What are experience gifts?

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

What are experience gifts is the difference between getting and doing

Experience gifts, also known as gift experiences or experiential gifts, are essentially opportunities for people to do the kinds of things that they’ve always dreamed of doing.

Instead of being a material object, experience gifts are … well … experienced.

Examples of experience gifts are giving somebody a day at a spa, sending someone skydiving, setting somebody up to fly in a fighter jet, sending a couple off on a romantic dinner cruise, and many more. There are literally thousands of experiential gifts available in the U.S., so whether you are looking for unique Christmas gifts for men, relaxing birthday gifts for women, or even romantic gifts for couples, there is something for everyone in the experience gift industry.

The concept of gift experiences comes from the U.K., where the first experience gift company was founded in the 1990s. Since then, the idea of giving the gift of unique and memorable experiences has spread across Europe and Australia and finally come to the United States in the early 2000s. Today, major experience gift companies offer experiences in nearly 50 major U.S. cities.

How do you give an experience gift?

The idea of giving (and receiving) experience gifts generally appeals to people, but many often wonder how one goes about giving the gift of an experience – since the experience isn’t a tangible object. In fact, experiential gifts are actually certificates to go do a certain experience. So the actual “gift” (object) that is given is some sort of certificate or card that the recipient redeems with the experience gift company, who sets the experience day for the individual.

Where to buy experience gifts

Shopping for an experience gift might sound like quite a hassle since it seems to involve finding a company or individual within a certain geographic area that offers the service that you’re seeking to give as an experience. This can be extremely difficult if you don’t live in the same area as the gift recipient or if there are multiple companies providing the service. How do you know which one is the best?

This is where nationwide experience gift companies come in handy. Their business exists to solve those problems for you. They screen various experience providers in every city and select the local business that is the best, safest, most experienced, etc. This saves you the time and effort of having to screen the providers on your own and makes shopping for gift experiences in other cities much easier.

Experience gift companies also serve as a “one-stop-shop” for experience gifts. So if you want to buy a Nascar driving experience for your dad in Chicago, a Swedish massage for your aunt in Denver, a tandem skydive for your brother in San Diego, and a private ninja lesson for your cousin in New York, you can do it all in one place.

Further, since experience gift companies have such a wide portfolio, some, like Cloud 9 Living, allow gift recipients to exchange their experiences. Just like your cousin could take back a read sweater and exchange it for a blue sweater, if he decides he’d rather take a glass blowing class than the ninja lessons, the company makes the exchange possible. If you were to purchase the original experience direct, your cousin wouldn’t have this option.

Major experience gift companies also offer certificates that allow gift recipients to pick whatever experience they want.

Studies show people enjoy experiences more than possessions

If you think experience gifts sound “cool” – you’re not alone. Scientific studies conducted have revealed that people find more pleasure and enjoyment in the experiences they have in their life than the possessions they acquire. So if you’re looking for a great gift that will truly make somebody as happy as possible, look no further than experience gifts!