How often do you experience "gifter's block" when trying to pick that perfect present for your friend or relative? Do you know that someone who is so rich or so old or so "vanilla" that getting them a gift is difficult? What if it could be easy? Well, maybe it can.
At www.PerfectGift.com (the
hypothetical site I suggest, not the one actually using this URL) you'll have all the information you could ever need. The idea is to ask your friends and relatives to visit the site and to register. Upon registering, each person completes a questionnaire related to their likes and dislikes. It would not only include lists of actual products or services they way want, but ones they don't want. It would also list all sorts of preferences better describing their likes and dislikes.
One registrant might have the following list:
Things I Want
1. Pflatzgraff dining set - Naturewood collection #1089
2. Red wine - not white wine - like: Reuniti
3. Blue Jeans - like: Levis, Wrangler, straight leg; dislike: stonewash, Sears jeans, generic - size: 32x30
4. Books - like: mystery fiction, Danielle Steel; dislike: anything else
5. Dress shirts - like: 100% cotton, checked patterns or solids, prefer muted earthy colors, Nautica, Polo - dislike: stripes, pastel colors, polyester, cheap shirts (<$50) size: 16" neck, medium 42" shoulders
6. Wrist watch - like: Swiss army watch, thin leather bands; dislike: alligator skin bands, metal-link banks, imitation watches
7. 1-hr Massage - available at Changes day spa
Things I Do Not Want
1. Art supplies - just because I'm an artist doesn't mean I'm one dimensional and only want art supplies as gifts
2. Audio CDs - I have picky musical tastes and would prefer to buy my own CDs (would rather have a gift certificate)
Notice that the lists are as much about exact items and things that the receiver likes as well as things he doesn't like. It also includes more general items. The idea is each person can enter in their lists and their friends/relatives will have somewhere to go to make informed buying decisions. No more wondering if a gift is the right gift or not.
Plus, as gift buyers visit the site they can check items off the list that they have bought or plan to buy for the receiver. The receiver when logged on will not have this information available to her as to avoid ruining the surprize.
Furthermore, the site will facilitate creating links to the exact item or to online stores where items of the given category can be purchased.
The site will also handle sending out reminders of upcoming birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays based on the people you add to your watch list (or "family" list).
And finally, the site sends out paper versions (with self-addressed, stamped envelopes) of the questionnaires to older relatives who many not have a computer with internet access.
I thought to create this site long ago and always wondered if the friends or relatives in question would actually consider entering their lists a chore. The idea has great potential, but only works well if the majority of persons in a family take advantage of it.
Think about how easy it would be to take care of Christmas shopping if everyone on your 15-person list, was registered on PerfectGift.com. Maybe it'd restore some of the waning Christmas spirit.