Great Prices Here

The holiday season entails one big job upon all of us - gifting. And as cumbersome and expensive that might be, we all love receiving gifts, don’t we? So I set out to do my Christmas shopping, a little late by any woman’s standards, but still quite in advance compared to any guy I guess.

I need to buy plenty of stuff - for kids, parents, grandparents, neighbors, friends, the special someone etc etc. Add to is, I have birthdays of 4 close folks too this month, so add those to the list. So I set out looking for great gifts that are easy on the pocket (aren’t we all?). The most common advice I came across was – “To keep the budget low, try making personalized gifts at home”. But as craftily challenged as I am, I knew that was not an option pour moi. So then began the scout for cheap gifts. Or should I use the word inexpensive - cheap sounds so…. well, cheap.

Here is what I came across. Many sites offer gift advice, but it gets repetitive beyond a point. Some sites have nice gifts for less than 10 or 20 bucks.

Designer Gifts has everything neatly categorized by recipient and price range. Price ranges are under $5, under $10, under $15, under $20 and under $40 in the cheap category. The site structure is easy to go through and efficient. The site belongs to Yahoo, so you can be pretty sure you will receive what you ordered.

Net Gift also has good stuff for less than $10. But they do not guarantee arrival of goods before Christmas if ordered through Standard shipping. Rush orders are surer to reach on time, but needless to add the shipping rates are much higher with this option. So the gifts won’t really remain that cheap anymore.

If you are the environment friendly types (shouldn’t we all be?), and would like that to reflect that in your gifts, Inhabitat has a good writeup about Green gifts. I especially like the plant me pets ($20, tomato is out of stock currently) and the Orikaso Dinner Set ($27)

Royal Stafford has beautiful tableware ideal for gifting. They offer a good discount of 40% if you go for the seconds, which I am told are almost as good and no one will even notice. A straight 40% off is a great offer.

And of course, those who are better at craft can actually try making a personalized picture frame or gift box. Others could buy gift certificates of stores where you know the person usually shops. Hey, how about lottery tickets? They would either be worth a hell of a lot or nothing at all. Umm, on second thoughts, I don’t think so…..

Now I better get going and order some stuff and start striking out names on my list.

Tags: Gifts //