Frequently Asked Questions

  • 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 makes a gift a gift to GiftGenius?

      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 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 the Hoover U6439-900 WindTunnel Upright 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 (e.g., Kobe Bryant and the $4 million, 8-carrat diamond ring he bought for his cheated-on wife). 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 changes and updates its 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, at this time 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 shopped at. 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, use the reminder or wish list services all without dropping a nickel, or your pants.

    • 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 contact us 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?

      No!! 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 (Have Your Cake) and gifting profiles (Create a Sketch). You will also have your own personal profile on the site that you can access and/or modify at any time.

    • How do I become a member?

      Click on “Genius Loves Company” or sign up for one of the services (Reminder Service, Wish List).

  • Personal Reminders and Personality Sketches

    • What is the Reminder Service and how does it work?

      Is it hard for you to remember any birthday aside from your little niece’s, whose happens to fall on the same day as yours? We know the feeling. 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 (the Gifted One), 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?

  • Have Your Cake – Your Own Personal Wish List and Registry

    • What is Cake?

      Tired of receiving lousy gifts? So are we. But 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. My Cake is your own personal wish list. You can add products to it from our site--or any other site--when you use our Wish List bookmarking tool. 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 funny and charming, they’ll probably want to buy you everything on your list.)

    • What can I add to my wish list?

      Anything on the web, really: items from our site, from other sites, or items that other GiftGenius users have posted on their public wish lists. Say, for example, you’ve found your next favorite pair of sneakers somewhere on the web. By using our GiftGenius browser button, you can add them to your Gift Genius wish list. More specifically, the tool will extract every image on the page where you’ve found the sneakers. From that page, you will select only the image of the sneakers you want. That way the item on your wish list has an accompanying image. You then have the option of adding a description and “tags” to your item. (If you have not installed the bookmarking tool, you can click on “add an item” in your wish list and simply copy and paste the URL of your item to your list.)

    • What is tagging?

      Tagging is a way for you to describe the things on your wish list by assigning keywords to them. You can assign as many tags as you want to an item. Then you can use those tags to search within your list. If you make your list public, these tags will also help other users identify the products you have discovered. (For example, if you added the Helen Ficalora alphabet charms to your wish list, you might “tag” it with the following words: jewelry, charms, necklace, NewYorkCity, NYC, cute, boutique.)

    • Can I send my wish list to my mom or my boss?

      You can send your wish list to any of contacts we have an email address for. They do not need to be registered users in order to view your list.

  • Gifted Ones

    • Who are the Gifted Ones?

      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

  • Usage Policy and Reporting Problems

    • What is GiftGenius usage policy?

      We are here to help you and our community become better gift-givers. Be as appropriate and inoffensive as possible, is all we ask. If you think the GiftGenius community might be offended by something you write, publish or post, you should probably refrain from doing so. Users are not welcome to publish items that promote hate, illegal behavior or overtly graphic or intimate imagery. Seriously. If you see something on GiftGenius that concerns or offends you, please report it. We'll take a look at the item and remove it from public view if we deem it unacceptable.

    • How do I report something on the site that concerns me?

      If you see something on GiftGenius that appears objectionable, please report it to us. Our community helps us monitor the site, so please flag material that is illegal, offends you, or is clearly spam. To report these, just click on the “Report This” link found beneath an item or at the bottom of the page.

      For more details see our Terms and Conditions.

    • 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.

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