Saturday, August 14, 2010

3 Creative Ways To Say Thank You With Online Gifts

3 Creative Ways To Say Thank You With Online Gifts: "

creative ways to say thank youAre you often out of time to shop for gifts. Even worse, are you out of ideas? Giving a gift is a simple act of kindness, but it can also be a huge challenge. Wouldn’t you love to find a simple yet creative way to say thank you?

Well, for one you can skip rushing through the city. What do you think online shopping was invented for? Exactly, to save time, be lazy, and shop from home (or work). So why not organize your ‘Thank You’ gift online?

If you’re thinking ‘Amazon voucher’ STOP! A voucher is like giving cash. It’s just plain lazy and not very creative. Let me show you some nice alternatives.

1. Write a Letter

Sometimes, a ‘Thank You’ is all about creating something personal and special. It doesn’t need to be expensive. A letter is something very unique and personal. And if you wish to thank someone who doesn’t have or regularly use their computer it’s your only option. So how is a letter a gift you can send online? Well, check out the sites below.

creative ways to say thank you

1HrMail

A service that sends your letter anywhere in the world. You could handwrite the letter, scan it, attach it, and send an attachment only letter. So your grandma can still receive a handwritten letter from you, even though you had to rush and skip going to the post office. You can attach PDF, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files, so you could also attach pictures.

theMailMonster

It essentially works the same as 1HrMail, but letters to the US and Australia are free. They also deliver to the UK, New Zealand, Canada, and China.

Postful

Postful provides all the features of 1HrMail and lets you send postcards with your own photos. Unfortunately, the postcard service is US only, while letters can be sent to anywhere in the world. This is one of the most creative ways to say thank you quickly and easily.

L-Mail

Yet another service to send real letters initiated online. This one is different because you can send Braille and audio letters.

Telegramstop

Telegramstop is interesting because it lets you send mail to the future, i.e. with a custom delivery date. You can attach photos and the letter will look like an actual old-fashioned telegram. The also have a “send many” option for wedding or other event invitations. They include a luggage tag and envelope, which allow your guests to RSVP. It’s quite unique!

2. Mmmm Food

Everyone needs to eat, so why not gift delicious edibles? Chocolate, tea, coffee, fruit, whatever you know they love makes a great ‘Thank You’ gift! Below are some suggestions, but depending on where you live, you may have to hit up Google and find alternatives.

ways to say thank you

MyMuesli

MyMuesli let’s you create a custom Muesli mix. They offer more than 75 ingredients. Accepted payment methods include credit card, mpass, and PayPal. The service is available in the US. To receive deliveries to the UK, Germany, Netherlands, and Switzerland, visit their German website.

Chocri (US) & Chocri (Europe)

ways to say thank you

Your friend is not a fan of cereals, but loves chocolate? Then check out Chocri, where you can design your own chocolate bar. The chocolate is hand-made in Germany and shipped to you year round. Gift certificates are available, too. Chocri delivers to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and the US. Deliveries to Canada are available upon request via the US website. Please use the respective link above.

GiftBaskets

Gift baskets are a great way to say ‘Thank You’ and allow for a lot of creative freedom. You can assemble various food items, make a spa package, or a collection of tea and related items. GiftBasket.com has it all pre-assembled, so you won’t have to worry about the details. They even have a Kosher Basket. GiftBasket ships to the US and offers international shipping for many of their products.

3. Don’t Know Their Address?

So you have all those wonderful gift ideas, but you actually don’t know where they live? Despair not! You can still surprise them with a gift. There are many gift shopping sites that will use social networks to politely ask the recipient for their address and then deliver. They are the middle man, so you won’t have to ask for or know their address.

social network gift

TigerBow

TigerBow can send gifts through Facebook, eMail, Twitter, or Facebook. The gift selection includes books, chocolate, cheese, gift baskets, flowers, and lots more. It can deliver gifts to 48 US states and cards to the rest of the world.

Twegistry

This is a Twitter-specific service. It’s available in the US only.

SendSocial

SendSocial accepts a Twitter or Facebook ID, as well as an eMail address. It’s only half an online solution because all it does create a package label for you, with which you can then send your gift to an address anonymous to you. The label can be read by myHermes and ByBox. In other words, the service is available in the UK only.

ParcelGenie

creative ways to say thank you

ParcelGenie works similar to TigerBow in that you select gifts from the site. It’s available on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can send and receive gifts in the UK, France, US, Australia. Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, Spain, and Canada.

So none of the above ideas are an option? I think you need professional help with gift ideas. This is where you can turn to:

And if that’s not enough yet, here are even more resources:

What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

Image credits: fangol, nkzs, greenpearl, iwanbeijes


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