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How to buy gifts that people actually want

willpatrick.co.uk

231–240 of 285 posts

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#231
"...Ask Them What They Want"

Of course this the the obvious answer. But for me, that reduce the "WOW" factor.

The question is how to determine the right gift, which mean: 1. You don't spend unordinate amount of cash, 2. The person will appreciate it

Without asking him/her questions. Which means you have to understand the hobby/habit of that person pretty well....

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#232

Best gift advice I give regularly: Keep a note on your phone (doesn't matter the app Apple Notes, Google Keep, SimpleNote, Drafts, etc) with a header for each person you want to get a gift for. Throughout the year whenever you hear them say "I love X author" or "I'm getting into Y hobby" then add a little note under their name. These can be as simple as "Coconut La Croix is their favorite seltzer flavor and brand" to…

I was having this same problem, I always felt unprepared when it came time to give gifts (Holidays, Birthdays, etc). I ended up building a simple app for myself that let me take notes for my closest relationships throughout the year. Once it’s gift giving time I now have a list of ideas already built up. I call it a PRM, essentially a personal CRM. I worry it sounds inauthentic to treat personal relationships like a…

I seem to get stuck on the splash screen, the "Get Started" text doesn't show on the screen as I'm on the smaller iPhone SE (1st generation), and therefore I can't seem to click to be able to continue.

BTW, if you ever need a feature idea, I think that being able to add a small collection of pictures (perhaps up to about 9 images) for each person would be pretty killer.

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#233

Best gift advice I give regularly: Keep a note on your phone (doesn't matter the app Apple Notes, Google Keep, SimpleNote, Drafts, etc) with a header for each person you want to get a gift for. Throughout the year whenever you hear them say "I love X author" or "I'm getting into Y hobby" then add a little note under their name. These can be as simple as "Coconut La Croix is their favorite seltzer flavor and brand" to…

Personally, I haven't implemented this though I know I should... but I came across this idea in Robert Heinleins Double Star as a reference to Farley Files. In essence, Farley was Roosevelts aid and kept files on everyone he met so before meeting them again Roosevelt could cram study and "recall everything about them" like they were a close personal friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_file For some reason th…

Reminds me of the story about David Rockefeller. https://clay.earth/story

p.s. AFAIK the Clay app is just vaporware

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's somewhat taboo to give cash, but surely cash is better than a gift card (with a note to spend it on their hobby, if you like)? If the gift card value is too low to get the treat that I wanted, then I feel obligated to spend more money than I would have; if the gift card value is too high, then I have to buy things I don't want. Or I wait until I actually need the gift card (as I suspect most people do), a…

The problem with that is, when someone receives cash, they will often feel the responsible thing to do is save it. Pay down their bills or add to their investments or whatever. Or even if they don't need the money, just adding it to the bank account and forgetting about it will often be the default action, even if some suggestion came with it. But then it's just a drop in the bucket, and they don't really get to expe…

I consider gift cards to be the worst gift. You’ve just obligated me to shop somewhere where I might not need to shop, or now I have to remember I have this gift card and use it. I like to travel light, and have less things on my mind.

You’ve just given the merchant an interest free loan that they can invest, instead of giving me cash which I could have invested if I wanted. Or spent if I wanted.

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#237
Save all the trouble. Gift money. They can buy whatever they want/need/like : groceries, fruits, ice-cream, DSLR, iPhone, Tesla, accesories for stuff they already have, etc. Absolutely full freedom on what to buy, where to buy, when to buy.

We need to de-stigmatise / un-shame gifting cash.

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I haven't implemented this though I know I should... but I came across this idea in Robert Heinleins Double Star as a reference to Farley Files. In essence, Farley was Roosevelts aid and kept files on everyone he met so before meeting them again Roosevelt could cram study and "recall everything about them" like they were a close personal friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farley_file For some reason th…

This is very interesting and something I've been playing around with in my head. I keep "chasing the dragon" when it comes to note taking apps/approaches. I've played with everything from NvAlt+SimpleNote (for iOS), Evernote, Notion, Drafts, Editorial, Obsidian, and more. Most recently when I was experimenting with the Zettelkasten notes system (in Obsidian) I got the idea that I would want to do exactly what you tal…

I was playing the note chasing app game, too. I eventually settled on the native iOS/macOS notes. I like it because I don't get paralyzed by trying to perfect the organization of my notes, and it syncs across my devices as expected.

Re: How to buy gifts that people actually want

#240
post #237

Save all the trouble. Gift money. They can buy whatever they want/need/like : groceries, fruits, ice-cream, DSLR, iPhone, Tesla, accesories for stuff they already have, etc. Absolutely full freedom on what to buy, where to buy, when to buy. We need to de-stigmatise / un-shame gifting cash.

Imagine everyone in a group of people gifting everyone else in the group $20. Everyone ends up with the exact same amount of money they started with. How is that a good idea? If we're just going to get each other cash, why bother gifting at all at that point?
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