gift news stories on Newser

Obama Gave Cameron ... a Grill?

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 11:45:55 CDT

It's better than a gift card, but the White House's latest round of gifts for a foreign dignitary is raising a few eyebrows: President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, have presented the British PM David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, with a wood and charcoal burning grill engraved with...

11 Insanely Expensive Gift Ideas

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:36:39 CST

'Tis the season for giving, and what better way to show your appreciation for someone then to bestow them with an absurdly lavish gift, presuming you are nestled high up into the 1%. Here are 11 of the most ludicrously expensive gift ideas, courtesy of Time : Pacifier, $17,000: Your...

See Who Gave Obama Cheapest, Priciest Gifts

John Johnson — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:27:32 CST

The State Department has released the list of gifts given by foreign governments to President Obama or federal workers in 2010, and it's already being gleefully picked apart. Read it in full here as a PDF, or check out the cheapest and most expensive here: Most expensive, $34,000: The...

Parents Fall to Pieces Over Unassembled Toys

Harry Kimball — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:35:32 CST

Toys that required assembly were once an end in themselves, and their elaborate instructions made the process fun. These days, parents shopping for their kids don’t have much of a choice. “Toys do have more parts today,” a store owner tells the New York Times . Shipping flat and not assembling...

Holiday Shopping Tip: Money Can Buy You Love

Rob Quinn — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:49:53 CST

Christmas is coming, and the "voluntary December calamity" of destruction of billions of dollars in value is under way, writes George Will. People will splurge on gifts their relatives and friends don't want or need, and the discrepancy between the cost of the present and its value to the recipient...

Give These Gifts and Get Lucky

M. Morris — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:39:13 CST

If you're out to win the heart of a woman impressed with pricey baubles and bubbles, Esquire has just the gift guide for you. Ask Santa to help you pay for: La Perla Signature Collection: A $242 bra may seem outrageous, but it's hand-embroidered and Italian. Christian Louboutin heels: The...

Neiman 'Fantasy Gift' Pricetags Plummet to Mere $250K

Rob Quinn — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:39:38 CDT

The slowdown in luxury spending has spurred Neiman Marcus to make its "fantasy items" in this year's Christmas catalog a lot less fantastic than in years past. For the first time in a decade there's no $1 million-plus items on offer, like the $20 million submarine offered in 2000 or...

Self-Serve Ads, Goods Work Well for Facebook

Nick McMaster — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:37:53 CDT

Reports on Facebook’s newly announced profitability have focused on a fixed deal with Microsoft that generates a large chunk of their income. But the site’s homegrown revenue sources—self-serve advertising and virtual gifts—shouldn’t be discounted, writes Bobbie Johnson for the Guardian . The personal information on Facebook pages allows for...

No Wedding Gifts, Please; Just Fund My Startup

Harry Kimball — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:58:02 CDT

A Silicon Valley couple has forsaken a traditional wedding registry for venture capital, Gawker reports. “The World's First Start-up Wedding Registry” doesn’t ask guests for appliances or candlesticks; instead, they can give enough to “feed an outsourced engineer for a day” or pay a month’s worth of utilities for the...