Gift Buying – Extreme Assistants

November 16, 2014

Countdown To The Holidays-How to Minimize Stress Series

November—It’s all about the gifts

Last month we spoke about the importance of your lists and getting answers so this month you can move forward and implement those decisions.

This month it is all about the gifts—purchasing, wrapping and planning how to get your gifts to the recipients.

Do yourself a favor and first read my blog about how to choose gifts and which type of gifts to give (Better To Give Then to Receive—Gift Buying Tips http://wp.me/p1SRiE-1J) so you get information I didn’t rehash here but it’s just as important to your holiday attack plan:

First—Decide what to get each recipient

If you’re buying for your employer’s gift list you have some options: 1) Bring in a corporate gift buyer or personal shopper. They will make an appointment and presentation. A store like Tiffany’s has a Corporate Gift Department or any sales assistant in most Beverly Hills boutiques (insert your high-end shopping district here) or department stores would be happy to do this for their store; 2) Ask your employer to specify what to get people on their list; 3) At the very least, get an approximate budget and ask them to give you an idea of what that person likes (Favorite colors? Favorite authors? Do they like to cook or entertain? Approximate age? Wine person? Hobbies? Anything feedback will be helpful to you.)

Next—

Hit the computer and the streets. Shop with the intention of having all gifts before Thanksgiving, which allows time for returns and before your shopping mobility is severely hampered by the masses. Get in the stores early. Wear comfortable shoes. Map out your route and pay for parking with security so your packages are safe. Get your shipments early. You’re okay too if you get it done by Dec. 1 but it takes serious prioritizing of what gifts go out first. Sign up for Amazon Prime. It’s worth the money.

Tip 1) Don’t get caught up in the store shopping for your gifts. Take a photo and keep moving. Stay focused on your mission. I’d always overspend in stores I couldn’t afford and usually could find the item cheaper online later.

What else to plan for in advance?

Gift boxes—You need containers for every gift you buy. The only exception is a bulky child’s toy (i.e. bicycle), which can get over-wrapped in a red holiday bag. Pay for gift-wrapping whenever possible or go to somewhere like Box City and buy white gift boxes (not brown) to wrap. Higher end stores wrap for free, include a gift receipt or label and will indicate whom your gift is for with a post-it on your wrapped gift so you can attach a gift tag later. Always ask for boxes when you buy gifts. You can order gift boxes at www.uline.com and you can return what is not damaged. You can also drop off all of your gifts somewhere like Paper Source in Beverly Hills but prepare to pay a premium.

Shipping boxes—If you are not hand-delivering your gifts, then you will need shipping boxes but these you may not have to buy. A little planning ahead makes the difference. Remember last month’s master gift list that indicates who is getting their gift hand-delivered vs. shipped? Here is where that column is handy. First determine how you are shipping to each recipient and the size of the box you need based on the gifts you bought. Shopping online? Often you can re-use the Amazon box the gift came in – just take ALL old shipping and bar code labels off first. Can you use a flat rate box from USPS? Just purchase and you can cram them full for the cost of the box (not the weight like other shippers). If you’re shipping Priority with USPS, those boxes are free. Fed Ex and UPS have free boxes too for certain types of shipping. Make sure you open your shipper accounts, do your labels online so your packages are trackable. Online accounts save your contacts for next year. Then call for pick up!

http://www.fedex.com/be/shippingguide/packaging.html

https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-flat.htm

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/forms.html?srch_pos=2&srch_phr=free+boxes&WT.svl=SRCH

Tip 1) If you ship Fed Ex ground within your state most recipients will get their boxes the next day (if you ship before Dec. 1). Don’t pay for next day shipping before then.

Tip 2) After Dec. 22nd even if you pay for next day delivery it won’t arrive then, no matter what they promise and you pay for.

Tip 3) I have found Fed Ex to be much more reliable than any other shipper out there and you can reach live customer service operators.

(More on shipping in next month’s blog.)

Green options—Another option for gift boxes is putting a gift in a re-usable container like a lidded basket or holiday tin. Then you only have to tie a beautiful ribbon and tag around the container. Gift bags with drawstrings can be nice as well. Quality wine bags with ribbon are simple, elegant and a quick go-to gift. An envelope with a bow can contain a gift card with minimal packaging.

www.papermart.com

Your Wrapping Tools—Ribbon, gift wrap, gift tags, packing material, tape and scissors are necessary tools. If you are not good at wrapping, hire someone who is. (Hint: Bubbly wrap or loosely wrapped packages are considered badly done.) Give them a workspace and their own tools. Don’t by less materials hoping to save money. There’s nothing worst than not having everything you need and having to run out to finish a shipment. Just use it next year or share your excess. My favorite resources are:

www.papermart.com

www.papersource.com

www.kelleypaper.com

Tip 1) Forget the pop-up hand tape contraption-when you’re wrapping quantity it just gets in the way. Use a tape dispenser that is weighted so you can grab and cut tape with one hand.

