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TL;DR: The closer you are to the expecting parents, the more you’ll spend on a baby shower gift. Typical gifts range from $25-$200 and more. Whatever amount you choose to spend, putting in extra effort to make the gift pretty and sentimental goes a long way.
A baby shower is one of the happiest celebrations.
Everyone gathers to shower the mom-to-be with gifts before the baby is born.
When you are invited to a baby shower, how do you choose a gift?
What is an appropriate amount to spend on a gift shower for a coworker? How about for a close friend?
Are there any other etiquette rules for choosing baby shower gifts? Are financial gifts for babies appropriate?
How much should you spend on a baby shower gift?
Read on to find answers to all of these questions and more.
When it comes to giving gifts, the goal is to show the gift receiver that you care.
Determining how much to spend on a gift often depends on the occasion and on your closeness to the gift receiver.
Baby showers are no exceptions. A new baby’s arrival ranks high on the gifting occasion amounts, right after weddings and followed by graduations and winter holidays.
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Closeness level is easy to determine. You can easily answer how close you feel to the new-mom-to-be.
The closer you are, the higher the gift amount.
There are a few other rules of etiquette that you should know about other than occasions and closeness.
You get what you give. People tend to remember what they receive in gifts and will often return the same amount of effort when it is your turn to receive gifts.
A gift is not only measured by how much you spend on it. Putting in extra effort in the presentation and personalizing the gift can show that you really care about the new mom and add a sentimental value to gifts of any budget.
If the expecting parents have a baby registry, it's polite to choose a gift from one of the preselected options. If you can't find something in the your price range, you have a few options.
When giving a financial gift, you get to choose any amount that you want, and don’t need to rely on the options left on the baby registry.
The first, is to combine a monetary gift for the child's future with a smaller gift from the registry. A second option is to pitch in for a group gift with someone else. Or you can opt for a cash gift.
Cash gifts and gift cards are welcome, but take a few extra steps to make sure they feel like a gift. Adding a personal note and tying the gift to a larger goal turns an otherwise dull money transfer into a thoughtful gesture. Use Greatest Gift’s financial gifting platform for kids to send a gift that will make an impact on the baby from day one.
With Greatest Gift, parents get to discover financial guides for expecting parents as an added value.
At this point, you know some of the etiquette of baby shower gifts. But the question remains – how much should I spend on a baby shower gift?
While each person has their own budget and circumstances, there are averages that you can use as guidelines and let you see how you compare with the others.
The average baby shower gift spend amount typically ranges from $25 to $200.
The range in the average is explained by different closeness levels to the mother-to-be.
We’ll break the averages down next.
When your sister, daughter, or best friend is the one celebrating, you really don’t hold anything back.
These celebrations call for the highest spend of all, and average on the higher end of the average spend with anywhere from $100-$200, and sometimes even more.
You can choose big ticket items like strollers or cribs or go with a mix of several smaller items and make it a bundle.
A popular baby shower gift idea is a diaper cake, a large amount of baby diapers organized in a pretty package.
But money is only half of the spend that goes into this gift. Give a gift with purpose, a gift that has sentimental value to the expecting mother, especially if it's a gift for a second baby. Personalize the gift with a personal message, pictures or even videos.
Baby shower gifts for friends and family members that you are not as close with fall in the middle of the average baby shower gift spend.
For these, you can expect spending $50-100.
Make sure to add a cute card and fun gift wrap to any gift that you give so that the new mom can open her gifts with excitement.
If you can only find gifts that don't really use your whole budget (like baby clothes or towels), consider adding a gift card for baby supplies.
Better yet, give a monetary gift for the baby's future.
Some things to note here are past gifting history with the gift recipient and family gifting standards.
Baby shower gifts to coworkers and acquaintances are on the lower end of the average spend.
Typically, you can expect to spend $25-$50 on a baby shower gift for a coworker.
If you work in a larger organization, smaller gifts are more common, while in smaller organizations people may spend more on gifts.
In a work setting, it is also common for coworkers to get together and organize a group baby shower gift.
What do you do if the only things left on a baby shower registry are a $7 pack of pacifiers or a $350 Babybjörn baby cradle?
One answer is organizing a group and buying a group gift.
To figure out how much to spend on a group baby shower gift, first determine how much you would spend by yourself on a gift, then contribute that amount to the group gift.
This is also a solution for big organizations that have baby showers for coworkers on a regular basis.
Instead of getting a small gift for $25 each, coworkers can band together and each pitch in for a bigger gift.
Another popular solution is to give a monetary gift with purpose.
Greatest Gift’s financial gifting platform for kids turns investing in a child’s future into a personal gift that you can send to your loved ones.
When giving a financial gift for a baby, you get to choose any amount that you want, and don’t need to rely on the options left on the baby registry.
I love how easy it is to give a meaningful gift to the kids and tots in my life!
It means a lot to me that I can contribute to their future, and Greatest Gift makes the experience seamless and fun.
Alana S.
Our son just turned two. We created his gifting page with Greatest Gift and shared it on the birthday evite. The results were amazing! We received 12 gifts that will be going to his college fund and savings.
Love this platform.
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We have a 2-year-old and another baby on the way, and we love Greatest Gift’s discover section. I look forward to learning about the right financial tools to help build their future and set them up for success financially.
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