About GiftGenius

What is GiftGenius?
GiftGenius is the ultimate online gift guide, providing cool and relevant gift ideas for almost every person in your life. GiftGenius also offers a suite of features to help users become the most adept gift givers on the planet, or least look like they are.

What does GiftGenius consider a gift?
GiftGenius’ definition of a gift is something you may not immediately buy for yourself but you wish that someone else would. So, for example, the older sister who buys her younger brother personal surfing lessons is satisfying a want he has, or a want he may not have even realized he had until it’s fulfilled. (Like an Ah-ha! moment, but we call it a Wow, thanks! moment.) What he needs may be a new set of dishes, or a new duvet cover, but those are essentials he can—and most likely will—buy for himself. Chances are, people don’t need most of the gifts we suggest, but when it comes to gift giving, there’s a difference between a need and a must-have, and we’re in the business of linking people up with life’s must-haves.

Where does GiftGenius get his ideas?
From a wide range of places, including magazines, TV shows, films, word of mouth, museums, while walking down the street, while riding in the backs of cabs, from our younger brothers, from PR companies, from our friends, from our parents, from our parents’ friends, from the Genius’s very own visitors. You get the idea. We’re always on the lookout for great gifts…everywhere and anywhere.

How do I search for gifts on the site?
GiftGenius allows you to search for gifts in a number of different ways:

Recipient: We allow you to customize your search by the type of recipient and their interests. While you can search under broad terms (like “Her”), you’ll also find more specific types of people under the broad category (like “Single Girl with tomboy tendencies” or “Single Girl with novels by her bed”). Our goal, ultimately, is to offer you the best, most fitting gift suggestions for every type of person in your life.

Occasion: An occasion often dictates the type of present you will buy, so we allow you to search by a variety of different occasions and holidays, linking you up with the most fitting gift for that day and recipient. (Ladies, rest assured, you’ll never see something like a Hoover vacuum cleaner under our Valentine’s Day gift suggestions for her.)

Price: There are times when you simply don’t have the cash to spend on the things you think the people in your life want; and then there are times when the recipient just isn’t worth spending more than 25 bucks on. And still there are other times you may have screwed up so badly that you must go over the top. No matter what, we’ll have gift suggestions for all of your specific needs.

How exactly does GiftGenius help me find just the right gift for someone?
By customization. Like an editorial site, you’re free to browse as you wish, but GiftGenius also allows you to customize your gift search based on the recipient’s gender and interests, as well as by occasion. Much like the gift guides that lifestyle/fashion magazines include in their holiday issues, GiftGenius is just as discerning, but we change and update our content on a daily basis, and for every special occasion in your life, not just the holiday season. Based on the category you click on (like recipient’s gender, lifestyle interests, and occasion), we then offer you our tailored selection of genius ideas.

Does GiftGenius sell products?
No, we are purely editorial, so we just provide you with the best ideas we can find, along with a slew of other features that make gift giving easier, more entertaining and more fun. We assure you that anything we recommend has met our supremely strict criteria.

What if there is a problem with my order?
Unfortunately, because we only direct you to the merchant that is selling the item, we have no control over the shipping or condition of the item.

Can these merchants be trusted?
GiftGenius only does business with reputable companies. Most of the places we work with are also places that we ourselves have used for our own personal shopping. They are places that are known for their quality products and excellent customer service.

Is it free?
Yes – GiftGenius is and will always be free. You can bounce around the site and use the reminder or wish list services all without dropping a nickel.

What if I have a great idea for a gift?
Genius loves company. By all means share any great ideas that you may have. We encourage users to create their own wish lists. We will feature the best of these ideas and lists. Also, feel free to use the “Pitch a Gift” page to send us your ideas. If you’re writing to us about a product (a great bag, a new pda), please include a description of it. An editor will review your idea and contact you if we want to know more.

Are product write-ups paid for?
Nope. We maintain an extremely strict line between editorial and advertising. The editorial staff decides what to write about. No one can pay to be featured in a GiftGenius editorial. We do not give preferential treatment to advertisers. We write about what we like, what we think our readers will like, and what we think will make great gifts.


Genius Loves Company -- Becoming a member

How does it benefit me to become a member?
By registering with GiftGenius.com, you will have access to a variety of special features, which include personal reminders, the personal wish list/registry and gifting profiles. You will also have your own personal profile on the site that you can access and/or modify at any time.


Personal Reminders and Recipient Sketches

What is the Reminder Service and how does it work?
GiftGenius’ personal reminder service is our way of helping you remember the important occasions in your life. Save any birthday, holiday or graduation to your profile and calendar. We will then send you an email (whenever you choose), alerting you to the upcoming event. In addition, by answering a few questions about the recipient, we’ll be able send you the coolest, most fitting gift suggestions for that person. In then end, you look great in exchange for very little work. Pretty sweet deal, huh?

Personal Wish List and Registry

What is a GiftGenius wish list?
Tired of receiving lousy gifts? We’re here to help you cut down on the number of gifts you have to donate, chuck, hide, or in moments of desperation, re-gift. With the GiftGenius wish list, you can add products to it from our site. Your list is then posted so that your friends and family members can view it at anytime. We’re also happy to send a sweet, very polite, far-from-solicitous email to your friends and family members (provided you give us their addresses, of course) suggesting that they check out your hot, new wish list. (Incidentally, the email they receive from us will be so charming they’ll probably want to buy you everything on your list.)

Can I send my wish list to my mom or my boss?
You can send your wish list to anyone you have an email address for. They do not need to be registered users in order to view your list.


Friends & Family

Who are Friends & Family?
They're your contacts, which makes them gifted in more ways than one--1) you'll potentially gift them with great stuff, and 2) they know you! Plus, you can save information about them (as much as you want); create and save personality sketches for each of them, including all relevant occasions, and create gift lists for the lucky devils.

Advertising

How can I advertise on GiftGenius?
Email us at sales@giftgenius.com. A sales representative will contact you shortly

If I advertise on GiftGenius, does that mean I won’t be covered in any editorial pieces?
No. We pride ourselves on being strictly editorial and we maintain a very strict line between our editorial content and any advertising. If you make, sell, design, create or are the purveyor of anything we deem cool and notable we will write about you whether you advertise or not.

Usage Policy and Reporting Problems

What is your spam policy?
We will never share your email address or any other personal information under any circumstances.

Is my email private?
Yes. We only use your email to send you reminders and to inform you of specials or updates made to our site.

For more information on this please see our privacy policy.