustGive routes the donation in my parents’ names to their favorite charity and e-mails them my personal note. You decide whether you want to include the donation amount in the e-mail. (I did.) Ten minutes later, I’m done.

Not sure which charity to choose? JustGive created 12 giving collections that reflect the passions of many donors. Each collection features four charities working to advance the cause.

JustGive also offers the GiveNow Card, which allow the recipient to choose specific charities. Best of all, you can e-mail an GiveNow card right now. (While JustGive does offer gift cards via U.S. mail, the card won’t reach recipients in time for Christmas.)

I also added the suggested $5 donation to support the great work of JustGive: making charitable giving quick and simple.

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/12/last-minute-christmas-gifts-that-matter.html/feed 2 Top Ten Companies for Customer Service http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/top-ten-companies-for-customer-service.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/top-ten-companies-for-customer-service.html#comments Fri, 26 Jun 2009 03:26:00 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/top-ten-companies-for-customer-service/ MSN Money has released its 2009 Customer Service Hall of Fame this month. I’ve listed the top ten below with excerpts from the retailer profiles. Try one of these service standouts for your next gift purchase.

#10. Southwest Airlines
“Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines attributes its customer-service success to personality… and free peanuts.” Consider a Southwest gift card.

#9. Costco
“The company’s prices have also won Costco fans. Costco stocks its stores with bulk items that consumers can buy at discounts. It keeps its margins low in order to keep prices down and makes up the difference in sales volume.” Shop at Costco.com.

#8. Apple
“If they can’t fix it, and it’s new enough, they’ll often hand you a replacement device free, on the spot.” Visit the Apple Store.

#7. Whole Foods Market
“[Whole Foods] has created a loyal following by committing to sell high-quality food that’s free of many additives and antibiotics that concern health-conscious customers.” Order a Whole Foods gift card.

#6. Publix Super Market
“[Spokeswoman Maria] Brous also attributes Publix’s success to discount programs intended to help struggling families afford the basics.” Purchase a Publix gift card.

#5. Nordstrom Department Store
“The company gives many of its salespeople the latitude to deal with customer complaints without running them up the management chain.” Shop at Nordstrom.com.

#4. Amazon.com
“Amazon considers its free shipping a form of advertising. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon said it had saved customers more than $800 million in shipping costs in 2008.” Shop at Amazon.com.

#3. NetFlix
“Netflix has 58 distribution centers across the country, enabling 97% of members to receive new DVDs the day after Netflix gets their returns, says Steve Swasey, the company’s director of corporate communications. The company ships more than 2.2 million DVDs each day to a network of 10.3 million subscribers, he says.” Give a NetFlix gift subscription.

#2. Trader Joe’s
“Trader Joe’s owes its customer ratings to its cheese, chocolate cake… and the rest of its product selection, says satisfied shopper Lisa Hsu.” See TraderJoes.com for the closest grocery store location. TJ’s does not sell its products (not even their gift cards) online.

#1. USAA
“USAA certainly isn’t your average insurance company or financial institution. Its 7 million members are all in the military, former servicemen or family members of military personnel. Members are stakeholders. They pay premiums and are paid back a portion of the insurer’s profits each year.” If you qualify for USAA services, visit USAA.com to learn more about buying a U.S. savings bond as a kid’s gift. Albeit practical, savings bonds help children understand the power of growing interest.

***

MSN Money based its top ten on a survey of 3,015 respondents, rating the customer service of 145 companies in 15 industries. Zogby International conducted the survey and also asked which aspect of service was most important. The results (rounded up) are as follows:

  • Knowledgeable staff – 44%
  • Friendly staff – 18%
  • Readily available staff – 15%
  • Flexible policies for return/exchange of merchandise – 9%
  • Service after the sale – 9%
  • None — product is all that matters – 1%
  • Not sure – 1%
  • Other – %1
]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/top-ten-companies-for-customer-service.html/feed 0 The Gift of the iPhone 3GS http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/gift-of-iphone-3g-s.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/gift-of-iphone-3g-s.html#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:33:00 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/the-gift-of-the-iphone-3gs/ I needed a good excuse to wander over to the Apple Store today. Fortunately, June 19 is World Sauntering Day, an annual celebration of strolling. So I leisurely walked into my local Apple Store and gave myself the gift of a new iPhone 3GS (16 gigabytes in black). Since I owned the original iPhone, the upgrade cost $199, plus an $18 AT&T charge.

The speed difference with the 3G network is dramatic. In the last two years, I tolerated the Edge network on my old iPhone because I’m almost always near a wireless network. However, today I spent the day shopping with my wife, away from wi-fi. The Safari browser was impressively fast. And we took crisp photos during our shopping travels, thanks to the new 3-megapixel camera with built-in autofocus.

Where will my first-generation, 8-gigabyte iPhone go? Gadget reseller Gazelle will trade an Amazon.com gift card worth $131 for my old iPhone. In the next few days, I’ll receive a Gazelle shipping box with prepaid postage. I’ll ship my old iPhone, headphones, dock charger and power adapter. Gazelle will verify the condition of my iPhone and, within 10 business days, issue my Amazon.com gift card via e-mail. While I wiped my data from the iPhone, Gazelle also verifies that no personal data remains.

]]> http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/06/gift-of-iphone-3g-s.html/feed 0 New Gift Card Rules Wrapped in Credit Card Law http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/05/new-gift-card-rules-wrapped-in-credit.html http://www.giftgivingguy.com/2009/05/new-gift-card-rules-wrapped-in-credit.html#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 03:13:00 +0000 Gift Giving Guy http://giftgivingguy.com/2009/05/new-gift-card-rules-wrapped-in-credit-card-law/ The new credit card law President Obama signed on May 22, 2009 gave Americans a surprise present: improved safeguards for gift cards. Starting in February 2010, gift card issuers must follow new rules for plastic and electronic gift cards and gift certificates. And that includes the bank gift cards that carry the Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover logos. (I’m not a fan of the bank gift cards, but this federal law might make them more consumer friendly next year. Even with the law, bank cards may still charge a one-time “issuance” fee.) The new rules for gift cards:
  • Gift cards must stay active for five years, starting as soon as money is put on the gift card.
  • If the gift card expires after five years, gift card sellers must disclose the terms of expiration to buyers before selling the card. Also, expiration information must appear on the gift card in all caps and 10-point font size.
  • Monthly fees due to inactivity cannot be charged unless the card remains dormant for 12 months. The law caps the monthly fee at $1.

Keep in mind, this new law does not affect prepaid cards for telephone services, rewards/loyalty cards, paper gift cards or paper gift certificates. With these new changes, your giftee will have more time and keep more value on gift cards you give.

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