Tip 2) Real two-sided satin ribbon is so much easier to work with, so much prettier and cheap when you buy in bulk.

Tip 3) Only buy ribbon in two sizes, 1” (for smaller packages) and 3” (for bigger packages).

Tip 4) Buying plain red, gold or silver paper with green, blue and red ribbon has you covered for Christmas or Hanukkah gifts. Don’t bother with patterned papers (considered tacky for adult gifts).

Tip 5) Tie on Tags vs. Stickers—Stickers are tacky and your employer’s high-end friends know this. Tie on tags are best and yes, a real pain too!

Tip 6) Remember to use the word “Holiday” vs. “Christmas” on tags and cards to be respectful of everyone’s traditions.

Tip 7) Keep track of the gifts you’ve bought and keep them secure. I always had a designated closet or office that locked at holiday time. The cleaning crew or others were not allowed in. Otherwise, things have a habit of growing legs and walking off. And for some reason, no one will fess up to seeing an iPod prancing out of the door.

Tip 8) Keep your receipts in one place. Even if it is a Ziploc, keep all holiday receipts together. People will come to you and want to return/exchange their gift, (especially if you’re buying from the boss and they don’t want him/her to know.) Give it to them but keep a copy of the receipt for your employer’s tax accountant with the recipient’s name on it and mark business or personal. You don’t want them thinking you bought yourself a new iPod!

Tip 9) Buy Red, Silver & Gold Sharpies for the holidays. They come in very handy for tags and gift envelopes.

Looking Ahead at December—

Shipping off your gifts—plan to do this no later than the second week in December. Prioritize all perishable gifts to go first since people leave to visit relatives a week before the holidays and offices close.

My related blogs—

Better To Give Then to Receive—Gift Buying Tips

http://wp.me/p1SRiE-1J

Last Minute Giving on a Beer Budget

http://wp.me/p1SRiE-33

December 20, 2013

Last Minute Quality Giving on a Beer Budget

How fast this time of year has come…again! It’s cliché to say how time flies, but this year I can honestly say it really did, faster than ever before. So here we are in the midst of the holidays with 2 days until Christmas, Hanukah is over and the New Year looming. I have put together some good, quick (and cheap) ideas for gift giving because any assistant knows, the best rule of gift giving is to make sure it is something the person would like want or need instead of something you think they should have. And this blog is for you, the assistant.

The busiest time of the year for an assistant is the holidays. Not only are you responsible for your own regular duties, but you must now add handling holiday cards and often hundreds of gift buying duties. (To date, the smallest amount of gift giving I have been responsible for are 80 gifts and December is always a blur). For years I’d end up spending way too much money doing last minute shopping for MY family. Aside from toys, it became very hard to find inexpensive gifts on such short notice. Here are some ideas.

Have you visited your local Goodwill store lately? Yes, you heard me right.

Here’s what to look for—

1) Ugly pictures! Yes, but take out that cheap piece of “art” and replace it with a photo you’ve taken of someone in your family. Depending on the size you can get the frame for $2.00 and the photo for $.25. Or you can spring for the canvas print option, where your photos are printed on ready to hang canvas. These start at $13.00 for the 5×7 size. Walgreen’s, CVS, Kinko’s offers this quick print option and same day printing. Or online check out www.shutterfly.com, www.zazzle.com, or www.vistaprint.com.

2) Mugs and commuter coffee cups—Pair a clean, unscratched mug with a $10 Starbucks gift card. Mugs cost about $.25 to 2.00 and some are often new. If you want to splurge you can buy someone a stainless travel mug with their photo on it for $12.99 at CVS, Walmart or Costco. Better yet, a photo of you and your bestie. Just supply the photo of you and your friend’s mug.

3) Set of dishes—A teen just getting started would appreciate these but don’t get them grandma’s china. It is also perfectly acceptable to mix and match. Even more appreciated if it comes with a grocery gift card.

4) I have found one or two collectable books in the book section, but this takes a bit of time and patience. But you can find some a book for everyone’s taste.

Lobster Gram, Cheese Club, 1-800-Flowers, Beer-of-the Month, Wine-of-the-Month—it’s an online smorgasbord!

