myfi-space
hey honey bunnies!
​
here is a video talking about the economic theory behind gifts and how to use it to your advantage
​
enjoy!
transcript <3:
make sure to subscribe to our youtube channel for more videos relating to articles on the website!
​
each video will be accompanied with a general transcript so you're not forced to watch the video.
hey honey bunnies!! im nevaeh from myfi-space, and since the holidays just passed, i thought it would be a good time to give my advice on gift-gifting that you can use for next year’s holiday presents. let’s get right into it:
if you’re buying for a best friend or a friend, i always recommend trying to think of experiences or jokes or anything in common you guys have because even if you don’t incorporate them into your present, you can at least include it in a genuine card which can disguise a subpar present. for example, my brother and i LOVE making fun of Dhar Mann videos, so for his card, i made it Dhar Mann themed and wrote “so you see…” on his envelope. if you ever want me to show my cardmaking process, i can make a tutorial of that on the site. for buying the actual present, i always recommend writing down things throughout the years that you hear them mentioning. for example, sometimes my friends would post on their private stories about how much they wanted a new eyeshadow palette or an outfit they saw on Pinterest, and i would screenshot those posts and keep them in a folder for future reference.
​
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1064865987
​
"Why Economists Hate Gifts"
-10 minutes-
Host: Stacey Vanek Smith
before we get into my tips, i think it’s important to talk and learn about the theory behind purchasing items. in economics, there’s a term called utility, which basically is the total satisfaction received from consuming a good or service. the goal of the gift-buyer, in our case, is to try and maximize our friend or family member’s utility
if someone doesn’t overtly express something they want, i always recommend directly asking them because guessing something they want can be a huge hit or miss; often, a gift they didn’t consider is one that would not bring them a high utility. this doesn’t apply to everything, but most of the time, items like clothing or food especially for a friend you aren’t super best friends with will just be something they either give away or leave in their pantry or closet and never use. i’d say the only exception is if you and your friend have a habit of trying to style each other or you know one of their favorite foods.
for a close family member that is older than you like your grandparents or your close aunt, the simple solution is to give them something related to you like a school portrait or a calendar that has pictures of you and your family. family is almost always the most important thing to them, and they will more than likely appreciate having something of you to take home.
now that we have this background, we can get into my tips for gift buying! to start, gift buying relies on your relationship with this person. are they a best friend, a friend, an acquaintance, a close family member, or a distant relative? because all of those would require a different approach to buying a gift.
back to thinking of things in common, those shared interests can be so helpful in buying someone a gift. for example, say you and your friend don’t talk all the time, but when you do you like talking about a certain tv show. because you know that tv show well, you can buy them something from that show that you like since they will probably like it too.
if you’re buying for someone you don’t know as well, money is almost always the best option. i put a link in the description for an NPR podcast talking about money as a gift that i think is a very interesting listen about this. basically, if you don’t know someone well, why try to figure out what will maximize their utility when they can do the work themself?? that’s exactly why you give them money or give them a gift card to a place you know they generally like, but you can never go wrong with cash, a visa gift card, or an Amazon gift card.
if your gift receiver does not fit into any of these categories, leave a comment down below describing the situation and either we or someone else can help you out! thank you so much for watching, we’re myfi-space, and this is nevaeh logging out.