Harry and David: Gifts for All Seasons!

As you might suspect with Christmas coming up, rich people have an enormous gift list and the task of getting it all done can be quite overwhelming.

But not to worry. They have hired help in this area - all the way from shopping, to wrapping, to delivering or shipping: Secretaries, Personal Assistants, House Managers, Butlers and Personal Shoppers in their favorite department stores are all involved in this annual nightmare.

Around here, my employers usually do their own shopping for their family members and closest friends. Which, by the way, doesn't exclude the house staff from wrapping, delivering or shipping their precious treasures. But what about the vast number of acquaintances, business associates and corporate employees - some of whom they like, dislike, or maybe even loathe?

For these perfunctory types of gifts they often resort to food and booze. An expensive bottle of brandy or champagne, or gourmet foods from an upscale department store like Harrods of London,  or perhaps a selection of expensive nuts or candies from a local supplier.

Meant to show respect rather than intimacy, these gifts are perfectly okay, and the recipients more or less understand the sentiment. The trick here is how big the treat package should be. After all, it's more about making a statement than about the cost.

For example, there's a company the rich often resort to called Harry and David that specializes in corporate gifts. This excellent company has been around for seventy-five years and has categories of fun and fancifully-packaged goodies from $50 to over $200 per package. No muss, no fuss. Just call them up and read down your gift list, including the price range for each recipient, and they'll do all the rest - including shipping and a gift card.

The fun thing is, if you're on the receiving end of a gift from Harry and David you can go to their website and see exactly how much the sender paid, and where you stand in their fickle esteem.

If it's small and in the fifty dollar range, you've still got lots of work to do. But if it's big and grand, two-hundred bucks or more, then you're moving right along and may someday arrive on their personal gift list. (Just be sure that's what you want. When dealing with the rich there's always a price to pay for their notice, kindness or generosity.)

If you haven't completed your Christmas shopping yet, as of today there's still almost a couple of weeks to get in touch with Harry and David or other similar stores, and still enough time to have your gifts shipped on time - and yes, there's always overnight air for last minute oversights.

Hope this has been helpful, but more importantly I hope you're nearing an end to your shopping chores. Last minute rushing around can be such a pain.

Thanks for dropping in,

Andrew