If it’s really crunch time, get online and buy a gift and take advantage of their “print it now” option to print a gift certificate that tells them their gift will be arriving soon. Try to present it as a gift that you print on nice paper, put it in a pretty envelope, and tie a bow on it! Done.

www.livelob.com, www.1800flowers.com/Christmas, http://www.greatclubs.com

Gift Cards—

Once it was thought to be impersonal to give a gift card, but they are so customized now you can get a specific card to anyone’s favorite store. Make it even more thoughtful with an accessory. Maybe pair ear buds ($10 Best Buy or Walgreen’s) with an itunes gift card $10. Pair a usable tool or paintbrush with a Home Depot gift card if someone is fixing up his or her home. Dinner and a movie (give Subway and AMC) gift cards. Of course, the price is up to you with gift cards, but remember to put thought with it and it will be appreciated. And you don’t have to go to a million individual stores. You can get most cards at any gift card carousel at any major grocery store (at least in Los Angeles you can).

Magazine Subscriptions—

Talk about the gift that keeps on giving! Sign someone up for a gift subscription, print out the certificate notification, and attach the current issue of the magazine. Easy breezy and fully customizable to someone’s personal interest because there are magazines for planning your wedding to bass fishing. Remember, what do they like? Cooking? Traveling? Self-Help? Hint–look for coupons online before purchasing. You almost never have to pay the price on the card that falls out of the magazine.

http://www.magazinediscountcenter.com

Kinko’s—

Have you been there lately? The best gift I ever gave to my family was a calendar with all of our birthdays noted. On the top of that family member’s month was photos of them that I had or they had posted on Facebook. On the front was a collage of photos of all of our family members. I knocked out 25 gifts in one fail swoop and they are still asking for another calendar. Who knew? It took time, but it was much easier than tromping around the mall. And I could upload it all to Kinko’s website and picked it up 2 days later. Check out your local Kinko’s where you can get many quick and personalized gifts. Bring your iphoto library and order away!

www.fedex.com/office

A Donation Has Been Made In Your Name To—

There is always an organization that can use money to provide desperate help to others. The Red Cross is an international organization that shows up to every disaster and helps those in need. But there our countless others that may hold a soft spot in the heart of your gift recipient. Maybe they’ve had a family member die from a disease and you can donate to the organization that is working to find a cure. You can pay and print out your donation card to present to your recipient. The amount you donate is unknown to the recipient. And you get a tax write off. This is especially good for the person who has everything and many people benefit from one gift.

The bottom line is that the holidays really are NOT just about giving. I find that when I am together with people I care about, or reconnecting with them just because it’s the holidays, it confirms the sense of love and caring we all have for each other even if we don’t talk regularly. It reminds us all how connected we are—old and new relationships. And find gratitude in everything, even that difficult family member. Be grateful that you’ll only have to see them during the holidays!

Have fun, hug your family and really see and appreciate them. I appreciate you, everyone who has kept up with my blog. Happy 2014—here I come!

December 1, 2011

Better To Give Then to Receive—Gift Buying Tips

December 1st, 2011 § Leave a Comment

Buying gifts for yourself or others is fun, easy and oh so rewarding.

gift wrapping — http://bahrainidiva.blogspot.com/2007/11/gift-wrapping-ideas.html

Buying gifts from someone (your employer) to give to someone else (a stranger to you) can be one of the most challenging things assistants have to do.

And because it is your job, often you won’t get any help from the gift giver. But you, oh professional one and assistant extraordinaire, have tools in your arsenal.

Let me start by acknowledging there are multiple gift that we are responsible for all year long:

1) The Monthly Birthday List—This includes your employer’s family, friends, employees and business associates. You are responsible for keeping it current and circulated 1-2 months in advance. Most of these gifts are more of an acknowledgement (generic gift) than a statement (impressive gift) so you may have a rule that those on the list get standard gifts like a flower arrangement or an expensive bottle of wine, but those who do get a statement gift will be specific hand-picked gifts. At the very least, during the first presentation of the list to your employer, ask for an idea of budget next to each person’s name. This list is your barometer to the level of importance this person is in your employer’s life. Glean what you can from this list so the following year you can make appropriate suggestions. Eventually you will know who comes on and off the list annually, who gets the flowers or the trip to Hawaii.

2) Special event gifts—These gifts are not anticipated in advance, however, they can also have a general rule that applies to them so you can keep these gifts on hand. I used to have a closet of the softest handmade baby blankets for a new arrival, pre-wrapped. When award seasons comes around, I have a good, dependable, well stocked liquor store (Wally’s in LA is great) who will send champagne to Academy Award winners or Grammy winners, Espy awards (insert your award show here) your employer may know. Marmalade Café’s (west coast) makes the best food baskets complete with casseroles and homemade soups for a get well gift or to a new mom who can’t find the time to cook. They key is to have these people on tap so when you get the call to send something to so-and-so and you’re on another coast scouting a residence for the next movie your employer is going on, you make a call and you know it gets done. (Blog about love for my “golden vendors” to come).

