Guys' Guide to Gift Giving: Etsy

Gentleman, have you heard of Etsy?  No?  Well, your wife has and you should know about it.  I don't really know the best description to give you of Etsy, but the basic idea is that people make stuff and sell it.  Think of it as the world's largest emporium.  Every person has their own "Etsy store" where they can list multiple products that our wives will want to purchase.  Some stuff is incredibly overpriced, some stuff is pure crap, and there is a lot of cool stuff.

It seems to me that most guys just stick to known safe areas as far as gift giving for the women.  The fear is that you will give a gift that you thought would be good, and she will take it as an insult, or read something into it. 

"Oh, you got me new sneakers, do I look like I need to exercise?"

Therefore, we have a tendency to stick to the safe gifts.  We get our ladies gifts off of the list of ideas that she has given us, either directly or through a friend, perhaps we get her gift cards so she can shop, or some of us may even forget to get the special lady anything at all. 

Insert Etsy.com:

I have known women that have disappeared for hours at a time because of Etsy, it is like a shopping drug fix.  Perhaps similar to a guy getting lost in sports or video games for a while.  So why do you need to know about Etsy? How can it help you?  If you get your wife a gift from Etsy, it will tell her many good things.  She could think:

1.) Is this a dream

2.) He is amazing

3.) Which one of my friends told him to do this

4.) Has hell frozen over

5.) He is so thoughtful

Women tend to appreciate gifts that they didn't tell you to buy, that take time and thought to pick out, and that show you know what they want or like.  So when shopping Etsy, that is the goal, to pick out a gift that she will like and that is useful to something she has or does or perhaps is nothing more than an indulgence that she will love.  But, before you dive into Etsy, you need to be able to answer the following about the person receiving the gift.

1.) What are some things they like to do? What type of product am I looking for?

Example:  My wife likes photography, perhaps she could use a new camera bag, strap, wrist strap, etc.  Let me see what I can find on Etsy for a woman that likes photography.  I type "camera" in the search box, and wham, an option for camera straps.  Note: make sure you aren't buying something that would replace an item she already loved, like if my wife already had a killer camera strap.  The best help I can give here, listen to her talk about what she needs, or to what she complains about.  "Man, I just hate this stupid camera strap."  Those are good places to start.

2.) What styles does she like? Designs? Colors?

Example: Back to the camera strap example.  I know that my wife doesn't like pinks and purples and girlie looking stuff, animal print, frills, lace etc.  If it could fit into a 2 year old girls room, no dice.  What she does like, is natural colors, nature designs, artsy fartsy stuff (This is a broad category, I don't know all the literal names, so almost everything else is artsy fartsy.  I just take mental notes when we are out together of the things she does and doesn't like and pray to God I can repeat).   The strap shown above is what I would have picked.  It falls into artsy fartsy.  I know that my wife is partially hippie, and this looks like it was ripped off of a hippie's dress, seem's like a safe bet.

Moment of truth:

My wife said she did like the strap I picked out.  The only thing she would want is the one with the soft lining.  She picked out this one:

But Beware:

1.) There is a lot of overpriced crap on Etsy, so be sure not to pay $300 for a skirt or $200 for a piece of landfill garbage.

2.) You can email the seller with questions or possible customizations

3.) Take shipping time into account, don't wait until a few days before the holiday or event to buy the gift, have a few weeks of padding.

4.) Wrap the gift, if you don't know how, check here for a video how-to, wrapping is important.

Ladies, any additional suggestions can be posted in the comments