The big-time Christmas shopping season will begin officially in the US this week. Now, I know that you've seen Christmas ads since Halloween, which was also when you started seeing Christmas decorations. However that may be, the serious part of the season begins right after Thanksgiving.
For the last few years I've done most of my shopping online. That eliminates parking problems and lots of the hassles posed by crowded stores and children and adults who have been on their feet far too long without a nap. Here are five tips for going online to find a gift for that hard-to-buy-for person.
Tip 1: If they've got a catalog, they've probably got a Web site. It's probably worth your while to check out the sites of your favorite catalogs and stores to see if you can do some of that shopping more easily online. Many big sites have gotten pre-holiday makeovers in the hope that you will do just that.
Tip 2: eBay has all kinds of great stuff. It's a great place to shop for those oddball gifts for your oddball friends and relatives. Give it a look. eBay is a great place to shop, but be wary at Christmas time when some of the elves are busy cooking up scams. Limit your holiday shopping on eBay to merchants with a good reputation based on a lot of reviews.
Tip 3: Use the Amazon.com "recommendation" feature to find gifts for readers who are hard-to-buy-for people. Here's how.
Let's say you want to buy a book for your Uncle Roscoe who has a passion for model railroading. It's no big trick to find out some of the books he owns and which ones he thinks are good. Then go to Amazon and note what other people who bought the same books also bought. You may find something that will make Uncle Roscoe happy and let you cross his present off your list.
Tip 4: Hunt up specialty sites that cater to the interests of folks you want to buy for. For Uncle Roscoe, we might search for model railroading sites. Many of them will have bookstores or gift shops with things you'll never find in your local super-bookstore.
Tip 5: Some of the most interesting gift shops are run by museums and historical associations. There's probably something in one of those gift shops that will be perfect for someone on your list. Use Google to search for "museum shop" and "'historical association', shop" and then scroll through the results to find shops of interest.
None of this will make Christmas shopping fun, but at least your feet won't get sore and you just might find a gift that folks will remember with awe for years to come.
24 November 2003
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