We all have to buy several birthday presents a year for a variety of people. It may be your partner, your mother, one of your colleagues or even your pet! One thing is pretty sure though, a lot of the time you’ll be facing the same questions. What will I get? How much should I spend? What do they want?

Well we don’t have all the answers to everyone’s questions, but here at Pressieport we have gleaned some answers from watching what is popular with our customers. So, we thought we’d put this information here for you and maybe it might help you to decide what to get.

Here are some of the questions that you might want to ask yourself when you’re shopping and some of the common mistakes people make when reaching a decision of what to get… Good luck!

A girl or a guy?

Yes I know its an obvious question that you’ll hopefully already have the answer to when you’re deciding, but it is very important. Here’s why. In a lot of cases guys will be buying for girls and girls for guys. That’s where the problem starts because people often try to think of what type of birthday presents they’d like to get…. And guess what? He may not want a pampering gift set! She may not want to fly a remote controlled helicopter around the house. I know one guy who decided to really treat his wife and got her a GPS for her birthday. It cost a fortune, it was state-of-the-art technology…and she’s never used it!

How old are they?                                          
This is a very important one for a lot of reasons. You may be shopping for a girl, but if she’s a baby, a kid, a teenager, a young woman or a pensioner will have a big impact of what you ultimately should get them. Again, it’s a case that many times, people just think about what they would want and they go and get that as a birthday present. Its also really important to watch out for those important milestones and events.


Newborn Gifts and Baby Gifts – a mistake here means the parents will always remember for it, but so will a good choice! You’re really buying for the parents here by the way.
16th birthdays and 21st birthdays – always important to make sure that you buy for them not for you. At this age, they can bear a grudge and you can’t afford to have that.

30th Birthday – You’ll have to really treat them here because this is where they work out who loves them by the present they get. You have to be original and clever here because they read a lot more into the present. It needs to be practical, trendy or catchy, to their taste and probably more than you’d usually spend on them. Keep in mind that they may have recently either got their own place or decided on a life changing path. A present that helps them with this will be well received.

40th Birthday – Well, to be honest, all the decades are important when it comes to birthdays. 40, 50, 60 etc.. But, hitting the big 4 0 is a traumatic experience no matter what they say. Its that age where you really can’t kid yourself anymore. You are now a grown-up and you do have to start behaving like one. Thoughts of pension planning and the direction that life is taking all start to bubble to the surface. For this occasion, it’s a good idea to either celebrate the event with a present that connects to that part of their life that they are leaving with a touch or retro or similar, or to connect to their future with anything from a Racing Granny to a good practical gift for the home.

Ah yes that’s the big question and to be honest, that’s a tough one. It really depends on how important and close they are to you and what milestone it is. You’ll get away with a fun gift for her if it’s a colleague and its her 24th birthday. But make that mistake with your girlfriend or wife on her 30th and be prepared to look for a new partner to live the rest of your life with!
But don’t be fooled that men don’t read into gifts as well. He’s very likely to get grumpy if he’s expecting a great present for his 40th birthday and you buy him a pair of socks. Men don’t really grow up when it comes to presents – they still always have the big kid inside them, even if they don’t let on. The toys just have to be bigger and better than the toys their mates have.


So, just to recap what we’ve said, the important thing is to put some real thought and effort into the gifts you get. Remember that its their birthday present and the more thought you’ve put into it the more they’ll appreciate the effort. Have your gifts gift-wrapped and add a card with a special message from you – it makes all the difference.

Good luck!