Gift wrapping

[Lorien]

I was reading the other thread regarding gift wrapping and it seems that there are a lot more people who don't like wrapping presents than there are who do.

 

For those who don't like to do it, would you considering paying someone else to do it for you? How much would you consider to be a price worth paying?

 

There is a small gift wrapping/gift storing store near where we go grocery shopping and I have joked with my husband quite a lot about how silly that seems, but maybe they actually do get business!

 

Just thinking out loud and wondering if there really is a market for gift wrapping.....

[scrapbookbuzz]

Personally, I love to wrap presents. I really do! That being said, though, we're on a tight budget this year so I've been saving the Sunday comics for weeks to use as wrapping paper for Christmas presents this year. I even had to remind my ever-so-frugal Dutch husband of that last night when he was asking about buying wrapping paper! :^)

 

But, to your question, you might be able to bring in a small bit of extra income for the holidays by offering to wrap presents for folks!

[Erica in OR]

I'm too cheap to actually pay for it and would just go ahead and grit my teeth and get through it. But, I've seen gift wrapping stations set up in certain stores where you either pay a small amount for each package or it's donation-based. They seemed to do quite well, particularly since it was so convenient to do right after you'd bought the items. There was a Borders store where we used to live that seemed to have different groups doing the wrapping on different days. I seem to remember boy Scouts. So if you're in some way reaching people when they're most frazzled, there could be a market.

 

Erica in OR

[JudoMom]

I don't mind wrapping. I was a "gift wrap associate" one year at a local department store my senior year of high school, so I learned to wrap well and quickly.

 

People would tip me $1-$10 to wrap their gift. An average tip was $5. And it wasn't a free wrapping place, either--they had to pay to get the gift wrapped and then they would tip me.

[Perry]

If it were convenient, I'd definitely pay someone. But I'd prefer to supply the paper and ribbons.

 

It would be even better if I could leave all the packages there and pick them up the day before Christmas, so I didn't have to hide everything. :)

[Hockey Mom]

I bought my Dh a tool shed. The box is inside our classroom bathroom (that no one uses). It's about 6 feet tall, and 4 feet wide. I most definitely would pay someone to wrap that sucker. LOL Bonus tip if they'll carry it to the tree Christmas Eve.

[Lorien]

Personally, I love to wrap presents. I really do! That being said, though, we're on a tight budget this year so I've been saving the Sunday comics for weeks to use as wrapping paper for Christmas presents this year. I even had to remind my ever-so-frugal Dutch husband of that last night when he was asking about buying wrapping paper! :^)

 

But, to your question, you might be able to bring in a small bit of extra income for the holidays by offering to wrap presents for folks!

 

I'm not really looking to bring in extra income - this was just a thought I had. . . however, if it was really worth while I might be tempted. :001_smile: I had thought about this being a tighter year financially for a lot of people and figured that that would affect people's spending, but then again there are people who just spend anyway, tight year or not. . . :tongue_smilie:

 

I'm too cheap to actually pay for it and would just go ahead and grit my teeth and get through it. But, I've seen gift wrapping stations set up in certain stores where you either pay a small amount for each package or it's donation-based. They seemed to do quite well, particularly since it was so convenient to do right after you'd bought the items. There was a Borders store where we used to live that seemed to have different groups doing the wrapping on different days. I seem to remember boy Scouts. So if you're in some way reaching people when they're most frazzled, there could be a market.

 

Erica in OR

 

Thanks for the reminder! I saw a wrapping station outside our Toys R Us one year. Outside. In the freezing cold. I didn't stop to check them out so I don't know if they were charging anything or not. The only other time I've ever seen a wrapping station was in a mall and I was under the impression that they were all complimentary.

 

I don't mind wrapping. I was a "gift wrap associate" one year at a local department store my senior year of high school, so I learned to wrap well and quickly.

 

People would tip me $1-$10 to wrap their gift. An average tip was $5. And it wasn't a free wrapping place, either--they had to pay to get the gift wrapped and then they would tip me.

 

Maybe I will take it up! :lol: The tips sound a lot better than what I was thinking would be a good price to charge!

 

I think my biggest problem is location. Location means a lot for a successful business and well, even some of our closest friends think we live "way out in the country"! I doubt anyone would want to come here to get their gifts wrapped! Especially not anyone who was already frazzled!

 

However, there is the idea of an online wrapping service. . . . people could ship their gifts to me, I could wrap them, and then ship them to the person doing the buying. There are a few slight problems with that idea though! Namely the whole idea of anyone wanting to ship something they just paid for to someone they don't know, just to get it wrapped!

 

:D

[Lorien]

If it were convenient, I'd definitely pay someone. But I'd prefer to supply the paper and ribbons.

 

It would be even better if I could leave all the packages there and pick them up the day before Christmas, so I didn't have to hide everything. :)

 

I bought my Dh a tool shed. The box is inside our classroom bathroom (that no one uses). It's about 6 feet tall, and 4 feet wide. I most definitely would pay someone to wrap that sucker. LOL Bonus tip if they'll carry it to the tree Christmas Eve.

 

Okay, five minutes ago I was mostly just thinking out loud and not thinking very seriously, but now I'm wondering if this would be worth talking to dh about! Location is still a problem though.

 

Another question: would you consider paying for storage, or would you want that to be included in the wrapping price?

 

Using client purchased wrapping paper wouldn't bother me. I'd also be willing to buy more paper to have a wider variety. Right now we have three large (very large!) rolls of double sided paper, one of which I've been using for a few years now. This was the third year for that roll and the second year for the other two (both of these were given to us).

 

Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud here and am enjoying the responses! It's actually nice to know that my idea wasn't quite as crazy as I first thought! And I certainly won't be poking fun at that little wrapping/storage store anymore! :001_smile:

[Perry]

 

Another question: would you consider paying for storage, or would you want that to be included in the wrapping price?

Sure, I'd pay for storage. It's a real pain to hide snowboards and table saws. :D