NINJOO'S 101 TO GREAT GIFTING

Who doesn't like receiving gifts? Well, this editor doesn't (most of the times). If you think of gifts you have received, how many of those would you have actually purchased for yourself? I thought so! Most presents end up being something you never wanted and never needed, they lay around your home unused, in rare cases get exchanged, and leave you with a feeling of having to reciprocate the gesture for something you had no use for in the first place. So, what does it take to become a stellar gift giver? Here is ninjoo's list of 5 things to consider:

LISTEN

One of the main keys to buying great gifts is to be a good listener to a person's interests, passions, hobbies, or even plans in life. When someone mentions how often they go to the gym or how much they enjoy their active lifestyle, you already have a strong hint on what to look for. They could need a new water bottle, a protein shaker, a gym towel or a smart skipping rope. A few innocent questions might guide you to finding the perfect item for them.

A great gift giver is always on the lookout for things that might make a perfect present. When you say "hey, I found this water bottle for you when I was searching the Internet for new gym equipment for myself" it tells people that you were thinking of them while you were doing something else. "I came across this cool basketball and since I know you like to shoot hoops I thought I buy it for you" is as personal as you can make a present to a friend.

MAKE IT USEFUL

Studies actually show that gift recipients often prefer usable and practical presents over expensive and sentimental ones. The added benefit of useful presents is that they (as the adjective suggests) will be used and this means the receiver gets the chance to think of you more often. Fact: I received my Hypervolt as a present and every time I use it to sooth my muscles after gym I am grateful to the person who gifted it to me.

PRESENTER'S PARADOX

Believe it or not "presenter's paradox" is an actual thing (Google it). This term describes people's tendencies to prefer one expensive item over that same item combined with something cheaper because the human mind tends to evaluate items in clusters and averages. Example: you receive the oh so famous Normatec together with a pair of gym gloves as a present; while this should be a great combo for every gym enthusiast, our mind tends to average out the two items and it appears as less valuable to us than if we had just received the pricier item on its own. So, the advice here is, if you buy an expensive gift refrain from adding a second item of much lower value.

The conclusion to great gifting is actually quite simple: it does not matter how much money you spend as long as you make the present relevant to the receiver.

Now that you have graduated from ninjoo's gifting academy, go out and spread gifting joy among your family and friends.

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TAKE A HINT

Studies show that people like to receive things they want and ask for, don't worry about being predictable. The satisfaction someone gets from receiving exactly what they wanted is hard to match with random gift attempts (think of when you were a child and you wanted a specific pair of sneakers which were then given to you). When you hear someone say that they got too much sun at the beach and that they need to buy an umbrella, then a Sport-Brella is probably the perfect present. By extension, you know that this person likes to go to the beach so they might appreciate beach paddles to keep them active under the sun, or an XL beach towel to fit several people on it. Just ask if they would enjoy those.

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