Read this if:
You are a man seeking to buy a gift she really wants.
You are a lady whose had more than you fair share of ‘interesting’ presents
You want to take the hassle out of present buying
Working in an upmarket gift shop gave Elizabeth Sweeney the idea for I Chose It, a brilliant new website aimed at giving men the chance to buy women the kind of presents they really, really want
Why is it that some men are such rubbish when it comes to buying their loved ones gifts? You could perhaps forgive the younger guys who’ve only just got together with a girl but you’d think that after years of marriage men would know what their wives want.
The answer, though, was always that they didn’t have a clue. I was constantly amazed at the men who used to come into the giftshop where I worked and stand there, gawping.
“Can you help me? I have to get something for my wife’s birthday/wedding anniversary/Christmas/Valentine’s Day present,” they’d say, looking at me with a soulful, puppy-dog expression.
“When’s the event?” I’d enquire.
“Umm, it’s today,” they’d say, almost every time. “It doesn’t matter what I get, I just want to buy her something nice.”
Money was hardly ever an object – what was important was getting her something quickly. They’d always head straight for the obvious gifts – a very predictable piece of jewellery. And then they’d get to the till and say, “I’m awful at wrapping things up, could you gift-wrap it for me?”
Women, on the other hand, would come into the shop and sigh over the lovely things they’d like to own. “I can’t buy it for myself because it would just be so self indulgent,’’ they’d say, looking longingly at a tiny bottle of expensive bath oil or a pink lariat necklace in rose quartz and silver. “Maybe my husband will get me one for my birthday.”
This gave me the idea for our website www.ichoseit.co.uk supplying beautiful gifts for men to buy to give to the women they love. I reasoned that present buying and giving should be an enjoyable and rewarding experience for everyone involved, yet it clearly wasn’t something that the guys were enjoying one bit.
First I looked at other websites purporting to sell a similar dream but they were very predictable and sold chocolates and the kind of black and red lingerie that blokes think women like but actually women don’t want to be seen dead in. And slowly I realised there was a niche here that was ripe for the picking.
So I set up the website I Chose It (www.ichoseit.co.uk), with my brother Nigel. I ran everything past him to get a male point of view, and together we came up with a selection of jewellery, bath products, candles, homeware, clothes and accessories. We sourced a lot of our products locally to our homes in Sussex and it felt good to support small businesses.
In choosing our gifts, I looked for individual luxury items that women would love to wear, to put in their homes or to use on a daily basis. In short wonderful Gifts for Women
Nigel and I hope that the women who receive our gifts will enjoy them as much as we have enjoyed finding them. We also know they will love and appreciate the way each gift arrives, nestled in its own beautiful gift-wrapped box, surrounded with coordinated tissue and ribbon. And of course, there’s nothing to stop women buying their own presents fromI Chose It, either!
Top present buying tips:-
If you’re not absolutely sure of her size, go for accessories like gloves and scarves
Listen to her: women always give out hints about what they want
Buy something that’s uniquely for her, not for the whole family
Don’t buy the same thing you bought last year, even if she loved it!
Via EPR Network
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