3) The production list (if you’re working in the movie industry for a producer or director or talent) includes start of production gifts and end of production gifts. These are usually special gift baskets put together relating to the movie’s theme to start, and a more personal gift for the principles at the end. The cast and crew always gets a “wrap” gift which is from the producers/director. The wrap gift has the logo of the film and relates to the film’s theme. Key crew members always get jackets and at least a baseball hat. (I still have the softest leather jackets given out from the Indiana Jones movies as well as a picnic blanket from another film aptly themed. Yeah, I’ve used the blanket much more!) The execution of these gifts are handled by the production staff but you may be coordinating and coming up with the ideas if your employer is the producer. The personal gifts to the talent at the movie’s end is usually done by the assistants. But by the end of the film, you or your employer know the players involved well enough to effortlessly pick appropriate gifts.

4) Holiday gift lists—this is the granddaddy of gift giving. This usually incorporates everyone your employer thought enough of to get a gift for in the lists mentioned above. These may include corporate gifts (if your employer owns a company) as well as personal gifts. By years end, or if the last assistant kept good records, you should have an idea of what type of gifts certain people get. But if not, here are some hints to get more info on the person:

Ask your employer. If they are able to give you some direction, that’s easiest. If not, at the very least, get an idea of what they’d like your budget to be. Sometimes you get an idea if they say, “Get me the late 20^th century fine art catalog for Southby’s auction next month,” you know the budget is in the tens of thousands. Or “Call Cindy at Hermes and see what’s new” you know the gift range is in the thousands. “Call Mark at Bloomingdales” your in the high hundreds. And if they say, “Call Target”, they don’t care what you get! (Personally, Target and Home Depot are my favorite stores so I’m not hating on Target!)

Call their assistant and ask specific questions. “Does – have any special interests? Hobbies? Collect anything? Maybe they have a favorite wine or love a particular type of flower? A favorite author who you can get a first edition book? A favorite artist? If your employer has suggested something, the assistant is a good person to run ideas past of what you were thinking of getting and they will also know what they do not need more of. Though not the most expensive, the most interesting and saddest thing I ever bid on (and won) at an auction was the personal Christmas card from President John F. and Jackie Kennedy the year he was assassinated. The cards were done and personally signed in advanced but obviously never sent out.

If they are an actor or actress, call their agent or manager to ask these same questions.

If it’s a family member, and you have a good relationship with the family, call them. Ask them what their child may want from your Uncle Bob, your boss. I had great relationships with all the families I worked for and often I never had to call. Somehow they would find a way to get their list to me well in advance of any holidays.

Vendor gifts are usually for teachers, doctors, mailman, arrowhead delivery man, handyman, coaches, tutors etc. These are the service people you use all year-long and deserved to be acknowledged. Visa gift cards or cash work for individuals. For doctors offices and staff, some sort of holiday gift basket that everyone can enjoy is nice. I call in advance to find out how many people are in the offices and when they close for the holidays and have sent baskets of muffins, teas, cakes, chocolates, Starbucks coffee assortments, etc. Yes, they get overrun with them but they also can take them home to family or re-gift! I have yet to find anything but food gifts that multiple people can share in an office, so ideas are welcome! It bears repeating to just make sure any perishables you send are coordinated in time for them to enjoy them before they close for the holidays so your gift does not go to waste.

Corporate gifts are the easiest because they are not personally assigned gifts. Everyone gets the same thing or a variation of it. Most department stores from Tiffany’s to Macy’s have gift departments who will wrap, tag, and ship your gifts for you. I prefer to call a professional shopper for these gifts (See below.)

Call a professional shopper. These people have their finger on the pulse of the latest and the greatest. They go to the gift shows. The good ones are discerning in what they suggest you give and know that they must make you look good. Their gifts are creative, have a beautiful artistic presentation, and they have relationships with most stores and shoppers. They get wholesale prices, ship and work from your lists. They can do a gift presentation of suggestions for you in advance. They use quality products in their baskets or gifts. They don’t plaster their logo on everything and make your gift look like an advertisement for themselves. One of the companies I have used for over 20 years is LA Gifts. They always come through.

One way to never go wrong when giving a gift from your employer is don’t go cheap. You never want to make them appear that they don’t care, even when they don’t. If it is an inexpensive gift, still wrap it with presentation in mind: use real satin ribbons and heavy weight wrapping paper, it will class it up.

The bottom line is that the key gifts your employer gives will take some homework on your part. And yes, you must please the gift giver and the gift receiver with your selection (no pressure right)? But as long as you realize the best gift is NOT the one you want to give but the one the person would want to receive, then it makes the hunt more an enjoyable challenge.