It is always an exciting feeling when a close friend’s birthday is coming up and you decide to devote a few hours to go out and shop for the perfect gift for his/her special day. This goes for other occasions too; successful recovery from an illness, an academic or extra-curricular achievement, a professional standout performance etc.
But sometimes you will find yourself lost in isles of gifts in a store or online, confused because you have no idea what to get for your friends. In these times this is the perfect article to act as your guide, which will be highlighted by the following steps.
Step 1: Avoid the Regular
By the regular, we mean items which we generally associate with the two genders. Watches and colognes for men, and makeup and clothes for women are not the only gifts out there, because not every man or woman is bound to like these stereotypical gifts. Of course your friends will not say it to your face, but why not make it special?
If your friend is a makeup enthusiast for example, and she has been looking forward to getting a lip gloss you know about, the obviously getting that is perfect, but exploring beyond the regular should be your target.
Step 2: Know the Likes
Random guesses are tough to make when you go to get gifts, because sometimes you end up liking nothing at all. It is important to narrow your search down to a few key items which your friend has been looking for.
Getting a new controller for a gamer or a new Bluetooth speaker for a loud music fanatic is great, but it can be costly. However, even this level of focus will allow you to narrow down your search, and you will start looking at options which can optimize your friend’s utility and your financial standing perfectly.
Step 3: Get Creative
The trend of people having to buy a gift, wrapping it in a box with a fancy wrapping paper, and pasting a card on top is certainly not one that will die, but how are you doing justice to a special friendship when what you do is nothing special or unique at all?
Creativity is the best option; you can give the gift in a handmade gift bag which has wishes from all your friend’s close companions, or give something dull to fool him/her and then end up showing the real gift. These little tricks go a long way in securing special bonds.
Step 4: Take Hints
Just before the birthday you can start asking your friend’s questions like ‘What do you wish you had right now?’ and keep the conversation going without making it obvious or boring. There is certainly something useful he/she will say without noticing that it was the exact clue you were looking for.
These hints are hard to take because the better you are in concealing your motives, the worse the answers you get, so it is not exactly a win-win situation.
Shop for your friends with these steps in mind and you will end up buying the perfect gift for each close companion.
