Every year about this time (hey I still have 1 shopping day to overnight something) I have the same de lima.
What do I get people for xmas who can afford to buy whatever they want.
Sure I could buy everyone gift cards… or just give them money… more of what they already have too much of? Lame.
I like to give practical gifts. Things that would improve people’s lives or at least what I think would improve their life.
For instance a couple years ago at some conference I noticed Greg and Brian from Best Of The Web had these giant brick like digital cameras. Seriously you could use these things for boat anchors. I got them both small canon cameras .
Last year my friend Dax started shaving his head… but using a regular razor…eeek… Anyone who has ever felt my head knows its as smooth as a babys ass and the reason for that is because of the stuff I use. So I sent him the ShoeMoney head shaving kit.
I normally do not like to send out gift cards or cash but in certain circumstances it works. For instance if a friend of yours just got an iphone then getting them a $50 apple gift card will really come in handy for music and applications they are going to need.
This year I got some very cool gifts that I thought I would share.
GetAds gave me a backpack for christmas that is amazingly awesome.
Its totally geared for the nerdy traveler. Google gave me a backpack about 4 years ago and thats been my traveling companion. Many people have sent me backpacks over the years but ive always gone back to the Google Pack. This one from GetAds is the bomb though. One of my favorite features is how I do not have to take out my laptop at airports anymore.
Facebook gave us one of the more interesting gifts. Its a $75 gift coin to donors choose. Basically they gave us $75 to give to a charity of our choice. Now that’s pretty cool.
So what do you get people who already have everything?
About the author...
Jeremy Schoemaker – who has written 2416 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.
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{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
Well,I just like to give people different kinds of foods.
Internet marketers are frequently loners, working away at home. I like to give a more personal, “Hands-on” kind of gift. How about a massage? Someone coming to the house gicing a wonderfully relaxing massage. Or, a facial, manicure/pedicure?
Other more personal gifts for those who have everything could be a flower subscription where you get flowers every month for a year. Or, how ’bout a gift box from Omaha steaks?? YUM!!
If the person has pets, well, then you are saved!! Get some snazzy food dishes, I mean these things can get REALLY extravagant!! (Read expensive too!!) Or some high octane cat nip, a REALLY fancy dog collar… Everyone with pets LOVE getting gifts for their pets.
A gift certificate to the best restaurant in town could also work…
Or how about maid service for a few months??? (This one can be tricky though…..lol…..)
So much fun stuff to give!!
I think this is a perfect comment. I like to give something that keeps a busy person healthy. There are too many close people that are not healthy BUT can be with little effort.
I give gift cards to Subway all the time, at least I know they are not eating at McD’s, so long as they use the card
Merry Christmas!
A nice bottle of red wine is so typical but can be a great gift.
It’s always good to have a few bottles on the shelf.
well those gifts you mentioned seemed awfully generous.
You can give people some flipcam HDs or find something they might like to do (golf lessons, surfing, scuba, etc.) stuff that will get them out of their house where they probably spend 20+ hrs a day tracking excel spreadsheets.
What is the purpose by giving something for someone who is already have everything???
Well there are a lot of people who have made a major impact in my life. And I would like to show them my gratitude.
Even if the gift means nothing to them and they will never use it, it still means something to you to give a present to someone who means so much to you. So, if for nothing else, at least it will mean that you gave them something that was meaningful.
I’m pretty bad at buying gifts, but this year i actually did pretty good. My old technique was hearing someone mention something they’d want, then trying to remember it around christmas (which I never did).
Now I’m in the habit of writing down things in my phone right when I hear someone mention something they want. A couple months ago my dad said he needs headphones to listen to the TV when he runs on the treadmill. I wrote it down right away and just got him wireless headphones.
I don’t typically give out many gifts to people other than close friends and family. But I remember back in my youth, when my father was running the sports car division at Ford, some of the stuff they sent him was *awesome*. (They probably have rules against it now) The coolest one was one year, someone sent him a clambake. I mean, the whole shmear. They told him to pick a date, and this company came out with tables and chefs and side dishes and clams and desserts and put on an entire party for like 25 people. It was amazing, and definitely not something my parents would have ever thought of for themselves.
My favorite choice is enrolling someone in the beer of the month club. They get different beers every month, which is totally awesome. Plus they get to try stuff they normally wouldn’t
Loathe, that I am, to begin sounding like a crafty mummy when commenting on your post, but sometimes, the best gifts are handmade. That’s something they really couldn’t buy themselves. Like really great homemade fudge, in a nice box or jar with a ribbon. Even though someone with loads of cash could probably fly in like the worlds best fudge from anywhere in the world, still it’s something that shows it’s the thought that really counts.
Now, I must say, Shoe, that your posts have made me want to do lots of things: take notes, check my google analytics, find twitter stats etc. But today, all I want to do, is rub your head, and see for myself.
Heh.
maybe at affiliate summit?
Always a book if they really got everything they need. Of course, not some random book off the shelf, but something I have read and don’t mind recommending without embarassing myself. I honestly think we can never get too much reading (well, maybe college textbooks, but… I’ll skip that for now) and certainly, ending or starting a year with a good book never hurts.
Something more valuable, I usually try to give people candles, lip balms, scarves, and pratical winter stuff. I rarely give money or gift cards not because I don’t want to be throwing money around, but because I feel like it doesn’t have much meaning. I would personally prefer practical gifts much more than luxurious, unnecessary gifts.
