The holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends, but it can also be a time of stress when trying to find the perfect gift. While gift-giving may seem like a very simple pursuit, it is quite complicated and there are many things to consider, especially if you want to buy a great gift. If you’re at a loss for what to get someone this year, here are six things to consider.

Sentimentality Always Works

One of the first instincts that many people have when buying gifts is to try and buy the most expensive gift to show their appreciation for the person. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, and studies have been conducted that have determined that expensive gifts sometimes actually have the opposite effect and can make the person feel uncomfortable.

As such, a great thing to keep in mind would be that sentimentality always works, and people far more appreciate sentimental gifts than expensive ones. For example, a photo book such as those you can create at Printed Memories is the perfect way to show someone how much they mean to you. It’s a chance to display special memories, inside jokes, and cherished moments all in one place. Plus, photo books are lasting keepsakes that can be pulled out and relived again and again.

List All of Their Interests

One of the most important things to consider when buying gifts these holidays would be the interests of the person to that you are gifting. It’s important to keep in mind that when buying a gift for someone, you have to remain objective and the things that you are interested in might not be the things that they are interested in.

As such, if you want to buy a great gift, one thing that you could do would be simply write down all of the interests that the person has. Once you have done that, you can pair one or two gifts with each of the interests the person has, and by the end, you will have quite a long list of potential gifts to buy.

Solve a Problem They Have

The next thing to consider when buying gifts these holidays would be any problems that the person might be experiencing or problems that they might have stated they had. As such, if you want to buy a great gift these holidays, you should buy a gift that solves a problem they have.

For example, if the person has been complaining that they don’t have a lot of free time on their hands and they have kids, you could hire a babysitter for a couple of weeks to give that person a bit of free time. If the person has expressed that they are much more bored than they usually are and they don’t have anything to do, you could give them a Netflix subscription for a couple of months, if they enjoy watching the series, of course.

Gift an Experience and Share it With Them

Another thing to consider when buying gifts for these holidays is that gifts don’t always have to be physical, and as it turns out, people love to receive experiences as gifts. However, it’s important to keep in mind that if you want to make the gift even better, you should also share the experience with that person.

This is because, as mentioned above, people love to receive sentimental gifts, and there’s nothing more sentimental than creating memories with someone. There are many experiences that you could gift, such as a gym membership, a trip to the spa, an interior designer if the person is planning on renovating their home, or even a personalized happy birthday video from a movie celebrity.

Don’t Buy a Generic Gift

Finally, the last thing to consider on this list when buying gifts for your loved ones during the holidays, especially when considering the abovementioned considerations, is whether the gift you are buying is generic or not. If it is generic, you should avoid buying it.

The primary reason for this is that generic gifts can come across as thoughtless since they aren’t personalized, they aren’t sentimental, and they aren’t related to any interest the person has. If you truly don’t know what to get someone, rather simply ask them what they want, then buy a generic gift just so that you have something to give them.