Gift Giving Can Be Stressful

Gift giving can be stressful.  Sure, there are the easy ones to shop for that seem to be happy with anything you give them.  You are somehow always able to pick the perfect gifts, and they always seem to love them!

But, unless you have some unbelievably insane gift giving mojo, there are also some (or many) people that just end up being incredibly hard to shop for.

Maybe it's that someone who seems to have everything.  Or, maybe it's a niece or nephew that you love, but aren't quite sure what they're really into these days.

Most of us try our best to come up with a great gift, but to be frank, we can eventually run out of ideas.  Asking the recipient what they'd like to receive is a great strategy, but more often than not can end up with a simple "I don't know" response.  Or, sometimes you get the polite "I can't think of anything" answer from that same person who already seems to have it all.

These can be common-place answers, especially from closer family members, who haven't really taken the time to think about what they'd like to receive, and don't seem to see the benefit in doing so.  (Hello?  Don't they know you need some help here?)  This can actually be quite frustrating, when you're trying so hard to give them something they'll like, and yet are drawing a blank on what would be a good gift for them.

Gift giving stress...

Gift giving stress kicks in, you rack your brain trying to figure out what they'd like, and end up resorting to a gift card for a store you know they shop at (which starts becoming the default gift year after year).

Then there's the recipient who never seems to use anything you give them.  One giftYou user told us that his father absolutely falls into this category.  He literally has old, unopened presents piled in his closet to the chagrin of the rest of the family.  These are presents that his family was 100% sure he'd love (or that at least would be good for him), and yet he seems to never end up actually using any of them.

This is where a wish list really comes into play.  When people create their own wish lists, they take the time to sit down and think about what they have really been wanting or needing for themselves.  And, as you have probably already seen, the items that are placed on a wish list by an individual are pretty much guaranteed to be used and appreciated by them, because they are what the recipient already has in their mind as a need or a want.

One of the arguments against using wish lists is the worry that it takes the thoughtfulness out of gift giving.

In all honesty, though, what good is being thoughtful about something that the recipient doesn't want or need?  Sure, it's great to come up with the perfect gift that the recipient is not expecting.  And, that should definitely be a goal of gift giving, and is a great bar to meet when you can pull off total surprise.  Unfortunately, the reality is that for most of us this becomes tougher to do, year after year, because eventually we run out of ideas for what to give someone.  Having them make their own wish list makes things a lot easier, and helps to avoid the dreaded plastic smile that comes with opening a present that has that shirt or dress that was picked out for you (but that you know is something that won't fit or isn't even close to your style).  The recipient feels bad for not liking it, and the gift-giver feels bad because they can tell what the recipient is thinking.

Wish lists avoid this situation entirely, and everyone ends up happy!

Gift giving insight

Another great benefit of using someone's wish list to buy a gift for them, is that you can really get to learn something about the recipient that you might not have known.  Did you know that they were into Bikram Yoga?  Or that they are huge Isaac Asimov fans?  You probably know that they love the Dallas Cowboys, but did you know they have really been wanting to get an Ezekiel Elliott jersey?

This is also why giftYou lets people enter their gift preferences.  This includes their shirt, shoes and other clothing sizes.  It lets people list their favorite types of music, favorite movies, sports teams, and places to shop.  And, people can enter the things they like to do, their hobbies, activities and the sports they like to play.  If you still want to come up with a gift all on your own, these insights can help make sure that what you come up with is likely to be something that the recipient will really like.

Giving gifts can be hard when you don't know what to get.  giftYou makes the whole process simple, and still gives you room to be creative.  The result is less stress, and happier people all around!