Father’s
Day gifts aren’t always the easiest to shop for. In fact, most gifts
for men can be difficult. It’s not like you can just get them jewelry
and call it a day. (Well, unless you’re married to Mr. T.)
I tend to be
skeptical of sites that promise you gift recommendations based on some
secret algorithm, but I can’t believe it, I’ve found one that’s actually
terrific.
Wantful
is like an online concierge meets high tech gift card.
Hit the site and describe the sex of the giftee and your relationship, and then answer a
bunch of graphical multiple choice questions; like which house would he rather live in,
or what would he like to do in his free time.
I gave it a shot with my
own sigOth and lo and behold–awesome gift ideas. They nailed him as a foodie (he’s a trained chef) and an outdoorsman,
and offered up dozens of tasteful gifts from $30 and up. In foodie alone, there
was this grow your own mushroom kit,
a fancy vinegar that he happens to own, a high end knife set I know
he’d love, and even an organic beef jerky like the one we recommend in
our own Father’s Day Gift guide last year.
Hey, wait a minute..maybe I am a good gift picker after all.
But here’s where Wantful is different than just a recommendation
service: you add up to 16 gifts or have them choose for
you (you can make adjustments at checkout) and they’re all bound into
this beautiful little mini catalog with a custom cover, and sent to your gift recipient by
snail mail, email or Facebook. Kind of like a very super duper
personalized gift card. Your man (or dad or Mother-in-Law) enters a
gift code, takes his pick, and the cost of everything is covered–by
you.
You can also connect with Facebook to store birthdays or special occasions, which can be a terrific resource.
Of course you might just use it to spark some ideas–for anyone in your
life, except kids; it’s definitely adult focused right now. But I think
the
whole pick your own from these ideas so you’re happy with it is the perfect balance between thoughtful and “ack, here’s a gift card because I don’t know you very well.”
Genius. Especially for
those very, very, very hard to shop for men in your life. –Liz
Visit Wantful for gift recommendations and more
Will have to check it out! I never know what to get my husband for Father’s Day — he’s a tough one to buy for!
I was looking at this…how do we know the price of what the options are? I put things in a book but I don’t see where I know how much the items are that I am offering? Is it just the slider at the top of the page that gives a general price range?
Hi Kahla, yes it’s the slider. Our understanding is that’s not a range–that’s the price. So you can select gifts that are $30, $50, $75, etc – you pay that amount and then your recipient picks one.
I thought this was a great idea. My Dad is hard to shop for. It seems the gift options are geared more towards those who are “foodies” or grooming. I saw several options from the $50 recommendations in the $75 offerings also. That makes me think I wouldn’t be getting so much bang for my buck.
There’s also great outdoor ideas; it’s a little light on sports. Interesting about the recos and the price range. Good catch Jennifer, thanks. -L
I also noticed the pricing idiosyncrasy(though it only seems to set in when you want to see more options than the original batch they show you), but a lovely collection of gifts and a novel idea with the booklet. I have already purchased one of his gifts-a phone for seniors, which by the way, could just have well worked on the same principle of asking questions: age, eyesight problems, hearing issues, technophobe, budget, etc 😉 While the SVC is something he will find handy and user-friendly, the gift ideas at Wantful are great as self-indulgent extras. Might actually be a nice idea for the kids to choose what they want from the suggestions for the booklet for Grandpa. Thanks for the link.