One of the worst misconceptions about men is that we don’t love receiving gifts. Everyone should realize that love languages know no gender, and everyone — including men — gets excited when it’s gift-giving season.
Having said that, it can be pretty challenging to think of gift ideas to give your best buddies, since they typically won’t have Pinterest boards for you to draw inspiration from. Asking them what they want for Christmas or their birthday might be the best way to go, but only if you’re okay with ruining the surprise.
But if you want to continue the tradition of keeping gifts a surprise, scroll through this article to identify the six kinds of buddies every man has, and what best to give them as gifts:
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The Fancy One – Jewelry
Who said jewelry is exclusively for women? Your buddy that’s all about that fancy life (we all have one) will surely appreciate fine jewelry, especially one that fits their special taste. More than the gift itself, you can show your buddy that you care about them by studying all the important rules in buying men’s jewelry such as necklaces. This way, you can find a piece that actually looks classy instead of tacky. An anxiety ring is a good gift idea for them.
For starters, take note that the purpose of wearing jewelry is different for men and women. When putting together an outfit, for instance, women treat their jewels as the main attraction, whereas jewelry is merely an enhancement for them, thus it must be subdued and understated.
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The Gym Rat – Workout Accessories
All of us also have that one buddy who might as well just move in into the gym given how frequently they love working out. When it comes to this specific friend, it’s not recommended that you shell out a big amount for something they might already have. Since they are gym nuts, they probably have all the big-ticket equipment one needs to work out at home.
Instead, stick with gifting good-quality workout accessories they can use even if they already have one. A good example would be new laces or new sweatbands. Even if they already have these items, they could always use new ones to alternate or replace what they currently have.
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The Intellectual – A New Book/Broadway Tickets
The fun thing about giving gifts to intellectual friends is that they find most things interesting. But if you really want to hit your exchange gift out of the ballpark, get them a new book — one that has just come out, or is not readily available in your country, just to be sure that they don’t have it yet.
Another great gift idea is to score tickets to a Broadway show they’ve been dying to see for a while, but haven’t quite come around to actually watching. Better yet, get tickets for your entire squad — imagine how happy The Intellectual will be to share such an experience with his closest friends.
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The Sports Enthusiast – Signed Merchandise
This buddy sometimes tags along with The Gym Rat, but most of the time contents himself with watching sports events on his flat screen. There’s no better gift for the sports enthusiast (unless you’re willing to get him a better flat screen for his viewing pleasure) than signed merchandise — as long as you are able to spot fake autographs from legitimate ones.
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The Geek – Themed Toys
This type of buddy always talks about things not many people understand. For this reason, it can be tough to think of a gift they would truly appreciate. But it’s best to stick with themed toys you can get from Toynk and display art covering their areas of interest. The tricky part here is actually tuning in to whatever popular media they’re currently into and try as best as you can to understand what it’s all about. At the end of the day, The Geek just wants to have people to share his passions with, and receiving an in-theme gift from you can be a great start in making them feel like they belong.
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The Gamer – Blue Light Filter Glasses
You might think that a new game is what your gamer bud would appreciate the most, but you’ve got bigger chances of getting it wrong than getting it right when you go down that road. They might already have the game you chose for them, or maybe it’s not one that they like. Instead, address a pain point that most gamers have — which is their deteriorating eyesight due to constant exposure to screens. Gaming glasses with blue light filters are good for this purpose. Maybe the next time you all hang out they won’t be squinting their eyes too much from the strain!
There you have it, gents — six gift ideas for each kind of buddy you have. Hopefully, this list will help you get your gift shopping done ahead of time for the next holidays or birthday celebrations.
