What not to give this Christmas?
Christmas is fast-approaching and as much as we’d like to think that it’s that time of the year when everyone is partly giving a piece of their heart (and pockets) with these thoughtful gifts, the task of thinking of specific items for each person you love can be really tricky. It’s almost like you’re being forced to answer a series of mind-boggling & exhausting riddles. Most likely, you’re bound to fall into these traps of sending out some non-gifts in the form of:
- Obviously Unwanted Gifts – Obviously recycled & more often than not inappropriate.
- Emotional Baggage – Stemming from that clingy side of you, this gift is more about you than the recipient.
- Expired Food – or stuff that are already screaming “I got this on sale”. A chipped mug, a torn oversized dress, a gadget or accessory that only works thrice (if you’re lucky) before it ceases to function…and the list goes on!
- A Gift That You Really Want for Yourself – We’ve all been here. Come on! Admit it
- Any Insulting Gift – A friend once said she gave her hygiene-challenged officemate some body wash and her whole office thanked her for being brave to enough to help solve the problem at their workplace. Well, it can work for you but the risk of this act backfiring is pretty high. 😉
Aside from thinking of what to give this Christmas, there’s also the challenge of getting stuck in traffic & competing with the rest of the Metro on who gets to give his/her gifts first! To solve that, we came up with gift suggestions and who you can buy them without moving away from your seat! 😉
Above: Pantone Journal, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Print Pattern Kids by Bowie Style, All the Buildings in New York by James Gulliver Hancock, Find & Keep by Beci Orpin.
First off, we bought some books from Amazon.com . Books are not just for bookworms who love novels. There are so many books catering to different fields, you can practically give anyone a book on what they’re passionate about: give the fashionista a book about fashion, if someone loves a certain sport, you may give them biographies of their idols, if they’re an artist, there are so many art inspiration books, just like the ones above, that you can buy. *Hint, hint..Does anyone want to send me a gift? I will forever be grateful if you do* 😉
Above: Print & Pattern Book by Bowie Style. And yes, I’m currently addicted to Christmas lights & mason jars. ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
I’m pretty sure you’ll be asking us why we buy stuff online. Aren’t we worried about credit card identity theft? How about the additional customs charges? If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know that we always use Gcash Amex Virtual Pay (https://mygcash.globe.com.ph/gcashamex/) for our online purchases especially in US websites. With Gcash Amex Virtual Pay, you’re purchasing with a virtual credit card. So, if you feel like it’s being compromised, you can always change the security code if you feel that it’s being compromised. *Whew!* Also, all purchases via Gcash Amex Virtual Pay are shipped via My Shopping Box then to your home so no need to worry about picking them up at the post office or it getting additional customs taxes.
Above: Ponggo’s Star Wars Lightsaber umbrella also from Amazon.com This is the guy has who refused to bring an umbrella in the past 10 years. Now, he proudly owns an umbrella thanks to the franchise and the fandom that came with it.
After having explored other sites, we have discovered that Amazon.com has the cheapest rates. Also, because order our stuff from a single site, it gets shipped together. This way, we get to save on the shipping charges from My Shopping Box Also, Amazon has a very smart algorithm that suggests gifts & other options right away. It makes it easier for us to pick a gift.
Above: Makeup from Sephora.com – gifts for my sisters-in-law J (Yep, we already asked them what they wanted for Christmas! This year, we wanted to play it safe. Haha.)
I always hear people rave about Sephora and I would see branches of this in other countries but I wasn’t aware that it was actually cheaper to get makeup from there. Sephora products also come with free samples. And, from our experience, they are one of the websites who really make sure that the package is as compact as possible so that shipping charges are really low. The ones that are tricky are the sites that ship bags because it comes with air pockets to protect the product. That’s something you should watch out for 😉
Above: A surprise for a dear friend & a lucky girl who really loves cats & Hello Kitty! J We also got this from Sephora.com
Well, that’s pretty much it for now and I hope you were able to learn a lot from our Christmas shopping do’s & don’ts! Sign up for your Gcash Amex Virtual Pay (https://mygcash.globe.com.ph/gcashamex/) today & start availing the Black Friday & shipping discounts! J
What else did we buy? Click here to find out:
My Colorful Online Shopping Wish ListWho Shops More
Who Shops More?
Buy Books Online & Ship in the Philippines
How to Use the Gcash Amex Virtual Pay
P.S. Why should you sign up for Gcash Amex Virtual Pay? Personally, aside from shopping, we also use Gcash to pay our own monthly bills online. 😉 Now, that’s another tip!
P.P.S. Because we want you to experience what’s it like to receive stuff from My Shopping Box to your doorstep, we’re sharing some of the things we bought with you! Watch out for our Gcash Amex Virtual Pay BLOG GIVEAWAY soon! 🙂
Related Posts:
The Thing With Holidays
Christmas Greetings!
What Not to Give This Christmas
This makes me want to shop at Amazon. Once I bought a book there but the shipping costs more than the price of the book. Not a smart move! And I had to pick up the book at the post office! So I find this intriguing.
Then maybe you should give it a try especially of the title is not available here. The books get delivered straight to our home. 🙂 It also helps if you can maximize Amazon’s box size. Or, if you’re not in a hurry, you may have it shipped via sea so that it’s cheaper. 🙂