How are we shipping everyone’s holiday gifts this year?

One of the things I’ve been thinking about in the past month or so, and haven’t really seen discussed much anywhere, is how people are planning to give gifts to long-distance relatives who they won’t be seeing in person this year. As someone who has done holidays this way several times now, I have some thoughts! 

Ultimately, I don’t think there’s a perfect or universal solution; I think there are simply options.

Option 1: Having anything you buy online sent to you, so you can wrap it, repack it, and send it the gift recipient yourself. 

Pros: Nice if you’re giving someone multiple gifts from different retailers or creating some kind of gift basket situation; necessary if you’re shopping locally or doing DIY gifts. 

Cons: Might require you to pay shipping costs twice; is a lot more work; will likely require a trip to the post office unless you have a postal scale; is not exactly environmentally friendly; is not really possible for last-minute gifts. 

My personal verdict: Deeply not ideal, but might be necessary in some cases — and in those instances, avoiding the post office at peak times is going to be key.

Option 2: Shopping online and sending directly to the recipient (either wrapped or unwrapped).

Pros: You’ll only have to pay for shipping once, and a single direct route is going to be the most environmentally friendly.

Cons: There’s no way to see an item before the recipient does (to ensure it’s what you ordered, that nothing is broken, etc); is not an option for DIY/homemade gifts; is not the easiest if you’re ordering a bunch of small gifts for multiple people from the same retailer; it’s maybe not as fun for the recipient to open; not all retailers offer gift receipts/a ”don’t include the invoice” option (which is bonkers to me, especially right now — looking at you, ShopPay).

Verdict: I think this is a very good way to go! Shipping boxes are a form of wrapping, and you can totally put unopened gifts in their shipping under (or near) a tree. (I have done it! It’s fine! Nice, even!) I think this year, we need to let go of some things, and “perfectly wrapped gifts under the tree” are one of those things. (Related: we simply can’t be crowding into post offices in a desperate attempt to avoid having stray packing slips show up in a gift box — it’s going to happen and everyone just needs to simply politely ignore them and/or stop pretending gifts don’t cost an exact amount of money.) 

I actually sent a couple of gifts this way this week, and simply texted my friend to let her know that when she gets packages from X brand and Y brand, those are from me. Easy! 

Sending gifts directly from the retailer to someone who is local to the recipient, and having that person open the package, wrap the gift(s) on your behalf, deliver to the recipient. 

Pros: Means someone will be able to have eyes on the gift before the recipient does; solves the “I couldn’t do a gift receipt so now you know exactly what I spent” problem. 

Cons: Only really works if there’s someone else you can send it to who is willing/able to do this work for you.

Verdict: This is a great option if it’s available to you! I sent my brother’s gift this way — addressed to my mom — and I’m feeling pretty good about it. But obviously it won’t always be possible — in which case, I think Option 2 is the way to go.

Whatever you decide to do, try not to be too precious about it! When things feel super out of control, it can be really easy to put all your anxiety and fear onto something like, say, wrapping paper. But remember: in this wildly shitty year, whoever is receiving your gift will just be touched that you’re thinking about them. 📦

Related, possibly of interest: Food52’s tips for safely mailing treats so they arrive fresh and crumble-free and this funny tweet.

🍑