I’m diggin your Shoemoney Shaving Kit. A friend gave me a few bottles of the Head Slick a while back and that stuff is great. I love the menthol smell and it feels great when shaving your head smooth. Merry Christmas.
I really like the donors choose idea. Rather than give people stuff that they already have (or stuff that they can easily afford), the spirit of the season shines through by giving to those who aren’t quite yet internet moguls. For a personal example, an alpaca was given to a family in Peru in my name last year. Cool stuff.
I think the most valuable gift you can give is time. Just being with people is so valuable in our busy world! Remember when you were a kid and your parents showed up for your soccer game? How special did you feel? Or when you went and visited your grandmother in the nurseing home…did’t she just light up with the gift of your presence. Just being with people gives hope, joy, and encouragment because you are saving to the person value them by chiding to spend your time with them. When you are busy trying to decide what to give that person who has everything give him something that money can’t buy, your presence. Merry Christmas!
That seems like a lot of work.
It’s cliche but it’s really the thought that counts. Judging by your stories, seems like you’re on track anyway.
IMO, a $20 gift for something I need (and you were mindful of) is way more valuable than a thoughtless $100 gift.
What do you buy your dirt poor internet friends
trying to recover from a horrible 2009?
Why… an Amazon Kindle of course!
Shameless link to my wish list:
http://bit.ly/8DtU5z
A subscription to the shoemoney system so this wont happen next year
Да уж. Как говорится в устоявшемся выражении:
Именно мы не подчинились ни Гитлеру, ни утренней гимнастике.
Well, I did the Honey Baked Ham thing this year (and waited in a long line to do it!) but I like the idea of a Flip that Brian mentioned. I just would need to make sure they would actually use it/want it.
Merry Christmas!
You say you don’t like to give money or vouchers, how is that not practical?
When people normally talk about “people who have everything” it just normally means they have a lot of money and all the practical things they need.
I would tend to go the other way in gift giving and get them something unpractical something that’s hard to find or needs to be made, something they cant just walk into their local electronics store and hand out their credit card.
Took me a while to realize ‘de lima’ wasn’t some spanish slang or something
damn spell checker suggestion
Someone gave me a framed copy of a printed Google search showing my website sitting at #1 out of millions of results…where it’s been for the last 6 months. YAHTZEE!
wouldnt it be better if you and your rich friends all chipped in together and did something for someone that needs it. Maybe get a bunch of toys for sick kids or something.
I agree with Brian. Something like golf lessons or charter boat fishing. Get outside and breathe some fresh air. Probably a lot more memorable than some trinket.
Thats the hardest thing to do, give a gift to someone if life who has everything they need in life.
A word that’s true…Something no one has
I picture of someone they love in a nice frame.
How about handwritten, somehow personalized, Christmas cards?
No material value, but it has to mean something if they see you wrote them yourself.
Sure but who reads the cards
Thanks for remembering. Actually I had forgotten to give gift to my friend. In this Christmas I decided to give a book to my friend.
yeah, this eve is very important for us,have a nice day!
What a difficult choise! Do you want to make happy a rich guy? You can. Do him a “knowledge gift”. I think it’s the best way to make happy a guy that have, or can have everything.
This is the toughest part in life choosing a gift for friends.
Heifer International has a wonderful program. You can buy a family a cow, flock of baby chicks, ducks, etc. in foreign countries. That would be a great thing to do in someone’s honor!
I dont trust any of these organizations. When you dig into them they all have fat cats running them.
Thats why we have switched all of our fund raising to local homeless shelters and stuff where we have actually seen their books and met their staff.
Nice tips ! thanks for sharing !
I’ve given away several Gaiam Balance Ball Chairs over the years and affiliates / strategic business partners / friends / family ALL love them. What’s more convenient than fitting in an ab workout while you’re adjusting your ad campaigns?
About a month ago me and the rest of the PeerFly team started brainstorming what we were going to send to our top publishers. We knew that we wanted to send something to them, but they are our top publishers and make quite a bit of money so what could we send them that they would actually enjoy?
Well, we ended up decided food would be the best option. Sure, it wouldn’t have our logo on it or anything like that, but they would know who it was coming from and they could share in with their friends and family. The gift basket we sent out turned into a pretty big success. We received a lot of comments and a few of our publishers posted about it in their blogs.
Seems like the perfect choice
My son Nickycakes, who is richer than I am, will be getting what he asked Santa for – Assassins’ Creed 2.
Admit it. All you computer nerds out there would love to get a computer game for Xmas.
As for the fact that my son makes more money than I do, nothing makes a dad more proud of his son, than when his son beats him at something important.
Nick’s Dad
wow.. a bacpack is really what I need..
the getads backpack look nice.. wish I can have one..
These companies always seem to give out great prresents. I remember a couple of years ago a friend of mine received a Google fridge as a present!
Big brand companies always tend to send out valuable gifts.
Yes, it is quite hard to find gift for people, who have everything. I bought them quite small and unique things
If they are short-sighted, I might just get them $100 discount coupon from the web site at http://www.thevisionhouse.com for them to get their own prescription glass in 1 hour turnaround time. The place carrys a wide variety of branded glasses.
Thanks for the blog. I know a little bit about the topic but am always glad to find out more information.
Time with your friends. I have a group of friends that I try to plan a fun outing with. One year it was tickets to baseball games (we usually tried to coordinate to go all together). One year it was cooking lessons (again we did this as a group).
This year …. tsk, tsk, I’m not going to tell and spoil it!