The Wise Bread blog has a few tips for anyone who's received such a nice thought from far-away relatives or friends who aren't quite hip to their tastes. If Craigslist, eBay, and same-store returns can't achieve equilibrium, you can turn it around, but not without taking a few precautions against getting caught. For example:

Don't wait too long to regift. ... The older the brand new item becomes, the more obvious it becomes that this is a regift. If you can no longer find the product in the stores, if the packaging has been updated or if the company that made it went out of business ages ago, you're stuck with that item. By all means try to sell it or give it to charity, but as a regift it stinks of "here's an old thing I found in my basement, but hey, it's never been used!"

For more regifting tips, and a few laughs about regifting horror stories, check out Regiftable.com. Photo by tornatore.

We've previously described online mega-merchant Amazon.com as a nearly universal wish list centre, but now it really can be. Drag the Universal Wish List bookmarklet into your browser toolbar, and you can add any web page—most usefully, of course, pages of products not offered through Amazon—to your Amazon wish list. Whether you use the lists as a holding place for future self-bought gadgets or actual suggestions to gift-buyers, it's a pretty handy capture tool for multi-purchase projects, brainstorming, or just sending an easy-to-grasp link to relatives.

Read More »

You already love the one-stop convenience of shopping online at Amazon.com, but chances are you're not getting everything you can out of this feature-packed shopping engine. Did you know Amazon can email you suggestions from Mom's wish list two weeks before her birthday? Automatically ship you a new case of toilet paper every two months? Refund the difference on the price of an item you purchased that went on sale? Several advanced Amazon features and third party apps and add-ons can help you get the best deals and the stuff you want delivered to your door right on time. After the jump, add our favourite 10 Amazon power-shopper tools to your cart.

Read More »

Valentine's Day is just over a week away, which means if you're planning on getting something for your sweetheart this year, your remaining time to buy is quickly dwindling. You could go the DIY route and make something like the "sexy secret book" in the video above, but chances are you've already got tonnes of really great ideas to help out your fellow readers put together one helluva Valentine's Day. Let's hear your V-day gift ideas for the geek in the comments.

Read More »

Amazon power user Merlin Mann makes a convincing case for how Amazon's Gift Organizer helps you be lazy and thoughtful when it comes to giving the perfect gift:

As you surf Amazon and notice stuff that might be cool for Mom or Aunt Sue or that nice UPS man, just click "Add to Wish List" and select the person it's intended for. Into the hopper it goes. Ubiquitous capture. Swish.[...] So, if you start using the Gift Organizer today—even for stuff you have no intention of buying from Amazon—your life is going to be much easier the next time a gift-giving occasion rolls around; you've capitalized on several months of passive, half-assed attention to actually do something useful.

At this point, Amazon is big enough to act as a universal shopping cart and wishlist app; if you, like me, were one of the unprepared stressjobs running around on December 22nd, this sounds like a good Getting Gifts Done system.

Read More »

Still don't know what to get that special someone for the holidays? In an attempt to save time (and keep within your budget), Kiplinger suggests that you use the Internet to comparison shop and look for the best deals online. Take advantage of local stores that are open 24-hours to locate food, tech gear, magazine subscriptions, lottery tickets, and of course, greeting cards. Show your creative side by giving of yourself. Photo DVDs and homemade treats work well. Buy tickets to sporting events or concerts. Make a donation in honor of friends or family to a local charity. The ideas aren't bad at all, and they'd make great stocking stuffers too!

For most online retailers the deadline for guaranteed pre-Christmas gift delivery passed days ago (December 18). The mall lines are growing longer and longer and a scant three shopping days stand between you and Christmas. Lowe's seemed to roll out the perfect solution by offering electronic gift certificates delivered over email. However, as pictured above, overwhelming popularity shut the program down. Just when you thought all hope was lost, CBS News comes to the rescue with 15 last-minute gift ideas that don't require leaving the house. What advice do you have to avoid the lines and deliver excellent gifts to your friends and family? Share in the comments.

Tired of forking over too much cash for gift cards for last-minute gifts? The Zen Habits blog points out more than two dozen life-hack-friendly, GTD-ish gifts that can be had for less than $10 and show a bit more thought than a Home Depot voucher. Amongst the goods suggested are a Moleskine notebook (likely not name brand at that price), pedometers, and a self-made cookbook. I'm sure our readers have far more great suggestions, however—what have you all given when time and money aren't abundant? Spread the spirit of productive giving in the comments!