Holiday Series 2018 - Gift-card vs. Presents

If you’re thinking of getting a friend, loved one, or colleague a present, you might find picking out “the perfect gift” to be quite the feat to achieve. Why?

Because the «picking out» process and the gift itself should NOT be about the giver but the receiver!

The «science» of gift-giving indicates that givers are more focused on the initial excitement of a given gift, whereas recipients are focused on a gift’s practicality. While gift givers value aspects like desirability and the element of surprise, recipients care more about a gift’s relevancy, and its emotional value. I believe that people are way more complex in their approach to gift giving and receiving so it really depends on the person what she or he expects no matter if they are on the receiving end or the giving end.

It’s a great feeling when you open a present and see exactly what you wanted, or something you didn’t even know you so desperately needed, but giving actual gifts is also a risk, especially if information about the recipient is limited. For instance, there are people that do NOT like to open gifts in front of the giver. Your expectations might even “force” the receiver into faking liking a gift even if that gift is awesome! What makes a traditional gift a “good” gift depends on multiple factors (both within and beyond your control), including the gift itself, its value as perceived by its recipient, its usefulness and even the psychological state of the receiver (no one knows what goes on in one’s mind at any given time!). Also, successful gift-givers take into consideration what the recipient (if thy know them) desires, and not what the gifting person would like to receive.

There’s also a multitude of reasons why gift cards might be a better or “safer” gift in different situations:

convenience,

not knowing what to buy someone,
saving money
«last moment» knowledge (last minute party invitation)
or it’s simply what the recipient wants! (like: teenagers, newly married couple, etc.)

Gift cards definitely have their place. They give the receiver the freedom to purchase whatever they’d like, up to a certain price. They remove the guesswork of giving a gift, but might also be impersonal and indicate a lack of enthusiasm on the giver’s part. To atone for the lack of enthusiasm and impersonal aspect of giving gift cards as presents, FAE created a series of gift card holders that not only beautify the gift card itself, but cleverly “relate“ the gift card with the intended recipient’s needs that said card will satisfy. These card holders can be customized for any and every occasion, such as Valentine's Day, Easter, birthday, etc. or even to wish "Get Well Soon!" or "Have a Good School Year!"

Paper heart Gift card holder - Folding

Unfortunately, at the time of posting I was out of some very popular Christmas-y gift card holders, so I’ll insert photos from blogs that were an inspiration for me.